The Children of the Clouds: Western Sahara

"They call themselves the children of the clouds because, since times past, they have been chasing clouds for their water. For more than thirty years now they have also been chasing justice which, in today's world, seems more elusive than water in the desert". - Eduardo Galeano

© nacho hernandez, all rights reserved

Inquire, a new magazine for the iPad, is publishing in its latest issue a piece with my photos and text about the Sahrawi struggle. This new magazine uses a shared-revenue model with its collaborator so by buying the magazine you are supporting independent photojournalism. You can download the app and buy the magazine here.

More photos of the Sahrawi refugee camps and the Western Sahara in my website.

Essaouira

Tourists, mutts and hash cakes.

  © nacho hernandez

And seagulls. Thousands of them.



© nacho hernandez



Morocco

 

 Merzouga       © nacho hernandez


In Morocco for the next ten days.

Take the train from Casablanca going South ...

"Sometimes you have to play a long time

to be able to play like yourself." - Miles Davis

© nacho hernandez

Featured in The Travel Photographer

My website, in particular my project on the Western Sahara, was featured today in Tewfic El-Sawy's very popular The Travel Photographer blog.

Thanks to Tewfic. Visit his very interesting blog for anything related to travel and documentary photography.

Western Sahara

Photo: © Nacho Hernandez

I recently spent a week traveling in the Western Sahara (in the part not occupied by Morocco), taking photos for my ongoing project on the Sahrawi people. During this trip I had a taste of the "desert hospitality" and the confirmation that the Sahrawi are some of the friendliest people on earth.

The Sahrawi are the descendants of the "Children of the Clouds", desert nomads who in the past would roam the Sahara with their herds, following clouds laden with rain. For over thirty years now they have been chasing an equally elusive goal: independence for their homeland, first a Spanish colony and since 1975 occupied by Morocco. Some 150,000 Sahrawi live in the bleak refugee camps near the Algerian border town of Tinduf. Others live under Moroccan control in the Western Sahara, and some still live as nomads in the part of the Western Sahara not controlled by Morocco. They are all waiting for the UN-sanctioned referendum on independence to take place, a referendum stalled by Morocco.

You can see a gallery of photos from the Western Sahara and the Tindouf refugee camps in my website. More photos of the Sahrawi refugee camps and from the Western Sahara available in my archive.

Photos and texts available for publication. Please send me an email if interested.

Western Sahara

Photo: © Nacho Hernandez

From January 3-10 I will be in the Sahrawi refugee camps of Tindouf, Algeria, and in the Western Sahara, working on my ongoing project on the Sahrawi people. Please send me an email if you need photos.

Desert Refugees

The Spanish magazine DT included in its Summer issue a note about my recent exhibition at the US Congress, and published some images from my ongoing photographic project on the Sahrawi people.

Thank you to this publication for its interest in the Sahrawi refugees, too often forsaken by the international media and public opinion.

You can see more images from this project in my website.

Today is World Refugee Day

Today is the World Refugee Day. A thought goes to my friends, the Sahrawi people in the refugee camps around Tindouf, in Algeria.

Thank you

... to everyone who came to my exhibition at the Congress, to the US - Western Sahara Foundation and to all the honorary co-hosts. Hopefully we helped raise awareness about the plight of the Sahrawi people, which was the goal. This exhibition was not about my photos, but about the people in them.

This video was filmed by some of our Sahrawi friends who came to the exhibition.

Sahrawi - exhibition at the US Congress

On May 14th I will have an exhibition of my work from the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria, at the US Congress. Reception from 6 pm - 8 pm, at the Rayburn Foyer, Rayburn Office building. Come by if you are in town!

The World Bank uses one of my photos

The World Bank used one of my photos for the cover of a book on education.



Photo: © Nacho Hernandez

International Award for Humanitarian Photography Luis Valtueña

© Nacho Hernandez

Two of my photos from the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria, made it to the final selection at the XI International Award for Humanitarian Photography Luis Valtueña, organized every year by Medicos del Mundo. An exhibition with all the finalist photos will be touring Spain and other countries for two years. You can see a gallery with all the photos here.