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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Forty-Four: Photographing human response – gesture, body language, and expressions > Taureg Nomad, Sahara Desert, Morocco, 2006
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19-DEC-2006

Taureg Nomad, Sahara Desert, Morocco, 2006

We visited the tent of a family of Berber nomads in the Sahara. She is a member of a Berber tribe known as Tauregs. They move from place to place, depending on the availability of forage for their sheep. They are essentially cut off from the world, yet this woman still wears a wristwatch (That is not polish on her fingernails. The red color is from henna, which is rubbed over the hands.) Her face is veiled. She does not make eye contact with me. There is a cultural divide here – a dozen American tourists crowded into a tent intended for four people. She has no idea of where we came from or who we are. And we have no conception of the world as she sees it. Meanwhile, she softly folds her hands together, a gesture that I can only classify as patient. She would, I think, rather be somewhere else at this moment. I made this image from the other side of the tent with long telephoto focal length (420mm) I shot in burst mode, with all sound effects on my camera turned off. Since I look down into my flip-viewfinder, and do not raise the camera to my face, I don’t think she even noticed that I was making her picture.

Leica V-Lux 1
1/320s f/5.6 at 88.8mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis28-Feb-2007 19:06
Thanks, Jen, for this wonderfully lucid interpretation. I felt that same mixture of feelings as I photographed her -- she is a young woman who seems to be at odds with her identity. The watch and the painted fingernails seem to symbolize a bridge to another kind of life altogether. And yes, there is pain in her expression. I don't think she appreciated our group's intrusion, even though it brought her family some modest income. I am glad you can see yourself in her -- she is probably your age, and yes -- I sense that there is an identity struggle going on within her. Thanks, Jen, for this thoughtful and insightful commentary.
Jennifer Zhou28-Feb-2007 09:37
Phil, this portrait is overwhelmingly powerful, I feel almost stifled, like the veil is covering on my face. You use telephoto lens to bring her so close to us, I feel like I am right there sitting beside her. The emotion conveyed through her eyes is a mixture of fear, confusion, sadness, anger, frustration, and even despair, while her gesture and the watch, the colored figernails revealed a secret in her heart --- she has dreams and hopes. But probably would never come true. She is struggling to break free in a silent but powerful way. In fact I can see myself in her, there is an unique soul waiting to be uncovered, and then it will come shining through.
Phil Douglis16-Jan-2007 05:50
Thanks, Tim, for recognizing the photographic values at work in this portrait. The abstraction of the veil and the averted eyes play against the visible symbols of beauty: the nails, braclet, watch, and colors. This tension, plus the relatively patient gesture, give this portrait its substance. As you say -- much is shrouded, but much is revealed as well.
Tim May16-Jan-2007 04:27
A stunning portrait - so much is shown - even through so much is shrouded.
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