80 km from Marrakesh
80 km from Marrakesh means home. It means tea, peanuts and dates. It means hot bread. It means chickens and horses. It means sisters and brothers. It means mamma and papa. It means olive and orange trees. It means visiting the cemetery and searching for grandma’s grave. It means old stories about grandma’s ghost walking around. It means talking with people that you haven't seen for a long time. It means hearing the latest news. It means a heart beating hard when hearing those news. It means crying when remembering. It means a self that does not exist anymore. It means an absence.
80 km from Marrakesh has been kept in a box and has been carried in a pocket for thousands of kilometers all the way to a western metropolis. As a secret. As a bitter sweet.
80 km from Marrakesh is a series of photographs about Abida's visit to his parents' house in Morocco. Abida immigrated to Greece, almost 10 years ago. Now, he lives in Athens.
(January 2019)