Agafay After Hours

The Agafay Desert is a rocky landscape approximately 30-40 kilometres southwest of Marrakech. Every day, tourists arrive in search of the marketed “Berber experience”. Camel rides, luxury camps, tagine dinners, mint tea, and carefully curated encounters with local culture. While Agafay is undeniably beautiful and offers a glimpse into Morocco’s striking southern landscape, much of what is sold there is saturated, commercialised, and built for the aesthetic rather than authenticity. What is presented as culture is performance. Experiences are packaged and staged to meet tourist expectations, reducing living traditions to consumable moments.

”Berber” is a derogatory term given to us by the Romans. Amazigh is our name. It means “Free People” in Tamazight. We are one of the oldest continuous indigenous cultures in North Africa.

I wasn’t interested in photographing the performance. Agafay After Hours presents people who work in Agafay. I watched camels being ridden home, storm clouds rolling across the desert, rain falling, rainbows forming, and the Atlas Mountains sitting in the distance like a paper collage. These photographs about the people and the landscape that exist beyond the version of Morocco sold to visitors.