Morocco
Photographing Morocco
Morocco compresses Africa, Arabia, and the Mediterranean into a country two days' drive across: medina labyrinths where light falls in shafts through reed roofs, Atlas passes, and the erg dunes running to Algeria. The colour palette — ochre, majorelle blue, mint, saffron — photographs like it was designed by committee, and the committee was good.
Street photography here is a social contract: some spaces welcome cameras, some tolerate them for a coin, some refuse — and reading which is which is the local craft.
Best season
October–April throughout; March–April adds green valleys and Atlas snow. Summer confines serious work to dawn, dusk, and the coast.
Semi-arid to Saharan; Atlantic fog cools Essaouira while Marrakech bakes. Desert nights drop cold year-round — the dunes at dawn in January need a proper jacket.
- A 35mm-equivalent and a short telephoto handle the medinas; wide for architecture and dunes.
- Serious dust protection in the erg: sealed bags, rocket blower, and change lenses in shelter.
- A fast lens for souk interiors — the covered markets run three stops darker than the lanes.
- Scarf or buff: sand in wind, sun always.
- Hire medina guides for working districts (tanneries, souks) — access, introductions, and fair payment in one arrangement.
- Portrait permission is often commercial: a few dirhams or a print promise. Budget for it without resentment; it's a fair economy.
- Desert camps position you for dune dawn — day trips from towns cannot.
- Friday mornings quiet the medinas; markets peak on their weekly souk days.
Morocco, asked and answered
How do people feel about being photographed?
It varies by person and place, as everywhere — with a franker economy about it than Europeans expect. Ask, pay or trade prints where asked, accept refusals gracefully. Water sellers and tannery workers are professionals about it; women in rural areas often decline — respect it absolutely.
Which desert erg should I choose?
Erg Chebbi is accessible and serviced (and shared); Erg Chigaga is two hours of piste further and correspondingly emptier. For photography, Chigaga's camps put you alone with the dunes.
Is Chefchaouen worth the detour?
At dawn, yes — two hours of blue light and cats before the buses. By ten it's a backdrop economy. Combine it with Fes rather than treating it as a destination.