Palm grove between Goya and Esquina - Corrientes province - 1973

Children fetch water at the well in the village of Izalco in El Salvador. The Nawat name Itzalku is composed of the word elements itz, "obsidian", (k)al, "house" and the locative ending -ku and can be roughly translated as "place of obsidian houses". - 1977

The Wadi Ouaâr, southern Morocco. The water flows in multiple cascades. This liquid wildness is an unusual sight in the Sahara, the kingdom of aridity. In beds of wadis, terrible spring floods have also been seen approaching at the speed of a railway train and sweeping away everything in their path. - Southern Morocco - 1968

The earth absorbs the water only slowly because clay is often deposited in the bed of the losing rivers, as seen here at Chinguetti, Mauritania. - 1970

When, due to a - really rare - coincidence, a spring bursts open, wonderful vegetation sprouts: Spring of Terjit, Mauritania. - Mauritania - 1970

The earth is slow to absorb the water because clay is often deposited in the bed of the receding rivers, as seen here on the track between El Beyed and Ouadane in Mauritania. - 1970

Almost all around the rocky hill of Djado, which ends in steep cliffs to the west, there are pools fed by underground springs, ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Heading south from Djado, you reach the Kaouar valley. To the west, the gravel desert of the Ténéré leads to the Aïr Mountains. - Niger - 1968

Bilma is located in the Kaouar Valley in the Ténéré desert. The place is an oasis with numerous shallow smaller lakes and streams leading to them. Numerous fish cavort in the waters. There is a phenomenon in the entire Kaouar Valley: salt water and fresh water push upwards at short intervals. Due to complex fracture tectonics in this part of the Ténéré Desert, water from great depths penetrates sloping rock layers through artesian pressure. Where it flows through saline layers from the Cretaceous period, it reaches the surface as a saline solution and, after being greatly reduced by evaporation, is used for salt production. Otherwise, the date palms use the groundwater and therefore do not need any additional irrigation. - Kaouar - Ténéré - Niger - 1968

The well by the tree of Ténéré. The mediocre water is found at a depth of 36 metres and is brought up by hand by the Tuareg or Toubou men of the caravans. A few metres further on is a second well, but unusable: a camel has fallen in. – Ténéré – Niger - 1966

Tamchekett is a town in the Hodh El Gharbi region of south-central Mauritania. Temporary lakes form here during the rainy season. - Mauritania - 1969

A herd of goats rests by a pool formed during the rainy season. 46 km north-east of Tahoua - Niger - 1970

Thirst is quenched directly at the well - Ekisman - Niger - 1970

You can even use the precious water from Eskiman's well to wash your hair. - Niger - 1970

Overview of the well of Ekismane. The herders distribute the water to the watering troughs. The cattle wait for their turn. - Niger - 1970

Filingué is located in a zone where agropastoralism is practised. The large market of Filingué is mainly used by pastoralists and millet farmers, members of the Fulbe and Tuareg ethnic groups. The town's inhabitants struggle with poor nutrition, lack of access to drinking water and problems with water drainage in rainy seasons. - Water transport by calabash - Niger - 1970

Water is an absolute necessity, but in general it is neither so scarce nor so inaccessible that one cannot live in its comforting proximity. The charming image of the water-carriers of Tebaram, between Tahoua and Filingue (Niger), brings to our attention one of the main occupations of the Saharan nomads: obtaining the precious liquid, transporting it and storing it. The calabashes indicate a semi-sedentary tribe, because the caravan driver uses a tube made of goatskin, the famous gerba. Before each departure, it is the one that demands all attention: One is loaded onto each camel to prevent them all being lost or damaged together, one inspects its condition, its stitching, the straps that hold its closure and the ropes on which it hangs. Rightly so - after all, a single carelessness can mean death. - Niger - 1970

In front of the Tabalak pond, Niger, the two Tuaregs on their camels form a striking contrast: one could better imagine them in the gorges of the Tassili. The trees are dead, although their roots are in the water. This is due to the fact that a pool is by definition temporary and can form after a rain that fell years after the last one. Combine this with the fact that when pasture becomes scarce, shepherds cut off all the branches that still have some leaves on them for the needs of their flock. The terrible drama in the Sahel has been made much worse by this custom. - Niger - 1970

In front of the Tabalak pond, Niger, these Tuaregs on their camels form a striking contrast: one could better imagine them in the gorges of the Tassili. The trees are dead, although their roots are in the water. This is due to the fact that a pool is by definition temporary and can form after a rain that fell years after the last one. Combine this with the fact that when pasture becomes scarce, shepherds cut off all the branches that still have some leaves on them for the needs of their flock. The terrible drama in the Sahel has been made much worse by this custom. - Niger - 1970

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