morocco in the sixties

during the 1950s and 1960s, morocco was a refuge for writers and musicians from abroad, including the rolling stones, jack kerouac and william s. burroughs, who wrote the legendary naked lunch while staying at a hotel in tangier.  morocco was to the rolling stones what india was to the beatles – they traveled there in the late 1960s in search of musical inspiration and found that and much more.  the fusion of berber, african and arabic music had a huge influence on the rolling stones’ sound but they were also enthralled by the atmosphere of the country – especially the somewhat seedy city of tangier – home at the time to spies, smugglers, expatriate aristocrats and writers-in-exile.  they arrived in the british mod style and left in billowing shirts, weighed down by bracelets, necklaces and various trinkets.  about his experiences in morocco, keith richards said “we enjoyed being transported. you could be sinbad the sailor, one thousand and one nights. we loved it.”

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the stones were part of a large crowd of swinging londoners who regularly visited morocco in the 60s.  one of the most iconic photos representing morocco and the bohemian culture of the 1960s is of talitha getty, wife of paul getty, shot by patrick lichfield on the roof of their home in marrakech.   our team was inspired to recreate this photo when shooting our catalog in morocco- here is our version!

Shot 37 112

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TP
13 years ago

this is so cool and very interesting. I wish i could have been there back then!

13 years ago

Very useful Information Thank You for sharing you are doing nice job keep it up.

13 years ago

My cousin recommended this blog and she was totally right keep up the fantastic work!

13 years ago

Gorgeous shooting and the catalog is so wonderful!
I would definitly love to work with you guys from here (casablanca/marrakech)
kiss

Gunga Din
11 years ago

Interestingt posed pics …you wouldnt find a native Moroccan woman attired as this gal is …Nor a native Moroccan man who’s wearing jeans under his cloak……..I should know. I was a GI stationed there in Rabat and Casablanca Morocco in 1959 – 1960. We flew relief supplies to the victims of the Agadir earthquake in 1960…..quite an experience….