Street Photography Tips, Interaction, Travel, Guides
*A series of guides on shooting Street Photography in cities around the world. Find the best spots to shoot, things to capture, safety concerns, street tips, and more for cities around the world. I have personally researched, explored and shot Street Photography in every city that I create a guide for. So you can be ready to capture the streets as soon as you step outside with your camera!
After Marrakech, I took a train over to Fes, Morocco. Fes is one of the most preserved old cities in the Arab world with a medina that’s as elaborate as you’ll find anywhere. There’s also a very local feeling with all the people who live inside its walls. While it does attract tourism, it’s nothing compared to the chaos of Marrakech.
Marrakech assaults all of your senses with so much to experience and capture, while Fes is a little more relaxing and gives you a different experience. So here’s 33 photos that I was able to capture during my time in Fes…
This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken by Bab Chorfa in Fes, Morocco. Bab Chorfa is one of the largest gates in Fes’ elaborate medina. It’s also right by Bab Boujlad, Fes’ most popular gate due to its busy location and beautiful blue color. This whole area was one of my favorite parts of Fes to spend time for street photography. There’s lots of open light, interesting backgrounds, nearby streets to explore, and plenty of activity everywhere.
In front of Bab Chorfa is a large open space where a market sets up selling mostly clothing. With all the space, it doesn’t get as crowded as inside the medina so you can really move around and use all the sunlight. I was returning to the medina, while walking just outside this open market, when I took the above photo.
The first thing I noticed was the man sitting down with his pointed berber hat mostly covering his face. Then when I looked at the background of the gate wall, I noticed the black birds and interesting white clouds in the sky. So I took the shot framing it all together, trying to leave a little mystery with the hooded man included in the scene below the black specks in the sky.
One of the many reasons I started this blog was to give an inside look at Street Photography around the world. This includes the not so pretty parts during my 100 cities project, shooting in over 100 cities across 6 continents. I want this blog to be open and honest, especially with my own experiences, so I decided to create a few posts that touch on some of the negative situations that come along too.
When it comes to Moroccan cities, Fes gets compared a lot to Marrakech. Online, you’ll find endless articles and forum topics covering the Marrakech vs Fes debate for visitors. Overall, there seems to be more people who love Marrakech, but also more that leave never wanting to return, while Fes is a little less polarizing. For me, I definitely left Marrakech loving it, but I can see why it’s not for everybody. Fes is much more relaxed with less hassle, tourist traps and chaos.
I don’t feel Fes provides the variety of life, colors, and scenery for Street Photography that Marrakech does, but that’s mostly because Marrakech is one of the best cities I’ve been to yet for that. Saying this, Fes is still a very unique city with the oldest, most elaborate and local medina you’ll visit anywhere. For many, this, plus the more relaxing vibe, will appeal more. Just like cities are different, so are photographers, so here are my first impressions of Fes, from my personal Street Photographer perspective…
This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken by the Bahia Palace in Marrakech, Morocco. While not all of the elaborate palace is open to the public, it’s still one of the biggest draws for visitors to Marrakech. The Bahia Palace is on the edge of the Mellah district too so there’s always plenty going on in the area.
Along one of the main roads to the palace, there was a long wall of aluminum siding due to construction (which I believe is for part of the largest photography museum in the world opening this year in Marrakech). The aluminum wall provided an interesting reflection while also narrowing the road for the all the motorbikes and foot traffic going by.
I was out here trying to capture the unique mixture of local traffic with the interesting reflection from the aluminum wall when I saw these two men pulling towards each other. I liked how the color blue stood out among the monotone scene and how they were pulling their different work wheels, so I decided to captured them just before they passed each other. While the rest of my shots from this congested street were busy and crowded, this one caught a slower, less chaotic moment.
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*A series of guides on shooting Street Photography in cities around the world. Find the best spots to shoot, things to capture, safety concerns, street tips, and more for cities around the world. I have personally researched, explored and shot Street Photography in every city that I create a guide for. So you can be ready to capture the streets as soon as you step outside with your camera!
This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken in the Mellah in Marrakech, Morocco. The Mellah is a walled jewish quarter, similar to European jewish ghettos where the jewish population was confined. While it’s no longer jewish only, it still gives an interesting look at the city’s past.
There’s a lot of shops and narrow alleys that you can explore and get lost in. While it does have its fair share of tourism in parts, it’s nothing to the degree of the medina, and feels a little more authentic and preserved too. It’s also easier to get away from the crowds and find yourself with only the locals. Which is what happened when I captured this shot.
I had been walking around the Mellah for a while, past all the shops and into a much more quiet maze of smaller alleys. People seemed curious to see a foreigner this far into the Mellah, but at the same time, the street hustlers weren’t around to hassle me so it was a little more relaxing to shoot here.
I was noticing an ad of a woman on the window of a hair salon, when all of a sudden I heard a very loud voice coming from behind the curtain door. I had my camera ready and as soon as she came out, I snapped this photo. I’m not sure what she was talking loudly about, but her facial expression here matched her tone. She actually never even noticed me and after quickly popping out to look down the street, she turned back inside, and continued on with her verbal tirade.
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Marrakech was my first experience in Morocco. For photography, it also ended up being my favorite in the country. While not being the easiest place for street photography, it makes up for it in the amount of life to capture. The colors, chaos, unique atmosphere and year-round sunlight make it a place I’d highly recommend to any photographers out there.
The only thing I would have changed about my time in Marrakech is make it longer. For cities I plan on returning to, it’s at the top of my list.
So here’s 33 photos that I was able to capture during my time in Marrakech…
Marrakech was my first stop in Morocco and a city I had wanted to visit for a while. Luckily, it didn’t disappoint at all. Marrakech is a mix of so many things that you have to experience it yourself to really understand how special it is. It’s not all perfect here, but I knew it would be a city I’d want to return to after only the first day. Although it comes with challenges, Marrakech is definitely made for photographers too.
So here are my first impressions of Marrakech, from my personal Street Photographer perspective…
