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Living on borrowed time in Djiffer
At the southern tip of a spit of land on the coast of Senegal, which separates the sea from the waters of the Saloum, lies the small village of Djiffer. Its narrow strip of houses is thus squeezed between the waters of the Atlantic to the west and the lagoons of the Sine Saloum delta to the east. The Atlantic Ocean to the west is continually nibbling at its sandy shores in an effort to meet up with the waters of the Saloum. People living here are doing so on…
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Gallery: making eyes at me
Giraffes’ eyes are beautiful but they can look rather mournful. Maybe that’s a touch of anthropomorphism, attributing human emotions to an animal? And yet …
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Gallery: feathered friends in threes
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
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Gallery: seeing animals in black and white
You can’t get much more black and white than a zebra! But actually many animals look good in monochrome. I’ve had a go at editing some of my favourite wildlife shots – mammals, reptiles and birds – with my favourite software. Let me know which versions you prefer, colour or black and white?
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Day into night in the Jemaa el-Fnaa
Sooner or later it seems, all paths in Marrakesh lead to the Jemaa el-Fnaa. The name (sometimes spelled Djemaa el Fna or Jamaa el Fna) means ‘Assembly of the Dead’ in Arabic; but a visit here suggests life in all its vibrancy. To call this the city’s main square doesn’t begin to do justice to it. This is a meeting place, a shopping centre, a performance space, a happening. It is surrounded by restaurants and cafés, each with a roof terrace to offer a ringside seat from where to observe…
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Gallery: taking a wider view in Botswana
Looking for the ‘ah-ha’ seems to me to be an excellent mantra for any photographer. Although in truth I sometimes search for that not by stepping back but by zooming in. For me the important thing is not to settle for the obvious, for the first angle that occurs to me.
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Finding geometry in the buildings of Marrakesh
Some of the most beautiful architecture I have seen has been in the Islamic world. Islamic art shuns the depiction of living figures, whether human or animal, partly to avoid any suggestion of idolatry and partly because it is believed that the creation of living forms is Allah’s prerogative. Instead the emphasis is on geometric forms as well as calligraphy and abstract floral motifs.
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Gallery: lone trees in the landscape
'Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky.' (Kahil Gebran) And if every tree is a poem, a tree that stands alone is perhaps a performance poem - a poem that is shouted to the heavens?
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Friendly Friday: meet Cheikh, a guide in Senegal
Welcome to a new departure for the Friendly Friday Challenge. Every six weeks when it's my turn to host, I will be introducing you to a person or people I have met on my travels. People whom I have been inspired by, fascinated by or perhaps intrigued by. And I will be inviting you to do the same. As much as the sights we see, it is the people we meet who make travel so rewarding and so memorable. Whether close to home or on the other side of the…
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Elephant encounter: flashback to our first safari
The bull elephant seemed to glower at us from just a short distance away. Reginald eased the jeep door open a few inches, not for the first time. The elephant stomped his feet and advanced a little, and Reginald hurriedly shut the door again. Clearly the elephant was not going to let him out of the vehicle without charging. Sitting in the back seat Chris and I looked at each other nervously. Would the first day of our first ever safari end in disaster?
