Finally, I had a chance to shoot street photography in Marrakech. I have been always fascinated by street photography as capturing decisive moments in public space is really a fascinating challenge. You also have a freedom of playing with light, shadows and colours, building layers or just looking for funny situations. Telling a story of people or captured moments by using only one frame is really interesting.
My inspiration for wedding photography comes actually from street photography. I think the street is a great training field for every wedding photographer. And apparently, street photography has a lot in common with wedding photography. Every moment happens only once, there is no chance to take another shot as the moment is already gone. So you have to be very quick and anticipate a situation which may or may not happened and you want to capture it. I think, shooting weddings is kind of easier than street photography as at weddings you don’t have to deal with permission of shooting people. Everyone accepts that you are there to take photos. But on the street it’s very different, you have to somehow “earn” the permission without asking for it. You have to be accepted by the environment and people around.
This time I decided to visit Marrakech, a city which is considered as one of the most difficult for street photography. And I have to agree. Marrakech is not easy to photograph. Every time when I brought a camera to my eye people started saying “no photos, no photos”! It was really hard to blend in and be invisible. But it was worth to overcome that fear of being “noticed” and even shouted at, as Marrakech has such a richness of colours, amazing light, great old architecture of Medina and of course fascinating people. And this all has to be shown.
The first day in Marrakech was a bit of a shock for me but the rest 4 days were very nice. I quickly get used to that strangers constantly offered me help. Everyone wanted to show me the “ right way “ and told me that today is a “ big day “ and “ my road is closed “ and they have a “ good stuff “ for me etc. Walking alone till late night I felt relatively safe in Marrakech. I didn’t force myself and try to take pictures every time when I saw an interesting moment but looked for me a bit risky.
I would definitely recommend everyone to visit Marrakech one day which in my opinion has a lot to offer. I am not a big fan of visiting museums or palaces so I can’t tell you anything about it, but spending just a day on Place Jemaa el Fna or in old Medina is worth itself.
Feel free to have a look at my favourite street photos from Marrakech.
