Frans Lemmens: My life as a desert fox

I was invited to Africa, to northern Mali, in the 1984 drought. Friends who worked in the area had asked me to help organise and control food aid, and I stayed for over a year. It was a tough job. From March to October it was 48?C every single day, and 35?C at night. We had no electricity, no refrigerator, no vegetables - but plenty of sandstorms. The poverty, misery and despair we confronted was shocking.

During my stay, six of the sixty aid workers in northern Mali died in car or plane crashes, or from the heat. Two were my friends. Back home in Holland it took three months to come to terms with my emotions. Superficial tourism couldn't satisfy me, and the life of an aid worker was too hard and too risky for me in the long run. Photography had always been my passion, so in March 1986 I decided to become a documentary photographer.

Between photographic commissions from aid organisations I spent six weeks a year in the Sahara shooting my own work, mainly in Algeria. On one occasion I went to Niger to join a traditional salt caravan with 300 camels. It took two weeks to cross the fabulous Ténéré desert on foot and on camel. The battle with the elements made this trip the most interesting I ever did.

It was killing. After five days I forgot about photography and concentrated on surviving and not falling off the swaying beast beneath me. It was something I had always wanted to do - but something I will never try again.

My images of the desert became my first book, The Algerian Sahara, which was my international breakthrough. From then on I decided to specialise in nature and travel.

Travelling in the Sahara became a hassle. In 1990 I was caught by rebels in Northern Mali - they quickly released me after we recognised each other as former friends. Civil war broke out in Algeria and Niger, and it was clear that this part of the Sahara desert would be closed for some time.

So my partner Marjolijn and I travelled all over the world until our old love for Sahara came to the fore again. We decided to compile a high quality photographic book which, while not showing the whole desert, would at least include all the elements.

We made careful plans for trips to Mali, Niger, Libya, Tunisia and our favourite Sahara destination, Algeria. Of course it was not always easy to get what we wanted. Travelling and shooting whatever you encounter is quite easy, but to plan a specific shot and make it happen takes a lot of patience and endurance in a place where time and planning are not considered important.

We feel very comfortable in the desert and can stay for many weeks out in the sand as long as we have responsible locals around us. We don't need any luxuries, fancy clothes or gadgets - not even a compass. We eat local food. We live by local standards. This is very important, because the people of the Sahara appreciate it, and without their involvement we would never find what we are looking for.

If you respect them, they respect and trust you - even if they don't understand what exactly you are doing.

Equipment and film

We prefer to keep things simple and travel light. Flexibility is important. I use two Nikon 100 bodies, and keep a third in reserve. They're easy to use and not too heavy. I carry seven lenses (fish-eye, 60mm macro, 70-210 macro, 17-35mm, 35-70mm, 80-200mm and 300mm), two flash guns and a Gitzo tripod. My camera bag is a Lowe-Pro backpack. I used to use Kodachrome transparency film (15% of the images in the book were shot on Kodachrome) but switched in 1990 to Fuji Velvia and Astia.

photo commentaries:

Kerzaz Oasis, Saoura Valley, Algeria

On each expedition there are only a couple of favourable photographic days, which creates its own pressure. You want to get that one and only shot. Of course in the desert you cannot force the elements. But we found that by trusting our drivers and guides and delivering ourselves to the elements, in the end we could almost always find the shot we were looking for.

I had already photographed this scene back in 1979 and 1986. But when I was in the neighbourhood again in March 2003 I decided to shoot it again, because the position of the sun is perfect at this time of year. I made sure I was there in good time, and waited for the moment to come, praying that the weather would stay clear. In March it's often hazy due to harsh winds and frequent sandstorms. At 5.55pm it was exactly as I had calculated and with the luck of the weather I was able to capture the scene as you see it now.

