Photographer Merlin FERRET is the Edge of Humanity Magazine contributor of this documentary photography. From the project ‘Fils et Filles de Bni Guils ’. To see Merlin’s body of work, click on any photograph.

Fils et Filles de Bni Guils : To leave one’s land, to exile oneself in the direction of the cities at the expense of a nomadic culture dating back to the Middle Ages. Give in to the rural exodus or try to preserve their heritage.

The Bni Guil tribe in the Tendrara region of Morocco is facing this new dilemma. The cause: the economic difficulties of a country that is undergoing the full force of the law of markets, a global crisis, as well as global warming, drying up the land and making crops more and more difficult. This disruption leaves the herds, the first economic resource of this population, without pastures, forcing some members of the tribe to join the cities in the hope of a better life.

Among all this, the convictions on their nomadic culture diverge according to the generations. While Moumna, a Bni Guil woman, respected and admired by all, decides to devote her life to the transmission of her culture through the creation of associations. Some young boys dream not just of joining the big city of Oujda but of leaving for Europe.

The wind of the desert carries a new breath, between the fight for the preservation of a heritage rich in knowledge and the desire for an unknown El Dorado. It is also a question of documenting the Bni Guil culture, almost virgin photographic archives, whereas this one risks disappearing in the near future, so much the dunes of sand take the grounds of the last actors of this tribe.

This photo series shows the tanned faces of these men and women living at the rhythm of the sun and forced to review their way of life, otherwise the drought of the land will be the reason for them. These images also illustrate the scenery that draws this region of Morocco. Landscapes that change with the miles traveled and offer to see mountains with pastel colors, cities and villages which some seem to be frozen in time.

 A self-taught, independent French photographer with a passion for images, Merlin Ferret takes a look, both in France and abroad, at territories affected by periods of environmental crisis, migration, conflict and social upheaval. His work, carried out in part on film, reveals the imperfections of reality and is driven by a desire to inlay a permanent memory, that of men and women who have left their mark on their era.

All images and text © Merlin FERRET