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John Moore's avatar

Fascinating piece, thank you. It brings back lots of memories. I made several visits to Djanet and the Tassili between 1969 and 1973, made recordings of traditional Touareg music and took lots of photos- none as impressive as yours, though! I also managed to get myself lost in the desert and found my way back thanks to a group of Touaregs.

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Nicholas Holt's avatar

I would love too see your pictures from that trip John

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John Moore's avatar

I’ll put some up in the next day or two (I’m not a photographer!) It was especially a good time to see the rock paintings as there were very few visitors. I also spent some time in Djanet for the Sebeba festival. Really glad to see you’re interested.

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Nicholas Holt's avatar

Would be interesting to see them as a document of Djanet at that time. Sebeba festival looks wonderful.

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Nicholas Holt's avatar

Thanks John. I'm envious! think would have been a wonderful time to visit Djanet? I had an uncle who crossed the Sahara in the mid 70s - a golden age for Saharan travel.

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Marco & Sabrina's avatar

Love the Chatwin quote, Nicholas!

Superb photos.

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Nicholas Holt's avatar

Thanks! I love that quote too. Chatwin was nomad obsessed!

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John Moore's avatar

Hi, Nicholas

I've uploaded some photos here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1IuT1SqVzQ6uWpGwSHOkS6ZesKzGD58e1?usp=drive_link

I hope you find them of interest. Too bad I didn't clean them before digitizing! There are also a couple of audio clips I made of the sebeba (or sebiba) at the time.

I did a programme on Tuareg music for the BBC Third Programme that was aired in 1974 but the stuff that I collected for that (including my recordings) has vanished. I doubt very much whether the BBC still has anything in their archives.

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Nicholas Holt's avatar

These a great John-well observed. The colours are tremendous. They make me wish I had shot film.

I love the image of the gap in the rocks where the colour is so vibrant - almost hallucinogenic.

Great to see the familiar mannerisms, dress and characteristics of the Tuareg, and to know not much has changed. Except now there are a few less camels and more Toyotas. The image with the aircraft and pilot is magical. Thanks so much for sharing.

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John Moore's avatar

Thanks, Nicholas, your words are appreciated! I seem to remember the pilot was saying that they were overweight and three passengers would have to get off!

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