What to Photograph in Morocco

Nasim,

I was happy to see you using a Fuji kit on your trip. I am going to Morocco in a few weeks, and I had actually purchased the 50mmF2 before your article was published with the plan of taking it and the 16mmf1.4 and an X-T2. How much did you feel the IBIS on the X-H1 helpful for some of the indoor and alleyway shots? Based on what you’ve posted, I suspect it allowed you to keep the ISO low on some of the 50mmF2 shots? I am considering renting a second body so that I don’t have to worry about changing lenses, and I like the X-T2, but I wonder if the X-H1 might be more useful for the 50mm. Or, I could just crank up the ISO on the X-T2.

Thanks!

Dear Nasim

Please first let me say that your site is excellent. The reviews & tips are without peer. Well done.

Your photos are magnificent. I have backpacked twice in Morocco for about 4 weeks in total. Your photos brought all of the exotic wonder back for me – especially Chefchaouen which was my favourite place.

But I had to laugh (and not in a good way) when I read your section on ‘Dishonesty, Scams, Cheating and Lying. And after I read it, I had to post for the first time on your site and reassure you that you weren’t mistaken and you weren’t taking this too personally.
You are of course right to say: “People of Morocco are great. They are honest, hard-working people who struggle with day-to-day problems, as many other Middle Eastern countries do.” And posters like Keith are absolutely correct when they reflect on ‘the often crass, rude and insensitive behavior of the hundreds of photographers that have been before you’.
People are the same everywhere. Good & Bad. The trouble for Morocco are the people you meet – or rather the people that go out of their way to meet you.
I have travelled to 79 countries. I have never been on a tour. I dress conservatively and always try to speak a little Arabic in the many Arabic countries I have visited. I love the Islamic culture and the Arab people.
But there is something very wrong in Morocco that travel writers never tell anyone about because they are always protected on a tour or in a fancy hotel. That is the levels of harassment you will experience in Morocco are far in excess of any other country that you can visit anywhere else in the world. You can go to countries like Turkey or Ireland and never have a bad experience with any local you meet. But you can go to Morocco and seemingly never have a good experience with any local you meet. Everyone seems out to ‘milk’ you – as a German tourist once said to me.
I am never crass, rude and insensitive when I travel and as I’m not a portrait photographer I never try to grab portraits. And yet in Morocco – I have been spat on; had sunglasses pulled off my face when I declined giving someone a gift; had schoolkids try to steal from me whilst a supervising adult looked on laughing; been told ‘Go F&*^ your mother’ after I politely repeatedly declining an invitation to visit a carpet shop; or when refusing to fall for a fake police scam being told ‘ We put you in jail – we F&*^ you in jail’! And these are only some of my stories!
Frankly there are scammers, hustlers and harassers in every country – but in every other country I have been (including all other Middle Eastern Countries) it is at kindergarten level; whereas Morocco is at PhD level.
The people are poor (but not as poor as many countries I have been to) and yet quite a few of them have decided on a specific tactic to harass tourists ie ‘I know your time on a holiday as a tourist is precious, so I am going to keep harassing you and have you spend your time unpleasantly, you until you give me what I want.’
I can appreciate that Moroccans don’t want their photos taken – I get that and I would get sick of that as well if I was Moroccan. But the scams and hassle and abuse are like nowhere else I have been.

Would I go back to Morocco? Absolutely in a heartbeat. It is a photographer’s paradise and I know what to expect now. The combination of desert, the mountains and the medinas are like nowhere else.

I would also still highly recommend it to any of your readers – as long as they go on a tour and are ‘protected’ from all of the hassle. Just don’t expect to come back thinking ‘the people we met were all so nice’.

Marco.
PS Those people who have had negative reactions to your comments have either never been to Morocco or only ever been on a tour. I can’t guarantee how I would behave if I was as poor as many Moroccans. I hope it would be like the many peoples of many countries (with incomes lower than Morocco) who seem to have avoided become scammers en masse.

Truly impressive, clear + informative commentary. I’ll be more likely than not to boycott Morocco in my travels as every country is beautiful in its own way and, China is certainly my best choice as there are thousands, if not more, places to go through there in my bucket lists.

Thanks for this thorough article Nassim. Those guide are always great to get a taste of the country from a photographer perspective. I’ll be curious to read you again once you turn your expert eye onto the Moroccan landscape. I’m starting annual business trip to Fès soon, and I’m eager to discover this land!

Thanks for the interesting article Nassim.
I’ve rarely commented on PL. This time, it is to Invite you to visit Iran. You would love it, pinky promise!