CARAVANS

Triptych, Oil on canvas
91.5 x 183 cm

I caught sight of this picture in my 1999 issue of The National Geographic magazine featuring  photographs by the famous George Steinmetz*.  This scene of the Saharan Niger evoked in me the intense love of the desert that Michael, my husband, oft described passionately from his travels in Saudi Arabia.  The image conjures up for me the beauty of flowing trains of life against the sandy desert  vastness; the heat, silence, but for occasional human voices and the shuffle and grunts of camels – and the patience, courage and endurance of desert travellers.

(*Steinmetz George, Webster Donovan (1999)  Journey to the heart of the Sahara in National Geographic March 1999, Vol.195 No.3.    Steinmetz is an exploration photographer: his aerial images of the Sahara desert were taken while piloting a motorized paraglider.  He is a regular contributor to National Geographic.  His website.)