Desert Peoples & Cultures - Jan-Eric Osterlund

My first images are from Marrakesh, Morocco. I liked the sunrays through the broken roof and the bike hanging on the wall
People greeting each other after a visit to the mosque, Marrakesh, Morocco
It was the shadows against the wall of the mosque that caught my attention. Notice the child at the back of the lady behind
I waited for a long time behind the doorway and I loved the girl with her mobile phone on the bike and her tough boyfriend with his leather jacket. The carpets, the chair in the doorway, the metal studded doors in the doors, the contrast between old and new; it's all there in one simple picture
Metal worker in his shop. Marrakesh, Morocco
The gentleman was blind and spoke only French, which isn't my strongest side, but we succeeded anyway to chat for a while. Marrakesh, Morocco
Ait Benhaddou at sunrise. The buildings are all built of clay and stones from the surrounding soil with its orange, ochre and terracotta colours
And at sunset from the other side of the river. Ait Benhaddou is probably the most beautiful town of all I saw in Morocco
Sunset over Todra Valley. Palm trees in the oasis in the valley and the town of Tinehir, with its Minaret towering above the town
A very different way of living in this bedouin tent in Sahara.
The girl inside the tent baking. She lived with her grandfather, who was drinking tea with us outside
Amerhidil Kasbah south of the Atlas mountains
Amerhidil Kasbah. the courtyard inside
Interior from the original kitchen at Amehidil Kasbah
View from Telouet Kasbah, 1,800m alt at the pass of a caravan trading way from Timbuktu south of the Sahara to Marrakesh and the Mediterranean coast. It was ruled by the excentric El Glaoui family at the beginning of the 20th century.
A contemplating Berber looking out from Telouet Kasbah
Tea with Berber family, Dades Valley, Atlas Mountains. While I photographed the Dades valley, the family came and invited my driver and me for tea. Notice the bread and the olive oil I dipped the bread into.
The host of the tea party
A Berber in his tent near the canals of Fezna
Nomadic Berbers in Todra valley
Young Berber girl in Todra Gorge
Enlargement of one of the eyes of the Berber girl in the previous picture. Notice that you can see the three Berber men and our car in the reflections of her eye.
The gentleman ran a little restaurant, where he was cooking in clay cooking pots called tagines, individually heated by the coal underneath. I had a lamb tagine for lunch
Doors at Tamegroute old Ksar. A Ksar is a fortified village with small alleys and covered walkways. All the doors are from Oases at the borders to Sahara
Doors at Tamegroute old Ksar
Door from Tinzoulle Ksar north of Zagora
Door at Tinzoulle Ksar north of Zagora
Woman and donkey entering the Ksar at Tinzoulle
A meeting in an alleyway inside Ksar Maadid, north of Erfoud
Ladies walking in the old walkways, Tamegroute old Ksar. This is one of my favourite shots from Morocco. The ladies are just as mystic as a Moslem lady should be in an image. The exposure time is three seconds (it was very dark inside the covered alleyway) and that helped to create the ghost-like appearance of the ladies
Old mosque at Afanour, near Tinehir
This is the gentlemen's cleaning room before going into the prayer room in the previous picture
San Pedro de Atacama, Atacama desert in Chile, 2,400m altitude
Humahuaca town hall, Jujuy Province, Argentina. 3,000m altitude
Humahuaca street market with a wall painting on one of the houses, northwest Argentina
Hacienda de Molinos in Argentina
Quilmes old Indian village partially reconstructed. Quilmes was an urban settlement from about AD 1,000 and housed around 5,000 people. The Indians survived the contact with the Inca around 1480 but couldn't outlast the siege of Spaniards who in 1667 deported the last inhabitants to Buenos Aires
Machuka town church, Atacama desert, Antofagasta region, Chile
Farmhouse in the semi-desert west of Tupiza, Bolivia. Chorolque Mountain in the background. The mountain is at 6,000m and the huts are at 4,000m altitude.
Bolivian ladies at the Tupiza market
Bolivian ladies at the Tupiza market
Old Indian burial cave in Bolivia at the Uyumo Salt Flats
Wupatki Pueblo (near Flagstaff, Arizona) was inhabited around 800 years ago and was left uninhabited after 1250, maybe due to volcanic eruptions from nearby Sunset Crater. It was inhabited by sofisticated Puebloan people and consisted of around a hundred rooms, where many families lived together.
A modern shopping area in Sedona, Arizona gives the impression of entering a Mexican town.
Gers near Khongoryn Els in Mongolia. The Gers follow the nomadic people when they move between their winter and summer locations in order to take care of their animals
Gers on the steppe. In summer time they roll up the walls to let in the breeze. In winter they all have a fireplace inside (see the chimneys sticking out)
Erdene Zuu monastery. The Mongolians practise Mongolian Buddhism or Mongolian Shamanism
Prayer wheels at the monastery
A lonely rider came across the steppe from his Ger inviting us to a friendly drink. However, only our drivers dared to taste the home distilled fermented spirit
A welcoming drink on the steppe
Mongolian gentleman in his Ger. Gobi desert, Mongolia
Monglians at the Naadam Festival
Horse rider dressed for the festival. Nadaam festival near Kharkourin, Mongolia
Archery, one of the three areas of competition during the Naadam Festival
Most of the horse racing takes place with young jockeys like this boy. Nadaam festival near Kharkourin, Mongolia
The wrestling is the third game at the festival
San or Bushmen community near Okahandja, Namibia. They live outside the true desert but still in very dry areas. They have a very traditional way of life, but most have now been assimilated into the modern society
Bushmen showing how to hunt in traditional ways
San people. Mother and child
San family gathered outside their bushman hut
Bushmen mothers and their children
Children from the Nama tribe, Namibia
A young boy from the Nama tribe, Namibia
Luderitz town, Namibia, discloses in its buildings its German heritage. Luderitz is located at the sea and inland it is surrounded by desert.
The deserted diamond town of Kolmanskop. The desert retakes what belongs to it. Kolmanskop is a short distance inland from Luderitz
Inside a house at Kolmanskop. The sand has entered the ground floor and is more than half way up to the first floor
The chief of the Himba tribe, who lives a very traditional and special life.
The chief had three wives, but took time anyway to look after his child.
A hut belonging to the Himba tribe nr Epupa falls, Namibia
The women covered themselves in an ochre coloured paste and also their hair. Their elaborate head-dresses signifies that they are married
The third wife of the chief of the tribe. The skin of the ladies is covered by red clay and so is their hair. They don't wash in the precious water, but in the reddish clay. Notice the stickiness around her neck and her elaborate head decoration
With her daughter. Notice all her necklaces and bracelets.
She was very photogenic and an easy model to direct, although she didn't speak a word of English
Outside a hut in the village
Portrait of the Chief's wife. Look at the clay underneath her necklaces.
Before the girls have reached puberty they wear their hair in two braids to hide their face. This girl doesn't yet cover herself in the clay.
But although she was only a child, she was equally photogenic and well aware of her beauty
Even at this young age the girls wear treir heavy necklaces
This girl is slightly older. She has reached puberty and is ready for marriage as she has moved her hair back in the traditional braids for women. But she isn't married yet, because she doesn't wear the hairdo the married women have.
Another married woman
A portrait of the same girl
And inside her hut
A young girl but already covered in the paste
And a young man of the Himba tribe

