An aerial view of what must be a remarkable town to walk through. The streets are nonrectilinear and look to be only the width of a cart. One feels like this is an "organic" town that has grown in place over the centuries without central planning. It must be alternately chaotic and fascinating.
Photo cropped from this one, via noctuaries and A London Salmagundi - but original photographer credit not specified at those links.
Update: Photo credit found by reader HeavenlyJane - the photo from which this is cropped was taken by Jann Arthus-Bertrand.
Addendum: This clarification from a reader who lives in the area:
Hi, I'm Mozabit* and I want to correct something. "Al ateuf" is an Arabic word and in reality the Mozabits don't call it like this we call it "Tajnint" because we speak the Mozabit language and there are a lot of wonderful pictures about the Mzab Valley and you should know that M'zab Valley is a big civilization. You're welcome.*Mozabit = inhabitant of the Mzab region of the northern Sahara in Algeria. I found this confirmatory information in the Wikipedia entry:
There are five qsur "walled villages" (ksour) located on rocky outcrops along the Wəd Mzab collectively known as the Pentapolis. They are Ghardaïa Tagherdayt, the principal settlement today; Beni Isguen At Isjen; Melika At Mlishet; Bounoura At Bunur; and El-Ateuf Tajnint. Adding the more recent settlements of Bérianne and El Guerara, the Mzab Heptapolis is completed.
Sinus congestion. --A.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what their address system is like? Can you image being a postman there? Yikes!
ReplyDeleteI used to live in Lahore, Pakistan, and some of the neighborhoods seemed very similar to what you have pictured. However, this view is from above, with a surprising amount of color and diversity shown in the rooftops. The reality of walking those streets, however, was very monotonous--just high blank walls that couldn't be seen over. Follow some of the routes in the picture: high, unbroken, uniformly brown walls. Point of view is everything.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, it's a beautiful photograph!
ReplyDeleteI was looking for the original photographer, too, but wasn't able to find anything more than you did. However, I came across a really neat assortment of M'Zab Valley pictures showing what these tightly packed communities look like at street level.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.enjoyourholiday.com/2012/03/14/mzab-valley-algeria/#more-7711
[The region is located in the southern Ghardaia- province of Algeria and it is structured on 3000 wells that support 5 important cities: Beni Isguen, Melika, Bou Noura, El Ateuf, and Ghardaia, the principal city today.]
Thank you for the link. I understand Google StreetView is now capturing images via bicycles. Perhaps some day we can really wander these streets.
DeleteI believe the photographer is Yann Arthus Bertrand.
ReplyDeleteThis photo is attributed to him and the colors and location are very similar.
ReplyDeletehttp://laterrevueduciel.tumblr.com/image/23142239359
Well, I am totally not surprised. Arthus-Bertrand is famous for his photographs from the air, some of which I featured two years ago -
Deletehttp://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com/2010/10/photography-of-yann-arthus-bertrand.html
Thank you for finding the credit, which I've added to the post. And this has stimulated me to get his movie "Home" from the library.
hi i'm mozabit and i want to correct something.al ateuf is an arabic word and in reality the mozabits don't call it like this we call it"TAJNINT"because we speak the mozabit language and there are a lot of wonderful pictures about MZAB VALLEY and you should know that m'zab valley is a big civilization YOU WELCOME
ReplyDeleteThank you for the clarification. I've added your information to the post.
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