Allaaaaaahu Akbar!
Morocco 2004…Somewhere near the Algerian border.
A friend of my guide’s family knew of a wedding taking place in the desert. His kinsman was getting married. He wouldn’t have been able to attend if I hadn’t been interested in photographing nomads. The 4×4 was full of Berber men joking and telling stories…in a good mood because they would be spending the day with distant family.
The family of the groom had set their tent in the middle of nowhere. How we found it, I don’t know. When we arrived the men of the wedding party, who were sitting inside the tent, streamed out to greet the men with me. Each man received a light handshake and a kiss on both cheeks. I was acknowledged with a nod and then sent to be with the women.
The women were gathered outside except for one tiny tent set up for the bride. It was the size of a pup tent but there were three or more women in it including the bride, who was the size of a fourth grader. As a guest of honor, I was obliged to sit in the tent. I’m 5’7 and not used to sitting on rocky ground with my legs tucked under me. We were all jammed together, me not understanding a word and too close to focus my camera. The ground was hard. The women stared and talked about me. I stared at them.
I could see that they were poor. The bride’s veil was worn, tattered and dirty, the embroidery faded. When I say ‘veil’ I mean the usual piece of cloth that Berber women wrap themselves in when they go out of their home. The bride wore it so that it covered her completely, face and all as she sat in ‘state’.
I remembered attending a Touareg wedding in Niger, but this wedding was quite humble compared to that. The Touareg women had dressed in gleaming indigo fabric costing hundreds of dollars. The tent for the bride was colorful and large enough for a group of women who laughed as they braided the bride’s hair and decorated her hands with henna designs.
I felt sorry for the little Berber bride sitting so still and silent beside me. This was her big day. I hoped the groom was a handsome young man and that she was smiling to herself under her veil. To see the bride click here: http://www.rosemarysheel.com/archives/desert-bride
The photo is scanned from a slide and the detail in the shadows just wasn’t there unless I overdid the clarity. So, I overdid the clarity. Now you have a better idea of how those Berber men dressed.
BTW Not all the men went out to pray and no one cared one way or the other. The women didn’t pray.