Francis Aly s Childrens Game, 2: Ricochets

Tangier, Morocco, 2007; 4:43 min In collaboration with Rafael Ortega and Julien Devaux The bay is peaceful, framed by low hills in the distance. Three boys stand thighdeep in the brown water, trousers rolled up. The biggest, on the left, is proficient in the art of stoneskimming: sending flat pebbles spinning over the water in such a way that they bounce off the surface as many times as possible before sinking. The middle boy feeds him stones from a stockpile inside his tshirt, while the smallest looks on laughing. The skimmer throws quickly, intently, without thinking, without assessing his stone. Some stones sink at the second bounce; some skip a long way. Its all the same to him, he must keep throwing. Lorna Scott Fox