MAURITANIA

Soya and Awa
"(…) Soya and Awa wanted me to photograph them in the home of their cherished father, next to the charming mosque where he officiates. When we asked our driver to park the car in front of the mosque, he asked us: 'Why are we stopping here?' 'Because this is the house of Soya and Awa. This is where we’re going…' 'No, no, no! It can’t be! No, no!' It was simply beyond belief for him that these two debauched girls, wearing T-shirts and fitted trousers, could be the daughters of such a well-known and venerated imam."

Salka
"(…) We told Salka to meet us on the side of the road where our driver had noticed her. She waited for us, leaning on the door of her rundown 504 pick-up truck, her stocky build enveloped by a black veil that trailed from her head to her feet. (…) With a flick of her hand she swept away my offer to compensate her time that I would surely take up. She was delighted by my interest in her. She was proud of her work and the way she lived. Salka runs a garbage-collection business."

Extracts from Zoé Zoé, Femmes du mondes, 2007, Éditions Gallimard