John Cohen: Look Up to the Moon

In the summer of 1955 a relatively naive and uninformed John Cohen crossed thestraits of Gibraltar. He arrived in Tangier with a handwritten note in cursive Arabic; theman who had composed it in New York had told him to “keep this paper far from yourpassport.” Cohen had no idea why or indeed what the note said; it was not addressedto aspecific person. He was simply instructed to look for a certain man when hearrived, who would then send him to “the others.” Cohen’s otherwise straightforwardtrip to make photographs in Morocco thus began with a sense of intrigue and perhapsrisk.

This was Cohen’s first journey outside America to see the world. In his words: “Thecamera led my way to a distant culture, along with the desire to represent what I couldsee and sense there, and not be distracted by chronology or thought. My photographswere intended to be a sensual response to light and to the people who inhabited thesespaces. These Morocco photos were … an indication of what was to come.”