Home in a Desert

When I used to be in Israel as a tourist, I noticed visually interesting places with seemingly poor people living in a desert. These were Beduins. For many years, I has been dreaming of coming again and making photos, although it wasn't obvious how to approach them. Last year I found that Beduins have not only their strange settlements but also have villages. I also found that some Jews also build farms and villages in the desert, and it became interesting to compare. There were things in common: homes in the Judean Desert, sheep and donkeys, an interest in building residential space for visitors, and an interest in continuing long-standing traditions. But there were, of course, differences too. To see Abdallah (the Beduin), I paid to him, and then he was nice and hospitable, showed his homes and two families: in the village and in the desert. He talked about the desert calling it 'home'. Ari (the Jew) said that he never takes money from people who want to see him. I visited him twice and he was also hospitable and likable. He confessed that it had taken time for him to stop considering the imaginary borders around his place in the desert. Residential spaces were a little bit different: the Abdallah's variant was a huge tent with beds and carpets. Ari's boutique hotel was under construction. Abdallah didn't seem to be interested in planting trees, and Ari, on the contrary, seemed to have a huge passion for it. Other things are seen on the photographs that are divided into two parts.