Morocco Photo Gallery: Souks And Crafts In Bright Colors

The main square of Marrakech, known as Jemaa el-Fnaa, becomes a sea of food stalls when the sun goes down. It's a bit of a chaotic scene, but if you're keen on mingling with locals, this is the place to make it happen while watching the cooks prepare your meal. A safe bet for this street food is grilled meats, cooked vegetables, and steamed clams in the souks. Donnie Sexton photos. — The main square of Marrakech, known as Jemaa el-Fnaa, becomes a sea of food stalls when the sun goes down. It’s a bit of a chaotic scene, but if you’re keen on mingling with locals, this is the place to make it happen while watching the cooks prepare your meal. A safe bet for this street food is grilled meats, cooked vegetables, and steamed clams. Donnie Sexton photos.

Morocco – A Blaze of Color!

By Donnie Sexton

If there was a way to rank countries by how colorful they are, I would cast my vote for Morocco being near the top! The desert and arid landscapes do justice to the earthy shades of tans, browns, oranges, golds, and yellows. Sprinkle in a bit of green with an occasional oasis or cultivated field or the souks.

But its Morocco’s cities (Fez, Marrakech, Casablanca, Chefchaouen) that deliver up every color known to man. Moorish architecture has layers upon layers of columns, domes, and arches that are intricately carved, painted or tiled with hand-cut pieces of ceramics.

In the souks (markets), everything that’s for sale, whether it’s food, clothing, home furnishings, etc., are stacked up, laid out, or jumbled together in a smorgasbord of color. Arts and crafts are in abundance in this North African country. Pottery, brass and silver creations, multihued scarfs, carpets and leather goods, all rich in vibrant colors, will seduce even the most reluctant shopper.

My advice as a photographer is to bring plenty of compact flash cards and batteries because the shooting opportunities are endless.

A common dish in Morocco is tagine, a slow-cooked stew made with either meat, chicken, and vegetables. Tagine also refers to the cone shaped pottery vessel used in the process of cooking a tagine. Symmetry is key to the presentation of Moroccan dishes.

The variety of leather goods can be overwhelming. With so much competition in the souks, if you stop to look at something the vendors can get a bit aggressive. Bartering is the name of the game. They throw out a price, then you say "no way," to which they reply "how much do you want to pay?" and thus the haggling begins.

Morocco has an abundance of crafts that make it hard to resist taking home a few goodies. These delicate brass lanterns make a colorful display in Jmaa el-Fnaa, the huge public square that is the heart of Marrakech. The square has a carnival vibe with games, musicians, snake charmers, fortunetellers, hawkers selling cheap toys and unfortunately, a fair share of pickpockets.

Fez is a city with 10,000 streets packed with all varieties of tiny shops. Vendors make the most of their space by displaying their goods in a stacked fashion while leaving room for themselves to efficiently wait on customers.

Shopkeepers in Morocco have a way of displaying in their goods in such an attractive manner that it commands curiosity, if nothing else. This stall offers a one-stop shop for soaps, tea leaves, herbs, mushrooms, spices, henna, and beauty powders.

In the souks (markets) of Marrakech and Fez, you'll find spices artistically displayed in cone-shaped fashion. Spices that play into Moroccan cuisine include cayenne, cinnamon , turmeric, ginger, black pepper, cumin, paprika, and saffron.

One of the unique experiences in Morocco is sleeping in the Sahara Desert in tented camps, typically reachable by camel. Camping under the stars and away from the frenzy of city life is very refreshing for the soul. Add to this exceptional cuisine, along with Berber entertainment, and the desert camp becomes a highlight of any visit to Morocco.

Erg Chebbi is a series of sizable dunes that make up a portion of the Sahara Desert in Morocco. It's a popular destination for tourists who want to experience an overnight at a desert camp, reachable by a camel ride.

Fez is well known for its tanneries. The hides of cows, sheep, goats, and camels are dyed before being turned into all sorts of leather goods, including shoes, purses, wallets, jackets, and backpacks. With the help of a guide, its possible to get up above the tanneries and out on a porch to watch the dying process.

Both decorative and functional pottery is a prominent element of the craft scene in Morocco. Fez is a hotbed for this craft, where a stop at a factory allows visitors to see the labor-intensive processes involved. Most factories have a showroom where you can purchase the goods.

Ornately carved and painted cedarwood is transformed into doors, furniture, ceilings and column adornments throughout Morocco. Cedarwood comes from the High Atlas and Rif mountains within Morocco, and due to its softness, is a natural choice for carvers. The oil from the cedar trees is used for both cosmetic and medicinal purposes.

Oranges, tomatoes, potatoes, olives, and several varieties of grains are part of Morocco's agricultural production. Water within the country is a precious commodity. Irrigation methods which have improved dramatically over the last few years have helped to contribute to a higher success with crops.

While blue is the predominant color of houses in Chefchaueon, these sacks of paint pigments for sale spice up the options for the locals. If you're in the market for woolen goods, Chefchaouen is the place to shop. Sitting in the shadow of the Rif Mountains, the city makes an ideal base camp for hiking.

Chefchaouen is known as the “blue city” for its abundance of houses and buildings drenched in blue paint. History will say this was a tradition started by the Jewish refugees back in the 1930s and continues to this day. Chefchaouen is popular with the backpacking crowd, due in part to the availability of drugs grown in the region.

This set of windows inside the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca reflects how symmetry in design is one of the critical elements in Moorish architecture. Hassan II is a relatively new mosque, with construction started in 1986 and completed in 1993.

This ornate tilework is found on the walls of the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca. Hassan II is the second largest mosque in the world and welcomes people of all faiths to come and tour the interior. The mosque can accommodate up to 25,000 worshipers.

Olives everywhere! Morocco is a country that loves its olives. They are served with almost every meal as an appetizer, marinated in olive oil and spices, such as thyme, rosemary and oregano. Naturally, olive oil is a staple in Moroccan cooking. Both olives and olive oil are one of Morocco's largest exports.

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Donnie Sexton

Donnie Sexton has moved on from a very long stint as staff photographer and media relations manager for the Montana Office of Tourism. Her path is now focused on feeding her addiction to travel and sharing her journeys in both words and photography.