River Town on the Niger

Mopti, Mali women wash clothes in the Niger River

Wash Day on the Niger River

Mopti…Niger River Town 1997

There weren’t any other camera toting tourists the afternoon I sat on the banks of the Niger recovering from my migraine. The women going about the business of washing the family’s laundry or bathing themselves took little notice of me. I kept my distance, though. Now and then young women, their sleek, wet bodies gleaming in the sun, would cut their eyes at me and laugh in a friendly way.

I cropped this photo to the square format. There was a lot of empty space on the right and it diminished the importance of the colorful figures marching toward me. I’ve read that you needn’t ever take a vertical shot…just crop your horizontals. I don’t like that idea but it has its merits. You’ll never have a lot of empty blank space at the top of your photo if you do that. I must admit that is a mistake I still make when I am in a hurry. But I’ve got the habit of shooting vertical if I have 3 or fewer figures as my subject. I’m not sure I could have gotten this same perspective in a vertical shot, though.

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