I am not trying to provide a comprehensive description of the peoples of the desert, but just to show a few images of the peoples and cultures that have fascinated me. I will include a few images of the buildings that are typical for the peoples/tribes I tell about.

Berbers

I start with the Berbers in Sahara. The Berbers lived in North Africa long before the arrival of the Arabs and their culture probably dates back more than 4,000 years. In the seventh century AD the Arabs invaded the countries and they have since dominated the culture. The Arabs live in the more civilised cities. In all the Berber countries (Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia) they now speak Arabic. The Berbers remain a dominating ethnic group in the desert itself and in some towns in south Morocco (I am not sure of the other countries that comprise Sahara).

In the 11th and 13th centuries two Berber dynasties, the Almoravids and the Almohads, controlled large part of Spain as well as north-west Africa. The Berbers are (in my opinion) more open and welcoming than the Arabs, there are more tolerant in the expressions of their religion, the women don’t necessarily cover their faces, but as in all countries with Muslim beliefs there is a substantial difference between men and women.

Traditionally the Muslims don’t depict humans. In a mosque there are only abstract forms painted on the tiles and flowers but no living things. In modern Berber art there is a tendency to depict women as well as men, but the women are often viewed from behind. Sometimes I felt obliged to respect that in my photography, if I wasn’t expressly invited to capture the face of a woman.

The architecture of Berber villages and towns is very special. The building material is the same sandstone and clay that is found everywhere. It must be constantly maintained; otherwise it will dissolve and be destroyed. Many of their old towns as well as individual palaces are well preserved. Lamb in all forms is a staple diet.

Mongols

There are around three million people in Mongolia of which half live in cities and the other half still roams freely on the steppes or in the Gobi Desert. Mongolia is the most sparsely populated country in the world, and the Mongolians are outnumbered by their horses. Their greatest period was during the 12th to 14th centuries, when Genghis Khan built an empire covering a continued land mass larger than at any time before and ever thereafter has been formed.

It was their closeness to the horse that made this empire possible, and the horse is still today their most valued possession. Their famous games of Naadam consist of three sports: Wrestling, archery and horse racing. The horse racing is mainly done with young jockeys between as young as 5 years and up to early teens.

A lot of the Mongols still live a semi-nomadic life. They live in a kind of tent, the Ger, that can be dismounted and moved around or they can move the whole gear on a platform drawn by camels or horses.

Himbas

In Namibia the Himba tribe is unique. They live on the outskirts of the Namibian desert. They are tall and slender. The women cover themselves completely with a paste made of fat, ochre and herbs which they put on their skin. As water is scare they often clean themselves just by the paste they put on their skin. It protects them from the sun and from insects and its red colour enhances their beauty (as they see it). The paste is also covering the hair and their intricate hairdos.

Nowadays the Himbas are mainly found in northern Namibia on the border with Angola. There are about 50,000 of them in total. They live a simple life in small huts made of mud and dung. Their society is polygamous. The chief in the village I visited had three wives and they were all living together and shared all duties.

2 thoughts on “Desert Peoples & Cultures”

Nyemade says:

18th February 2021 at 8:32 pm

Thank you for this. My continent of Africa is so large and it’s people so diverse.

Janie says:

11th August 2024 at 8:25 am

This is just wonderful for you to share with the world. Thank you.