Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail Courtyard
Photo of the Day
The approach to the Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail is through a series of peaceful courtyards and this one stands exactly opposite the mausoleum. Photography of the Mausoleum was prohibited and I wasn’t about to go acting disrespectful in the resting place in one of the city’s most revered figures.
This little fountain was a good second prize. It was quiet enough for me to set up a tripod and do a few shots where I was able to pop off flashes so that I could highlight the edges of the fountain and give it some separation from the background.
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Moroccan Camel
Photo of the Day
Camel riding isn’t for everyone and I think I might be one of those people. The ships of the desert don’t exactly have the smoothest ride in the world and I wouldn’t have minded a few bumps had my back not been acting up.
Besides, I was more interested in pulling out the camera and taking some photos of the belching beasts and I’m sure my four-legged friend was happy to free of this burden.
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Beneath Meknes’ Koubbat as-Sufara
Photo of the Day
Koubbat as-Sufara is a hall that was once used for the reception of foreign ambassadors, but the creepy crypt below is an even better sight. Through it was only used for food storage, it has the atmosphere of somewhere more likely to be haunted than a simple granary.
There were very few visitors present during my time there, so it was relatively easy for me to run around popping off flash bursts to light this lengthy hall.
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Dades Gorge in Morocco
Photo of the Day
Looking down onto this winding course full of hairpin turns, I can almost see Jeremy Clarkson and friends getting giddy at the prospect of charging some high-powered supercar down through these roads in the Dades Gorge in Morocco.
This shot ended up being more difficult to take than it should have been. The battery that powers my little remote-trigger camera attachment failed and without it, I couldn’t do an exposure of longer than 30 seconds without keeping my finger on the shutter. Fortunately, my hand was steady enough for five minutes that everything in the photo was sharp. It was a pleasant surprise considering I don’t consider myself to have the steadiest hand in the business.
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Fez Panorama at Dawn
Photo of the Day
The evening before I took this photo, I was in this same spot enjoying the calm perspective on the madness of Fez below. It’s a city that seems to be composed almost entirely of alleys and every corner, while magical, is usually inhabited by someone trying to make some tourist dollars. I was happy to have briefly escaped the onslaught of touts, guides, hawkers and salesmen and have a moment of peace.
There I was, observing a dun sunset and preparing myself to rise to this same spot for what would probably be a more interesting sunrise than that grey evening when a man approached me and started chatting to me about what a lovely view it was. I agreed and relished the chance to converse with someone who wasn’t aiming to sell me anything. No sooner did I have this thought when he pulled a sack seemingly from thin air and started showing me his wares.
I couldn’t believe it. I was one of the only people up here! How could this be a profitable location to set up shop? I politely declined his offers and got back to my camera, constantly hoping for more interesting light to break through and bathe the city. Fortunately he wasn’t too pushy and eventually started back down the hill towards the city.
As darkness fell, I was cautioned away from the area by local police who informed me this wasn’t the safest place to be hanging around at night. Thanking them for their concern, I made my own way down the hill only to return early the next morning to catch the sunrise you see below. I do have some shots from the evening which I might post later, but for now, I was partial to this sunrise.
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Chefchaouen, Morocco Panorama
Photo of the Day
The blue-tinted old-town of Chefchaouen actually looks a bit green in this panorama shot at dusk in Morocco. The new town glows orange while the medina is set apart by the green-tinted fluorescent lights obscuring the sky-blue walls of every building.
This panorama captures some of the peace ready to be found in one of Morocco’s less hectic cities.
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Ait Benhaddou Panorama
Photo of the Day
An almost 17-foot version of this panorama of Ait Benhaddou will soon be adorning the walls of one of my clients. It will be an absolutely giant print and should make for quite the decorative addition to his walls.
The oasis kasbah of Ait Benhaddou, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the desert hills beyond made for a striking contrast that was hard to capture in any way other than a panorama. The small river divides the new part of the town that features the hotels and restaurants from the old section that stands frozen in time.
The picturesque kasbah has been a filming location for a number of movies for obvious reasons. It’s a location with one foot in the past and that’s now by design – as part of UNESCO giving it world heritage status, the ksar is meant to be free of modern development, so the ten families that live there do so without electricity making the location go almost perfectly dark at night except for a few candlelit windows.
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Djamaa El Fna Panorama
Photo of the Day
Marrakach Morocco’s Djamaa El Fna is, simply put, wild. At any point in the bustling square at the heart of the city, you might find snake charmers, open-air dentists, food hawkers selling all manner of culinary oddities, carnival games, musicians and dancers, monkey handlers, brightly-costumed water vendors, wizened story tellers, boxers smacking each other, and who knows what else.
While it’s an interesting site during the day, it really comes alive in the early evening when the food stalls are set up, the hungry crowds roll in and smoke starts rising off grills and barbecues. It can be a bit of a sensory overload with those smokes wafting intense cooking smells, the musicians competing for audiences’ attention, a glut of interesting sights, and the masses of people pushing up against each other, but the best strategy, as with the nearby souks, is just to get lost in it all.
And after you’ve done that, sometimes it’s good to retire someplace a little out of the way to see the bigger picture. Rooftop bars surround the square and provide a bird’s eye view of the semi-controlled chaos below. Buy yourself a beverage and take it all in. That’s what I did and shot this panorama while I sipped a cool drink.
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Darby Sawchuk is a Canadian-born photographer who currently resides in Manchester, England. He has travelled to over 40 countries and is always adding more to the list. He creates stock for multiple agencies and is available for assignments.
+44 0790 992 8932
