This travel photography essay was submitted to Edge of Humanity Magazine by Photographer Hugh Ardoin.

 

A young woman carries black soap on a tray set on her head, traditional dark henna paint on her hands shows that she is going or has been to a wedding as this is a tradition for women to wear henna decors at weddings In this case, it is a very nice dark henna African pattern; the “sophisticated” fashionistas will tote elaborate red henna oriental designs The writing on the wall in the background threatens offenders who would dare urinate on this wall with a hefty 4000 Franc fine (about 7 USD) Niamey, Niger
A young woman carries black soap on a tray set on her head, traditional dark henna paint on her hands shows that she is going or has been to a wedding as this is a tradition for women to wear henna decors at weddings
In this case, it is a very nice dark henna African pattern; the “sophisticated” fashionistas will tote elaborate red henna oriental designs
The writing on the wall in the background threatens offenders who would dare urinate on this wall with a hefty 4000 Franc fine (about 7 USD)
Niamey, Niger
The lady in red along the road between Accra in Ghana and Lomé in Togo through almost every village you drive vendors line the road with local specialties delicacies and refreshments here it seems to be freshly hacked coconut. Ghana
The lady in red along the road between Accra in Ghana and Lomé in Togo through almost every village you drive vendors line the road with local specialties delicacies and refreshments here it seems to be freshly hacked coconut.

 

Click on any image to see Hugh’s galleries of projects and photographs.

 

Niger Valley, Niger
Niger Valley, Niger
The plastic world came as a poisonous tide over Africa, the promise of everlasting and indestructible items to replace overnight the wisely and artfully crafted household items and furniture; this was touted as eternal ly clean and termite resistant but proved a delicacy for rats and breakable after uv light and Niger legendary heat lasting effects (temperatures in Niamey often rise above 50° Celsius in the shade) Once the plastic wares reach their maximum extended abused and repaired life span and are considered beyond any further reconversion, they are abandoned and will clutter the landscapes and the streets with their cousins the plastic bags they become a plastic tsunami NIger
The plastic world came as a poisonous tide over Africa, the promise of everlasting and indestructible items to replace overnight the wisely and artfully crafted household items and furniture; this was touted as eternal ly clean and termite resistant but proved a delicacy for rats and breakable after uv light and Niger legendary heat lasting effects (temperatures in Niamey often rise above 50° Celsius in the shade)
Once the plastic wares reach their maximum extended abused and repaired life span and are considered beyond any further reconversion, they are abandoned and will clutter the landscapes and the streets with their cousins the plastic bags they become a plastic tsunami
Niger

 

Click on any image to see Hugh’s galleries of projects and photographs.

 

This is Katako again the grain and agriculture market, grain is sold as seeds and food indifferently The window dressing is creative and designed with the intent to attract the customers; we are at the origins of “marketing”. Niamey Niger
This is Katako again the grain and agriculture market, grain is sold as seeds and food indifferently
The window dressing is creative and designed with the intent to attract the customers; we are at the origins of “marketing”.
Niamey Niger
Niamey, Niger
Niamey, Niger
Rubber buckets are elaborately made of used truck air tubes that allow drawing water from deep narrow and irregular wells in the desert, with a minimum breakage risk or loss of water during the upward travel the bucket will also expand in capacity by the sheer weight of the water that fills it but will only marginally increase in width In the background there are some original irons that are heated by putting embers inside the heavy metal frame. Niamey, Niger
Rubber buckets are elaborately made of used truck air tubes that allow drawing water from deep narrow and irregular wells in the desert, with a minimum breakage risk or loss of water during the upward travel the bucket will also expand in capacity by the sheer weight of the water that fills it but will only marginally increase in width
In the background there are some original irons that are heated by putting embers inside the heavy metal frame.
Niamey, Niger

 

Click on any image to see Hugh’s galleries of projects and photographs.

 

Katako is a large quarter in Niamey where almost anything can be bought or sold, with specific zones for each major trade, this is the meat market where every piece of any poor beast is used as food staple not exactly an appetizing sight for the international cooking addicted tourist; the smoke in the background tells much about some special cooking oils or locally concocted fuels. Niger
Katako is a large quarter in Niamey where almost anything can be bought or sold, with specific zones for each major trade, this is the meat market where every piece of any poor beast is used as food staple not exactly an appetizing sight for the international cooking addicted tourist; the smoke in the background tells much about some special cooking oils or locally concocted fuels.
Niger
Niamey Niger
Niamey Niger

 

See also:

Africa By Any Means Necessary

Niger The Red Planet

By Hugh Ardoin

 


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