Not so Happy
Mopti, Mali 2001 : A Fulani girl peers from her doorway.
The Fulani woman are considered the most beautiful in West Africa… and not just by the men, the women consider themselves beautiful as well. Many have fine features reminiscent of Somalis and Ethiopians. Tattooed lips are a beauty mark. This woman has an unusually large tattoo. It must have been a painful process. I hope she is happy with it.
Berber Woman at Tribal Festival
Morocco’s Guir Desert 2003: A Berber Woman with facial tattoos.
Her tattoos don’t seem to be as ‘professional’ as the Fulani’s, especially that ‘X’ on her forehead. It’s uneven! Wouldn’t that drive you mad? This woman has a lovely expression, sweet and shy. She had her daughter with her and was pleased that I chose to photograph the two of them. I showed the pictures to a friend of mine and her comment was, “Look at her poor hands…so roughened by work.”
The women are aware of having roughened hands and feet. You wouldn’t think it, would you? Once I was in a gathering like this one. All the women were in one tent and all the men in another. I was sent to be with the women and my guide to the men. It is protocol to remove your shoes even when entering a tent. I did. For some reason, I took off my sox. Maybe I didn’t want them to get full of sand. The women stared at my feet which are white and rather large compared to theirs. (Berber women are short.) One woman spied that there was a crack on my heel. She announced to the room that even American woman suffer from this problem. Oh! I felt as if I had let the side down. If only I’d been more faithful in applying lotion after my baths!
No, I don’t speak Berber, but I just understood.