When I went back to Marrakech in February 2015 to head a photo workshop, we went to the “Maison de la Photographie” with the group. This is a private photo museum housed in a stylishly restored Moroccan-style building, a riad in the historic center of Marrakech.
Historical photographs from Morocco from the collections of the Frenchman Patrick Menac’h and the Moroccan Hamid Mergani, the two owners of the museum. Since the collection of the museum houses over 8,000 photographs, the changing exhibitions always show different images and insights into the Moroccan culture and the everyday life from the years 1870 to 1950, but also a varied overview of the diversity of early Moroccan photography with its main focus Arabs, Berbers and Jews in Morocco as well as landscapes. The highlight of the exhibition is a collection of “autochromes” from the early days of color photography, as practiced in Morocco.
If you are looking for peace in the different exhibition rooms, you should not miss to visit the top floor of the house, as the visitor is really looking for a real high-light. It is the most beautiful reward after the ascent, which can be imagined: on the roof terrace of the museum you have not only a marvelous view of the whole of Marrakech and the Atlas mountains in the south, but also sitting comfortably under the sun roof and enjoying excellent Moroccan cuisine from the small museum restaurant and the legendary mint tea or Arabic coffee. You can quickly make a few new acquaintances with friends from different countries …
The driving owner is also the owner of the Douira house in Marrakech and the Ecomuseé Berber in the Ourika valley on the edge of the Atlas, to which he also offers private guided excursions, which are very informative and recommendable.
Maison de la Photographie
46, rue Ahal Fes, 40 000 Marrakech, Tel. +212 (0) 5 24 38 57 21
www.maisondelaphotographie.ma, maisondelaphotographiemaroc@gmail.com
Opening hours daily from 09:30 to 19:00
Entry fee Dh 40 (approx. 4.00 €), The entrance ticket can be used several times!