Slow Lens
Gallery · Marrakech, the High Atlas, the Sahara and Fès, Morocco

Morocco: Medina to Sahara

A journey across Morocco from the red city to the sand and back north again. The sequence opens in Marrakech, among lanterns, juice stalls and the carved courtyards of its palaces and madrasas, with side trips to the stony Agafay plain and the falls at Ouzoud.

It then crosses the High Atlas to the earthen ksar of Aït Benhaddou and follows the kasbahs and oases east to the dunes of Erg Chebbi, before turning north to the tanneries and tiled shrines of Fès and the blue lanes of Chefchaouen in the Rif.

36 photographsSeason: SpringOriginals up to 5184 px · 106.6 MB in total
Jemaa el-Fna in the late afternoon, under the market umbrellas Fruit stacked high at a juice stall in Jemaa el-Fna Pierced metal lanterns glowing in the Souk Haddadine A craftsman painting a pierced metal lantern in the medina The Koutoubia minaret rising over the medina rooftops A long-haired street cat sitting in the sun The courtyard pool and carved stucco of the Ben Youssef Madrasa Carved stucco honeycomb vaulting at the Saadian Tombs Marble paving and tilework in the great courtyard of the Bahia Palace A painted cedar ceiling in the Bahia Palace The ruined walls of El Badi Palace doubled in its long pool Saddled dromedaries resting on the stony Agafay plain A lone tent on the Agafay plain, the Atlas faint beyond The Ouzoud Falls dropping into a green gorge Barbary macaques grooming on a ledge above the Ouzoud gorge The snow-streaked ridges of the High Atlas from the air The earthen ksar of Aït Benhaddou above the dry riverbed Mud-brick houses tumbling down the hill at Aït Benhaddou Textiles hung out along a lane inside Aït Benhaddou The old fortified granary on the hilltop at Aït Benhaddou Two camels nose to nose below the ksar at Aït Benhaddou The Taourirt kasbah in Ouarzazate behind a fringe of palms The Ghris River running green through the oasis at Goulmima Date palms at the edge of the Erg Chebbi dunes near Merzouga A camel train crossing the high dunes in late light A smooth dune ridge in the Erg Chebbi near Merzouga Wind ripples across the sand at Merzouga Satellite dishes and rooftop terraces over the Fès medina at dusk Stone vats and drying hides at a tannery in Fès Dyers at work among the coloured vats of a Fès tannery Painted plaster, tilework and a brass door at the Moulay Idriss II shrine Carved stucco meeting in a corner of the Bou Inania Madrasa A carved cedar dome framed in white stucco at the Bou Inania Madrasa Green hills and a river valley in the Rif near Chefchaouen A woman carrying a bucket down a blue lane in Chefchaouen Blue-washed steps climbing between houses in Chefchaouen

Click any frame for the large view; every photograph can be downloaded at full resolution under its licence. Photographers are credited on each photo page and on Credits.

Stories from Morocco: Medina to Sahara

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Merzouga and Fès, Morocco · 10 June 2025

To the Dunes, and North to Fès

The second half of our Moroccan spring: the long road east to the dunes of Erg Chebbi, a night among them, then north to the medina of Fès.
Marrakech and Aït Benhaddou, Morocco · 20 May 2025

Marrakech, and the Road over the Atlas

Four days of getting lost in the Marrakech medina, then a slow drive over the High Atlas to the earthen ksar of Aït Benhaddou.

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