The first photobook I ever bought was in Marseille. At 24, I chose to travel solo in Europe. After saying goodbye to my first partner in Paris, I boarded a fast train to the south coast of France to experience and explore the Moroccan and North African communities enmeshed within French culture.

Marseille was not the town that a gourmet food show had portrayed to me on Australian television. When you’re on a backpackers budget, gourmet food is pretty much off the menu. I arrived in Marseille riddled with anxiety, I was no longer in the traveling companion comfort of my ex and had to navigate a completely new city and find accomodation for the night before exploring this windy coastal city.

As a solo female traveller I stood out like a sore thumb and was targeted by mostly men who tried many times to take advantage…