ABANDONING THE BABY CAMEL: In this photo, I am riding my camel with my Touareg father, Ahoudan, as we trek across the Bagzan mountains of Niger’s Aïr. Always preferring my own two feet (hence “alzharawalking”), I was not an avid camel rider. But on this particular trip, I became sick, and Ahoudan spent his time carrying me, or holding me atop my camel. Read more…
THE SAHARA: Oh desert of the Sahara, your warm embrace has dried my tears time and time again… a wounded knee then, a fragile soul now… shelter me always. Bestow strength on this humbled child, my boundless and divine home. Read more…
KIDNAPPED! This is me as a little girl in the Ivory Coast, kidnapped by the “mask of comedy” of the Guéré tribe. My parents were working for Jeune Afrique, shooting photos for a book on the Ivory Coast, when the mask took me, and refused to return me to my parents unless they paid a ransom of $10.
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