By Isabel Choat
Our first expedition was in 1961. We fitted a Citroën 2CV with outsized tyres and arranged the interior so that we could sleep in it, then caught a cargo ship from Marseille to Djibouti. We stopped off for a few weeks on the coast of what was then French Somaliland and then travelled on to Yemen. At the time Taiz was one of the only cities in the world not to have a hotel, a cinema or a bank, and where the city gates were closed every evening from sundown to sunrise. People thought we were mad going there but we were intoxicated with this place where people wore feather lamé turbans and jambiyas, curved daggers with incised silver or gold blades. Our trip was supposed to last six months but went on for 17.
When we returned to Paris, our friends couldn’t understand why it had taken so long. But the reason for our success as photographers over the years is that we always took our time. We tried to understand people. We went with the idea that other people may enrich you. For our next trip, we drove from Paris to Singapore and back. It took four and a half years and we returned with 34,000 colour transparencies.
Our greatest adventure was in 1970 when we were commissioned by National Geographic to photograph a camel caravan along frozen rivers in the Pamir mountains of Afghanistan. There were no books about Afghanistan then, no pictures, it was truly off the beaten track. For a photographer it was a huge opportunity. They didn’t take women on these caravans but we met the chief and he allowed Sabrina to join. We travelled across the roof of the world through snow and ice with these nomads and their 27 camels. It was very tough but the people were so kind. Beyond the problems of language, culture, habits and tradition, something very strong unites us; the suffering and great moments in life are the same wherever you are.
The first photograph I ever sold was of a snake charmer in Marrakech. It appeared on the front cover of the Swedish magazine Vi.
I met Sabrina in Rabat city library in 1956. I was so shy I didn’t know what to say, so I asked if she liked travelling and where she wanted to go. She said India. Seven years later, we fulfilled this dream and since then we’ve been 26 times. We love it. In our apartment in Paris we used to read The Thousand and One Nights every evening and although the tales are set in Arabia, India is the best country to interpret them photographically. This is where we met Scheherazade, Ali Baba, Sinbad and Aladdin. You can find every type of person there. India has taught us humility and tolerance. I have probably spent seven years of my life there but I am still learning about it. Since 2001 we have been focusing on the monsoon season in a bid to understand the country better.
Read more: ‘Our first expedition was in 1961 … driving to Yemen in a Citroën 2CV’
Source: The Guardian