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Fuel for body and mind: Tuaregs and their camels pause for tea, Algeria

Chinese green tea is prepared in a small enamel teapot over hot charcoals and drunk from small glasses. The tea ceremony is a sacred ritual. A Tuareg will not stop his journey readily if he is unsure whether he has the time to drink the traditional three glasses. The tea ceremony means more than just a stop for a drink. It is the ultimate moment of contemplation and relaxation, an inspirational boost; and the camels, too, can enjoy a welcome rest.

Hot footing it: Tamdacht festival camel race, Ménaka, Mali

Mounted on their best camels, Tuareg men race each other during the Tamdacht festival. Camel races are popular with the Tuaregs. After the race, the participants are praised for their skills and the quality of their mounts. But above all, the festivals are social events at which both men and women can exchange the latest news and gossip and make music.

Tuareg man looking for his camels, Ténéré desert, Niger

Being close to the local people gives me a great advantage - taking pictures of them is no problem. I must say that I never take images of people without asking, except perhaps in places where many people are together, such as a market.

The heat as ally: salt pans in the oases of Teguidda n'Tessoumt, Niger

Every day the shallow, man-made holes in the ground are filled with water that comes from salt-rich springs.

When the water evaporates, salt is left behind on the floors of the holes. After being collected, the deposits, sometimes mixed with mud, are left to dry in the sun. The salt is traded mostly to herders in the Sahel, whose cattle need large quantities if they are to survive.

By the book: Koranic school in the oasis of Iferouane, Niger

Local children assemble to study the holy book of Islam, the Koran.

Wodaabe man prepares for a beauty contest

Once a year, at the end of the rainy season, when there is enough grass to feed large herds, the Wodaabe meet to celebrate the Geerewol festival. This festival lasts for seven days and is the opportunity for the nomads to meet and exchange news. For the rest of the year, they move around in small groups on the dry steppes, particularly in Niger.

For the young Wodaabe, the festival offers a very good opportunity to make contacts and perhaps to find an (additional) husband or wife. These aims are served by the daily, erotic-tinted Geerewol dances in which the most handsome men from one group of Wodaabe compete for the favours of the most beautiful women of another group.

With their relatively light skin and fine features, the Wodaabe consider themselves to be the most beautiful creatures on earth. A high forehead, a long thin nose, white teeth and clear whites of eyes are taken as marks of beauty. Prior to the dances, everything possible is done to accentuate these features. The men, in particular, spend a lot of time on their appearance. The hairline is shaved, the face is made up using colouring substances and eyeliner is applied not only to the eyes but also to the lips. Jewellery, carefully selected clothing and extraordinary headdresses, mostly decked with an ostrich feather (a symbol of fertility), are used to guarantee a stunning appearance. At the end of the dance, during which the men fall into a trance, they show their teeth and roll their eyes, so that the white is clearly visible - the climax of the seduction.

Tuareg blues: a Tuareg boy plays on a home-made guitar, Niger

Young Tuaregs grow up in a world full of uncertainties. Being forced by circumstance to move away from the traditional existence of the caravan driver and warrior has led the Tuaregs to turn to animal husbandry.

Behind the veil: Tuareg woman

Because of their independent and relatively isolated existence, the Tuaregs have largely been able to hold onto their traditional culture. They have their own language, Tamashek, and their own script, the Tifinar or Tifinagh. Under the veneer of Islam, they honour many of their old beliefs and customs. Unlike some Islamic peoples, the Tuareg allow women a large measure of freedom. The woman chooses her husband herself, has the right to divorce him and is responsible for the upbringing of the children and other important family matters.

Frans Lemmens is one of the world's very few travel photographers specialising in the Sahara desert. The images in this edition of Portfolio come from the collection Frans produced for his book, Sahara - Land Beyond Imagination (Frans Lemmens and Martijn de Rooi, Dutch Publishers, Netherlands, ISBN 90-76214-07-7, €59.50). Signed copies are available to order online at www.franslemmens.com, where you can view further images and preview pages of the book.

An exhibition of Frans Lemmens' work will be on display at the National Museum of Natural History in Leiden, Netherlands (Naturalis, www.naturalis.nl) until 17 January 2005.

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