Reflections on the story of collecting souls

I have a camera that is not too bad. Of course, when I say it's not too bad, I mean comparing my camera with a small camera box like a toy used by ordinary people.

I seldom used that camera when I lived in Madrid, because the back of it would attract people's attention.

In the desert, I am not an attractive person, what's more, in this sparsely populated land, if you want to see another person, you may also stand in the sand and block the sun with your hands. If you can see a figure as small as a black spot on the horizon, you will be very satisfied.

When I first came to the desert, one of my greatest ambitions was to photograph the lifestyle of nomadic people in extremely remote areas with my camera.

Analysis, this love for foreign cultures is because I have great differences with them, so that there is a kind of beauty and emotion in my mind.

I often went deep into the desert for a period of time, or before I got married, when I first arrived in such a mysterious and vast land, I tried my best to use all possible means of transportation to get to know its faces. More importantly, I want to see why people can have the joy of life, love and hate in this barren desert.

In my desert life, taking pictures is very necessary. Besides traveling in the sand with food and water, I can't even afford to rent a car, and I don't have the spare capacity to spend too much money on photography, even though the investment in this matter is so important and worthwhile!

My photographic equipment is nothing but a camera, a tripod, a telescope head, a wide-angle lens and several filters. I bought several rolls of high-sensitivity film, and the other roll is the most common black-and-white and color film. Because it didn't work well, I was completely unprepared.

Before coming to the desert, I occasionally took one or two good things from hundreds of photos. When I was in Madrid, I bought some books to teach people to take pictures and read them temporarily for several times. Some common sense I learned on paper was my unsuccessful experience, so I went to North Africa frankly.

When I first entered the real desert by bus, I was amazed and wanted to take every photo with my camera.

Fantastic mirage, continuous sand dunes as smooth and gentle as a woman's body, American outlaws facing the rain, the scorching earth, cacti screaming into the sky with open arms, the dried-up riverbed thousands of years ago, black mountains, deep blue frozen sky, rocky wilderness, … all these scenes make me confused and dizzying.

Under such a strong impact of this land, I often forget my hard work during this bumpy journey.

At that time, how much I hated my poverty. If I learn some photography skills with an open mind earlier, I can combine these visual and inner feelings and record them, which may become a valuable memorial in my life!

Although I don't have much money to take pictures, and the sand blown in the desert is likely to damage my camera, I still did some exercises that can only be regarded as records within my ability.

For the residents in this desert, I have unspeakable concern for them, no matter how they walk, how they eat, the color and style of clothes, gestures, language, marriage between men and women, and religious beliefs. Furthermore, I prefer to observe and approach them carefully to enrich my endless curiosity.

If I want to use a camera to deal with the largest desert in the world, I can't reach my expected level myself. After many trips, I realized that I can only focus on a few points, and I can't do anything for a worker in a comprehensive and vast plan.

"Let's shoot people! I like people. " I said to Jose.

Jose didn't go when I traveled with the waterwheel. Only I, after being introduced, went on my way with Balak, a reliable Sahrawi, and his assistant. The trip to Fiona Fang, mostly from the Atlantic Ocean, arrived near Algeria, and then returned to the following, a walk of more than 2,000 miles.

Wherever nomadic tents meet, there is always a Papua New Guinea waterwheel filled with dozens of petrol tanks and sold to them on time.

It is really a great challenge and suffering to walk thousands of miles in this broken car without a roof and windshield, but Jose asked me to go, and I will repay him for giving me such confidence and attention, so I rarely make mistakes in my trip. In a few days, I will definitely return to town safely. The first time I went to the desert, I was empty-handed except for a backpack and a tent, and I couldn't get what the nomads expected. Relatively speaking, I didn't get any friendship.