Oualata Style
Oualata, Mauritania 2005
Oualata was known in the 14th century as one of the ‘seven sacred cities of Islam’. Its reputation as a holy city with well stocked libraries attracted scholars and future imams. As an oasis deep in the Sahara, it was a center of commerce: a destination for camel caravans carrying choice cargo from the east. Once a thriving community, it is practically a ghost town now.
Only a few families live here. They keep their homes decorated in the traditonal filigree style and stock their closet-sized shop with Coca Cola as they wait for the rare tourist who arrives in a 4×4. The headman greets you at the ‘hotel’ and leads you through the deserted alleyways to the top of the hill, to the gate to the city, where caravans entered the town in its heyday. The crumbling adobe buildings that line the road were once shops and depositories for manuscripts, the heart of the city.
The present inhabitants eke out a living raising goats and a few dates. The women make small clay figures of animals to sell to tourists, and the headman acts as a tour guide. The books from the old libraries are gone. Perhaps they were taken to Chinghetti where local families can earn money by displaying their collections.
The photo is of an atrium in a home in Oualata. I don’t think anyone lived there. We were taken to see it as it represented a wealthy man’s home. I couldn’t help but wonder how that old bed got there. At the time I wanted to move the bed as I thought it detracted from my photo. Now I like it. It adds a sense of what life is like now.
The light was very contrasty as the sun was setting and part of the atrium was dark. Luckily, there is detail in the shade and in the sun lit areas. That’s all we ask.