Written by Leonardo Carrizo

After a quick conversation, my good friend and fellow photographer David B. and I decided to go to Morocco from Dec 20th, 2023, to Jan 4th, 2024. This trip was my first trip to the African continent. Since neither of us speak the local language and we wanted to go off the beaten path, we did something new and hired a local guide.  Part of the planning involved figuring out an itinerary that would work for both David and me, as we are photographers with different perspectives. David enjoys landscapes and took a digital medium format Hasselblad camera. I like to photograph people and took a Leica M10 that I rented from Midwest Photo, in addition to a Canon R6. I’m only showing a few photos I took with the Leica M10.

Luckily, we wanted to explore the southern region of the country around High Atlas Mountains with a short detour to the Sahara. Ismail, our local guide, did most of the logistics for us and traveled with us most of the trip showing us his beautiful country. This type of travel was completely new for me since I always prefer doing all my planning which is no planning at all most of the time! Nonetheless, this was an amazing trip, and I hope you enjoy the photographs.

We flew to Casa Blanca and from there picked up our rental car. We drove almost three hours to the amazing city of Marrakesh with its medina surrounded by medieval walls. Without wasting any time, we got our gear and went out to explore the old city. The sun was setting, and I wanted to do some street photography with the Leica.

The Medina (the old city) is an astonishing location for photography. It’s like a maze with small narrow streets filled with pedestrians and small souks (vendors) selling food, clothes and all varieties of product. This is not just a touristy marketplace, it is also a vibrant and working city for the local people that lives inside the walls.

In my opinion, doing street photography in a busy location using a small camera is best to pair it with a wide-angle lens. I took with me a Leica Summicron-M 35mm f/1.2. It allows you to move swiftly around the busy environment while you wait for the right moment in a less obvious manner. They are also fun to shoot from the hip.

While doing street photography, it is good to look for detail shots. The details can tell a story about the location and reveal elements otherwise ignored. For example, this quiet scene is an attempt to showcase the Moroccan tradition of drinking mint tea everywhere all the time. One interesting characteristic of serving tea to a guest is how you pour the tea. The higher the pour the more respect is shown towards the guest.

After two days, we continued our trip outside of Marrakesh and into the valleys toward the High Atlas Mountains. Along the way our guide Ismail taught us about the Amazigh people of the High Atlas Mountains. These are the indigenous people of the region and have their own language and culture. Once a nomadic tribe, now they live in villages, but you can still see their summer camps for herding sheep along the valley.

The symbol of the Amazigh people can be found painted on doors and walls letting people know that is an Amazigh household. I captured multiple photos of the symbol throughout the trip as a mini-photo essay.

Shooting with a rangefinder camera is fun but it can be challenging if you never done it before. Luckly for me, I own two Leica M6 so I’m familiar with them. The Leica M10 feels like my Leica M6 and that is a wonderful feeling. Even so, for many years now I have been shooting primarily with my Canon R6 and R6 Mark II. To be honest, I was a bit rusty, and I wasn’t getting all the moments I wanted; I missed many shots. The new camera technology with its convenience allows you to shoot fast with autofocus, a Leica will force you to slow down. It makes you more aware of light, settings, focus, and encourages you to anticipate the moments a lot more if you want to be consistent in capturing good images. Slowing down is not a bad thing, and of course, you should always be aware of lighting, settings, and what your focus is. Within a few days of shooting exclusively with the Leica M10, I was regularly capturing better images. I guess it is true, practice does make perfect.

Having a local guide was extremely helpful in allowing us to take portraits of people in remote villages.

After a few days hiking in the mountains, we began our journey south toward the Sahara Desert. We made a quick stop at the famous Ksar (fortified village) of Aït Benhaddou. This is a UNESCO Heritage site and worth the stop at sunset to capture the iconic village and its reflection. It’s a touristic stop now, but in my opinion worth it. You can walk to the top where the grainary is and watch the sunset.

Once we arrived at the small town of Mhamid, we had to get on a 4×4 truck. After a few hours driving in the sand with no roads, and passing several camels, we arrived at the entrance to the Sahara Desert. Near our camp site, we had the marvelous Chigaga dunes. This landscape and scenery were overwhelming with its beauty.

Pro tip: Don’t change lenses in the desert. You will spend hours cleaning the lens and sand spots out of your photos.

I love taking environmental portraits. I met this guide wearing traditional clothes and I could not resist Taking a portrait of him at the top of the Chigaga dune.

The final destination was the opposite to the Sahara Desert, it was the coastal city of Essaouria. This city is a travel and vacation destination for many Moroccans and foreigners. The city was a working fishing port and that is exactly what I was looking to photograph. I love the busyness of a fishing town with people working on boats, getting the cargo out, selling and cutting fish. It’s a scene that I have photographed in many places around the world, and it’s perfect for street photography.

The light was outstanding! It was right before sunset and created a lot of contrast. It made the colors pop. This was the perfect environment to allow the Leica M10 to shine. In my opinion, it’s made for this type of scenery and so am I.

As a photographer, I enjoy being in the middle of the action and using layers with contrast and silhouettes. We no longer had the assistant of our guide to break the ice, so it was up to me to engage with people and the environment. These are the moments when you must have confidence in photographing and exploring crowded environment. You must be ok with being rejected and moving on to a new location. You must chase the light, the chaos and place it all in one frame, one frame at the time.

Morocco is an amazing country where the local people welcome visitors. They enjoy sharing their rich culture and delicious food. There is so much to learn and explore that I left wanting to explore. The language is challenging in rural areas and having a local like Ismail was the best decision we made for this trip. Photographically it was great, with so many different landscapes, old medinas, and people. I enjoyed photographing with the Leica M10 and was sad to return it to Midwest. The camera was very suitable for this type of trip. It is easy to use, robust for the environment, and of high quality. I would highly recommend to anyone to consider Morocco as their next travel destination!

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