River Traffic on the Niger
Mopti, a large city on the Niger, Mali 2002
Our hotel was right across the street from the river and we could watch the long dugout-like boats called pinasse bringing goods to and from the market. This boat is loaded with earthenware pots, most likely used to store water, grains or maybe for cooking over an open fire.
The Guard
Taodenni, Mali 2005 : ‘Bab es Sahara’ Arabic for “The Gate to Sahara”
Here a young man guards the salt slabs just purchased by his master in the salt mines of Taodenni. The slabs are tied and ready to be loaded on the camels at dawn the next morning. The camels must be loaded and unloaded each morning and evening and the job must be done carefully because if the load slips and falls to the ground, the slabs will be broken and their value diminished.
Some might feel sorry for these young boys, thinking that they should be in school. But life is their school. The little fellow, accompanying his father on the pinasse, helps his father stow the cargo, watches for obstacles in the river as they sail and later, when he is older, he will learn to propel the boat using the long pole his father holds. His father needs his help and that more than anything gives the boy confidence.
The caravan boy learns to care for the camels, how to load them so that the salt does not abrade the animal’s hide. He watches for stragglers and brings them into the herd…makes tea and serves it to the men of the caravan even as they move. He will learn to find his way through the empty desert by the stars. He will learn where the wells are and which villages markets to sell the salt. As a leader of a caravan, someday in the future, he will be looked up to by the men of his tribe.
These photos are silhouettes but with some light reflecting onto the subjects. Both shots face into the setting sun. The dust filled air decreases the contrast and so we can see a bit of the detail in the photos. The light from the river slso reflects on the boat, highlighting the cargo and the boatman with the rest of the boat in shadow with no detail. The desert shot is more a low-light shot, but the contrast between the boy’s upper body and the sky creates a silhouette of his profile. I think his silhouette increases the sense of an empty and vast desert.