Morocco is one of my favourite places to visit and is excellent for photography. It has a variety of landscapes from the rocky coastline, empty deserts, snow capped mountains, and bustling towns & cities. The people are friendly, the food delicious and the travel is cheap. For people in the UK I always think of Morocco as being the closest place that you can fly to that has the biggest cultural differences to home. This blog was published as a photojournal for the online magazine Dezine. Click through the slideshow below to view my travel photographs taken around Morocco:

Sunset over Jemaa el-Fnaa, the main square and market place in Marrakesh's medina quarter.

Berbers, are an ethnic group indigenous to North Africa. Three locals enjoying the view from their backyard in the Atlas Mountains.

Locals playing on the beach at Casablanca while the sun sets. A silhouette style image.

The Hassan II Mosque or Grande Mosquée Hassan II is on the coastline of Casablanca and is the largest mosque in Morocco.

Nature and solitude in front of the Atlantic Ocean on the coastline close to the city of Rabat.

A bodyboarder heads to the beach for a surf in Kenitra in the North of Morocco.

A local enjoys the view of the coastline from the colourful cliffs of Rabat.

The first time arriving in Morroco can be a bit of a culture shock! Marrakech for example is an ambush on the senses: street performers approach you with snakes and monkeys, dark twisting alleyways entice you until you get lost and a constant buzz seems to radiate throughout the city. However, it is good fun, safe and always makes for interesting experiences. A few years ago I returned to Morocco for a couple of weeks with a friend. Starting in Marrakech we moved on to the Atlas Mountains for some solitude before heading to the coastline and visiting the cities of Casablanca, Rabat, Kenitra and Meknes. Below is a description of the photos in the slideshow above in the order they are seen with links to the individual images on my Flickr account:

1. Golden hour at Jemaa el-Fnaa, the main square and market place in Marrakesh's medina quarter.

2. Berbers, are an ethnic group indigenous to North Africa. Three locals enjoying the view from their backyard in the Atlas Mountains.

3. Locals play on the beach at Casablanca while the sun sets.

4. The Hassan II Mosque or Grande Mosquée Hassan II is on the coastline of Casablanca and is the largest mosque in Morocco.

5. A man enjoys nature and solitude in front of the Atlantic Ocean on the coastline close to the city of Rabat.

6. A bodyboarder heads to the beach for a surf in Kenitra in the North of Morocco.

7. A local enjoys the view of the coastline from the colourful cliffs of Rabat.

I have written several previous travel photo essays for Dezine which can be found on their website. More of my travel photography can be found on my website, my Instagram, my Facebook and my Flickr account. If you are interested in purchasing any prints, using an image online or collaborating in any way please email: geraintrowlandphotography@gmail.com.

I believe that by converting an image to black and white one adds an extra element that is often lost with colour photography. With landscape photography, converting to black and white can add to the sense of scale and vastness of a scene. With documentary photography, converting to black and white can make the scene more powerful and alive. And with people photography, converting to black and white can add to and increase the captured emotion, whether that be happy or sad, lost or lonely. Photographer, Ted Grant's quote on black and white photography sums this up beautifully:

“When you photograph people in color, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in black and white, you photograph their souls!”

Black and White Photography by Geraint Rowland.

I rarely take a photograph thinking I will convert it into black and white, instead it happens later in the editing stage. The reason for converting to black and white normally depends on the light in which the photo was taken, but it can also be due to the atmosphere or mood of the image. Click through the slideshow below, descriptions of each shot can be found beneath:

Surfers in Peru in black and white.

Black and white African portrait by Geraint Rowland.

Travel Photography in black and white

The Day of the Dead Festival in Mexico City.

Travel in Black and White (Photo Essay for the Fourth Issue of Dezine Magazine)

Black and white documentary photography in Mexico.

An artistic black and white image in California by Geraint Rowland.

1. For a brief moment the light under the pier in Santa Monica was amazing yet it didn't quite work in colour. Converting to black and white exaggerated the amazing light show and the addition of a photographer in the frame added to the image.

2. Taken through the window on a road trip through West Africa I captured this boy as we passed through the border between Mauritania and Mali. His eyes show a lot of emotion which the black and white conversion helps bring out.

3. Taken during the Day of the Dead Carnival in Mexico City. Here the black and white conversion adds to the atmosphere and spirit of the carnival.

4. This confrontation between a shop owner and the Police in Downtown Mexico City is brought to life by the black and whiteconversion. One can almost feel the tension.

5. I love how the black and white conversion to this rural scene captured in Cusco, Peru, gives the image a dated and atmospheric feel.

6. The genuine happiness and innocence of these children in Belen Market, Iquitos, Peru is magnified by the conversion into black and white. The beauty of the light on the water is also accentuated by this process.

More of my black and white photography can be found on my website, my Instagram, my Twitter, and my Flickr account. If you are interested in purchasing any prints, using an image online or would like further information please send me an email at: geraintrowlandphotography@gmail.com.