Tunisia, city by city: the photo project I keep putting off

I've lived in Tunisia my whole life and I've still seen only a fraction of it. Once the Patrol is ready, the plan is simple to say and slow to do: drive the whole country and photograph the culture of every city.

Not postcards. The ordinary texture of each place — the people and the work that keep it going.

What I want to photograph

• Medinas and markets — the souks, the traders, the noise of a city doing business.
• Crafts and workshops — potters, weavers, coppersmiths, carpenters, and the mechanics who keep old cars alive.
• Food — the bakeries, the street food and the kitchens behind it.
• Landscapes between the cities — coast, mountains, salt flats and desert.
• Daily life — cafés, ports, schools letting out, people at work.

The first draft of the route

Nothing is fixed yet, but the shape is a long loop:

1. The north — Tunis and its medina, Carthage, Sidi Bou Said, Bizerte and the coast towards Tabarka.
2. The west and the interior — Le Kef, and the old cities inland.
3. The heart — Kairouan, and El Jem's amphitheatre.
4. The Sahel coast — Sousse, Monastir, Mahdia and Sfax.
5. The south — Gabès, Matmata, Tataouine and the ksour, then Djerba.
6. The desert — Tozeur, Chott el Jerid, Douz and the dunes beyond, where the Y60 really earns its place.

How I want to shoot it

• Ask first. People are not scenery. Portraits happen with permission.
• Stay longer than a photo. The best pictures come after the conversation, not before it.
• Work with locals. Guides, fixers and the people who know where to look.
• Show the work, not just the beauty. The country's economy is part of its culture.

Where it will live

Every stop gets a journal entry. The best of the work will become a collection — and, if there's interest, prints for the people who back the Y60 adventure.

If there's a place I mustn't miss, tell me.