The House of Photography in Marrakech (from the French, Maison de la Photographie) is a place of great interest for lovers of this art and, in general, for travel lovers. Marrakech, being one of the most populated cities and also the most visited of all Morocco, has the largest variety of museums in the country, and this is one that you should not miss, if you have enough time to get lost in its rooms and, especially, if you are making a photographic trip around the country. In this post we tell you what you should know about this temple of photography.
Where is the House of Photography in Marrakech?
The Maison de la Photographie de Marrakech is located in the heart of the medina of the city, very close to other places of interest in the historic center. For example, just 200 meters from the Ben Youssef medersa or just over 10 minutes walk from the Jemaa el-Fna square.
In addition, this museum occupies a not too large building, with a central courtyard and several heights, so your visit can easily fit into any tourist tour of the medina.
Why visit this house
The House of Photography in Marrakech represents one of the most interesting cultural visits in the city, among other reasons because the alternatives have an important limitation: Islam does not allow figurative artistic representations (neither of God nor of his creations, including the human being), so in Morocco there has been little development of other universal disciplines, such as painting and sculpture.
Photography, on the other hand, is an interesting exception: although its fans have every right to consider it a true art, its central idea is to document reality, including people and animals, and not so much its artistic representation, much less the idolatry of what is represented.
And that is precisely its great hook: the collection it houses shows photographs from the very beginnings of this discipline, in the mid-nineteenth century, showing landscapes, cities (especially Marrakech) and their people. And in some cases, through portraits of great psychological strength.
In addition, visiting the House of Photography in Marrakech is a recommended experience for any traveler, because through these images it is possible to understand the evolution of the country and compare its past with the present, which the traveler is knowing in first person: clothing, customs and customs in the medina, festivities, etc..
The collection of this museum
The holdings of the Maison de la Photographie de Marrakech are vast, and the numbers speak for themselves: more than 10,000 printed images, many of them donations from major benefactors of the institution, created by the way in 2009 by Hamid Mergani and Patrick Manac’h.
In addition to the photographs themselves, it preserves numerous negatives, 19th century glass plates, postcards and even film documentaries, including Paysages et visages du Haut Atlas, considered one of the masterpieces of the photographer and filmmaker Daniel Chicaul, as well as a document of great value to know the life of the inhabitants of the High Atlas in the mid-twentieth century.
The list of photographers represented includes several hundred, and all of them have something in common (which they also share with museum visitors): their passion for travel and for Morocco, as their images are the result of the desire to immortalize life in this country.
Information of interest to visit the museum:
These are the basic data for the visit (in July 2024), which could be subject to updates by the museum:
- Address: 46 rue Ahl Fes, Bin Lafnadek, Marrakech 40030
- Hours: daily, from 9:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
- Admission fee: adults, 50 MAD; children under 15 years old, free of charge
Image: duncan cumming. Creative Commons License 2.0
