Gerewol

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Still Points in a Turning World

In April of 2017, the Salomon Arts Gallery in Tribeca, New York held a solo exhibit of my ongoing project, “Still Points in a Turning World”. This work explores our universal cross-cultural truths: the importance of family, community, ritual and the amazing diversity of its expression.

“The central revelation of anthropology is that this world deserves to exist in a diverse way, that we must find a way to live in a truly multicultural, world where all of the wisdom of all peoples can contribute to our collective well-being.” Wade Davis

Click below to see more of my visual tales…

 

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Huffington Post Features Images from Niger

I am pleased to announce that the Huffington Post has featured my images of the nomadic tribes of Niger.

I want to create a visual document that reminds us, and generations to come, how beautiful and diverse the world is.

I see more than ever the importance of sharing our stories to gain a deeper understanding of the timeless past as it meets the imminent future.

I am happy that a globally respected news organization shares in these concerns, attesting to the importance of the preservation of human diversity and the wonder of our planet.

huffington post

To read the full article on Huffington Post, click here. 

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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

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 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.

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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…

The Gerewol

The Gerewol

 

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Leaving for Niger

There are no safe paths in this part of the world. Remember you are over Edge of the Wild now, and in for all sorts of fun wherever you go.” 

 J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

Leaving for Niger on Tuesday…

 In the Sahel desert of Niger, the nomadic Wodaabe people spend months apart, searching out pastures for their herds. When the rains are good, the tribes celebrate with an extraordinary beauty contest called Gerewol… and it’s the men who are on parade. 

 Being nomads there is nothing fixed about the festivals – no specific dates, they occur in September and October,  different lineages join together for the pageantry.  Also, on my mind as we will be driving through the grasslands and desert, is there is no fixed location….

 Looking forward to a unique adventure whatever we find…nomad encampments, camels racing in the dunes , evening dances and hypnotic chants, then traveling into the Tenere Desert, which I have heard has an indescribable beauty and a silence so intense that one can imagine the sound of the star trails.

 Off the Grid

Over the Edge of the Wild

as Joseph Conrad once said…

Suddenly a puff of wind, a puff laden with the scents of Africa  – the first sigh of Africa on my face

I wonder what story will unfold…

Beautiful image of the Gerewol by Timothy AllenBBC Human Planet : Wodaabe Gerewol , Niger , Africa