June 23, 2015 by Terri Gold

BRONZE MEDAL WINNER PRIX DE LA PHOTOGRAPHIE PARIS

HINT OF HENNA IN NIGER : BRONZE MEDAL

YAAKA DANCE : HONORABLE MENTION

GARDEN CAMPSITE : HONORABLE MENTION

TERRI GOLD OF UNITED STATES WAS AWARDED THIRD PRIZE IN THE PX3 2015 COMPETITION.

PARIS, FRANCE
PRIX DE LA PHOTOGRAPHIE PARIS (PX3) ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF PX3 2015 COMPETITION.

Terri Gold of United States was Awarded: Third Prize in category Portraiture for the entry entitled, ” Hint of Henna in Niger .” The jury selected PX3 2015’s winners from thousands of photography entries from over 85 countries.

ABOUT Px3:

The “Prix de la Photographie Paris” (Px3) strives to promote the appreciation of photography, to discover emerging talent, and introduce photographers from around the world to the artistic community of Paris. Winning photographs from this competition are exhibited in a high-profile gallery in Paris and published in the high-quality, full-color Px3 Annual Book.
Visit http://px3.fr

May 29, 2015 by Terri Gold

aCurator features Terri Gold : 1000 Nomads

Terri Gold: 1000 Nomads

View the full screen magazine feature

January 23, 2015 by Terri Gold

The Colors of India

If there is one place on the face of earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India!” ~Romaine Rolland

off for an adventure in India

desert festivals and a wild sufi music festival

fire dancers, camel races, musicians, whirling dervishes and more

into the golden sand dunes of the Thar desert

a spiritual journey

a celebration

of the human spirit !

January 14, 2015 by Terri Gold

The Travel Photographer | The Nomads Of Niger

I am happy to be featured on my friend Tewfic El-Sawy’s informative and inspiring travel photography blog.

http://thetravelphotographer.blogspot.com/2015/01/terri-gold-nomads-of-niger.html

The Travel Photographer.Infrared photography and off-the-beaten path nomadic people…this is exactly what photographer Terri Gold features in her new Nomads in Niger gallery.

She photographed the Wodaabe; nomadic cattle-herders and traders in the Sahel, who periodically migrate from southern Niger, through northern Nigeria, northeastern Cameroon, southwestern Chad, and the western region of the Central African Republic. The number of Wodaabe is estimated to be 100,000 and are widely known for their beauty, elaborate attire and rich cultural ceremonies.

Terri tells me there has been no tourism in Niger for 6 years now, and her photography group numbered less than five. The Wodaabe festival she attended had no fixed date, so it was a matter of crossing fingers and being patient. Her group had to have 18 guards armed with Kalashnikovs and a 50 mm machine gun on each truck.

The Guérewol festival is an annual courtship ritual competition among the Wodaabes, when young men dressed in elaborate ornamentation and made up in traditional face painting gather in lines to dance and sing, vying for the attentions of marriageable young women.

Terri Gold is an award-winning photographer and artist based in New York City, and has built an impressive reputation for her infrared imagery of rituals, rites of passage, festivals, celebrations and portraits from all over the world.

Her artistic creativity and energy were patently obvious during my Tribes of South Rajasthan & Kutch Photo~Expedition™which she had joined in January 2010, as she moved from one photo shoot in a village to the next photographing with her two cameras; one “normal” like those used by the rest of us, and the second professionally modified to shoot infrared.

November 20, 2014 by Terri Gold

Three Cups of Tea in Niger

The nomads in Niger say that tea is the “friend of conversation.” I watched how the rhythms of the day are marked by the tea service. Tea finishes off every meal and signals the time for the afternoon nap. The last cup marks the end of the day.

They say that wan-iyen – the first round – is bitter, like life. The sharp taste of the Chinese green tea not yet diluted by pots of water. Wan-ashin, the second round, is sweet, like love; sugar is added and the tea has lost some of its strength. Wan-karad, the third round, is light, like the “breath of death.” This one is little more than sugary water.

