Tour of Oualata
Oualata, Mauritania 2005
Oualata was once a thriving city, a center for Islamic learning and an important stop on the caravans of the silk road. Now it is withering. A few families live in the abandoned city which lies on a rocky hill overlooking the Sahara. The chief, you see him here, took us for a tour through the narrow rubble filled streets. The women of Oualata still carry on the tradition of decorating their houses in this “filigree” style. We all want some beauty in our lives.
This is a scanned slide. The blacks were too dense to get any detail. I used Topaz Studio and Simplify to enhance the shot. I settled on this look…it is almost identical to my slide, but Simplify can create miracles. I like this because it reminds me of a Tarot card and the colors make me happy. That is the whole point: happiness.