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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Fifteen: Making travel portraits that define personality and character. > Semi-nomads, Middle Atlas Mountains, Morocco, 2006
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17-DEC-2006

Semi-nomads, Middle Atlas Mountains, Morocco, 2006

On our way from Fez to the Sahara, we paid a brief visit to the modest log home of a family of semi-nomadic people. They had no electric power or windows -- I made this dual portrait with the light from the single door to the dwelling. Neither woman looks at us, which makes the viewer an observer. The women express a sense of quiet patience – they tolerate our visit with kindness and good grace. The primary subject wears primary red – it warms both the image and the character of the woman who is wearing it. The woman who wears an almost monochromatic sweater recedes into the background, providing context for the primary subject.

Leica V-Lux 1
1/5s f/2.8 at 8.5mm iso800 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis02-Feb-2007 22:42
Thanks, Christine, for this observation. It is always fascinating to visit other cultures. We are always applying our own standards to them. We see nomadic life as "precarious" because it does not conform to our own lives. But to them, it is the only life they know, and they think it is quite normal. You see pride here, and so do I. You also note how clean they are, and you comment on the tastefulness of their dress. And that is because our own perception of nomads would probably see them as rootless and vulnerable. Yet in reality, these desert peoples have their own proud tradition, and their appearance here is a reflection of that tradition. I am delighted that this photograph has made you consider these things, Christine -- that is part of the mission of expressive travel photography -- to lead us to reconsider our own preconceptions.
Christine P. Newman02-Feb-2007 06:47
Eevn though these people live in precarious conditions, we can see how proud and clean they are. They dress in good taste.
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