The 2026 FiSahara film festival is now over.
These are quick, initial edits of photographs from 1 day ( Saturday 2nd May ) from Ausserd ‘refugee’ camp in south west Algeria. One of 5 camps which the Algerian government has allowed to exist, it permits an exiled Saharawi population to exist independent of the Moroccan government which invaded Western Sahara in 1975.
A 1 week Film Festival in the Ausserd camp portrays the issues.
My photographs seek to portray something of the landscape of Ausserd camp, esprcially the unusual array of ‘water mattresses’ which can be seen everywhere. Water is a crucial commodity in the desert; a recent study shows that on average a single Sahwari person uses as little as 17 litres of water per day. Collection and storage is vital.
There are several portraits in this collection of images; a mujere who kindly invited me into her house for tea as other members of her family stitched with string a new carpet to the old carpets beneath, some kids who jumped over their gate and lastly a dancer. I have more portraits i have not processed yet.
I am hoping to find a NGO or charity who maybe interested, once edited properly, in the collection.
