Behind Walls: Girls' Education and Daily Life in Rural Morocco
This series, entitled Behind Walls, is a documentary essay about life at a girls’ dormitory in rural Morocco in 2004. Supported by a Fulbright grant, I arrived to the country as reforms to the Moudawana, or Islamic family law, were in the process of being pushed through parliament. Women’s rights and education were clearly at the forefront of the national dialogue.
The challenge of educating girls is especially acute in the countryside, where, because of economic limitations and cultural traditions, illiteracy for women can reach as high as 90 percent – about 30 percent higher than the national average. To combat the problem, dormitories have been built near secondary schools as part of a national initiative to help girls in remote areas continue their education. As the young Moroccan king, Mohammed VI, said in a message at the World Summit of Women in 2003, “We have focused our interest, first, on rural women, the group most affected by the ills of illiteracy and poverty – two issues I firmly believe are at the heart of human rights, just as they may constitute structural obstacles to democracy,”
I wanted to take an intimate look at the everyday lives of ordinary girls who were taking part in this historic process. I also hoped to reconnect with the country where I had lived for years as a young girl, when my father served as the U.S. military attaché to the Muslim nation.
My exploration led me to the Dar Taliba, a girls’ dormitory located in southern Morocco, in El Hanchane, a small dusty town between the tourist spots of Marrakesh and Essaouira. Although the dormitory was designed for sixty students, one hundred and eleven girls boarded there. They were between the ages of 13 and 18. Some went home on the weekends, while many others, because of finances or distance, stayed at the dormitory for weeks at a time.
Behind the walls that separate girls from the public space of boys and men, I discovered a hidden world. I photographed at the dormitory for several months, spending much of my time simply being with the students. We played volleyball, worked on their French homework, shared meals and slept next to each other in the bunks. Late at night, we danced and I was included in their talk about boyfriends and secrets.
My process involves anticipation and building a connection with the people I photograph. For me, photography is a balance between an image’s larger context of meaning and the feelings of the moment.
The images are unposed and made with available light on film.
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