None of the activities required to live in the desert, such as pounding millet or pulling water from a deep well or the preparation of tea looked easy and I could see one needed strength, patience and grace.

November 5, 2014 by Terri Gold

Security in Niger

“I soon realized that no journey carries one far unless, as it extends into the world around us, it goes an equal distance into the world within.” Lillian Smith

Niger was a journey to both the inner and outer worlds. I was continually aware there was much going on beyond what I saw in front of me. So much about the life here that I didn’t understand. To live the life of a nomad with no fixed home, little access to education or health care or much knowledge about the world. What that must that be like…

The unseen layers called me. The world is big enough for so many different values and beliefs. What links us all is our common humanity. I travel to stretch my imagination and beliefs.

We flew from Niamey, the capital, to Agadez on the UN plane under the auspices of the Nomad Foundation. There we met with our security team of 2 vehicles with 9 armed soldiers in each car and a 50 caliber machine gun on each truck. One cannot leave Agadez without them. We were shadowed quietly by them throughout the trip. We were warmly received at the festivals and encountered no problems with our security and yet now, on returning home, the situation has changed and we would probably not be able to go this week.

We received this bulletin from the US State Department this week :

While the U.S. Embassy is unaware of any specific, credible threats against U.S. or western interests or individuals in Niger, U.S. citizens residing in, or visiting Niger should remain vigilant regarding their personal security and stay alert to local security developments. We also heard that French troops have reportedly destroyed an al-Qaeda convoy in Niger that was transporting weapons from Libya to Mali, and also captured some of the group’s fighters. There were 250 military vehicles racing through Agadez on the way North to address this problem.

Our timing was very lucky and I feel privileged to have visited the festivals that so few people get to see. I am very sad that the incredible program that Leslie Clark and the Nomad Foundation had set up for this week had to be postponed till the situation becomes stable again. Leslie had a doctor coming to work with the local midwives and other volunteers to implement a new building technique. I hope this all gets to happen in the not to distant future.

October 27, 2014 by Terri Gold

Water is Life

At the Well

We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.

At The Well

~Thomas Fuller, 1732

October 19, 2014 by Terri Gold

Searching for the Gerewol Festivals

“This is a great moment, when you see, however distant, the goal of your wandering. The thing which has been living in your imagination suddenly become part of the tangible world. It matters not how many ranges, rivers or parching dusty ways may lie between you; it is yours now for ever. ” Freya Stark

On the last leg of the journey home from my trip to photograph and experience the Nomad festivals in Niger.. I have been dreaming of seeing these festivals since I first discovered Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher’s books on Niger and other parts of Africa. I have been traveling with Leslie Clark, of the Nomad Foundation, who led the trip, Diane Marinos and Louise Porter, fellow photographers. We had a tough first week finding only one festival rehearsal, visited some nomadic camps and a rather modern Tuareg wedding with electric guitar and few camels. We persevered, mainly keeping our sense of humor, gathering information wherever we could and found there would be two large festivals beginning in a few days. Then the wild adventures began and we stepped back in time. A biblical scene awaited us as we arrived at the first festival, a Wodaabe Worso. This is a gathering of families where the nomads celebrate their way of life, the end of a successful rainy season and the one time of year they can all get together. It means they bring their houses, herds and families, arriving on camels, burros and many on foot. It was enormous—thousands of animals, maybe thousands of people-no real way to count, our wonderful crew and our ever faithful security team which you cannot travel in Niger without and the 4 of us.

We slept under the stars, the music of the herds our lullaby and the milky way and full moon overhead. During the day we were warmly welcomed everywhere mainly because of the wonderful work Leslie and her foundation has been doing in this area since the 90’s and joined in the celebrations under the blazing hot sun. Leslie is a true inspiration. She speaks the Wodaabe language, has lived in their tents and traveled by camel with the nomads across the grasslandsand learned their customs and traditions. Then created her foundation and built schools and opened medical clinics and most importantly wells, and then creates beautiful paintings of her experiences.

The whole experience was magical

more tales to follow…