Michael Bou-Nacklie

Projects: Al-Ayan Wadi outside Abha

In the coastal region of Saudi Arabia, roughly 4 hours from the port city of Jeddah in a natural reserve sits a well preserved Yemeni fort with locals tending crops and maintaining the aging artifact.

   
  
     
  
   
  
A retired army officer and owner of the land, he regularly uses his M48 World War 2 era rifle to shoot at the baboons that inhabit the hillside. The reasoning is that Baboons are considered pests in this region, farmers in South Africa use shotguns sometimes to get rid of them, so a bolt action rifle doesn't seem so bad. Especially since he claims he does not shoot to kill merely frighten them off unless they are persistent in wanting to come and have a taste of his crops.
     
  
   
A makeshift shelf built directly into the wall.
   
     
  
   
  
One of the farmers who tend to the crops.
     
  
Early morning breakfast
   
The natural spring.
   
Water is piped from the natural spring for use in the fields where figs and pomergranades are grown.
     
  
   
The locals grow figs and pomergranades for sale in the local markets.
   
Ancient honeycombs still remain from when Yemeni rulers controlled this area and used to make their famous honey from hundreds of honeycombs.
     
  
   
  
Some bees are still using the hive space to make some of the famous honey.
     
  
   
  
     
  
No electricity is available in the area. The only lights come from kerosene lamps for the kitchen and dining area. Headlands are used everywhere else to navigate the rocky paths and mountain landscape.
   
  
The house where the farmers stay lights up with the kerosene lamp used as the main light source.
     
  
   
A moonless night didnt leave much for lighting as I had hoped. But using Lighroom Ive pushed up the exposure since nothing in the valley was visible even with a 30 second exposure.
   
     
  
   
  
     
  
   
  
-- From the Project - Al-Ayad Wadi outside AbhaIn the foothills of the Western region of Saudi Arabia, near Abha, remnants of an ancient Yemeni fort, is still in use by descendants who grow figs and harvest a few of the remaining ancient honeycombs that dot the hillside.
     
  
   
  
-- From the Project - Al-Ayad Wadi outside AbhaThe kitchen and dining room are one and the same with part of the floor covered with a matress as well as arm rests to lean against. In Arab culture it is rude to show the sole of the foot, so when sitting on the floor its is acceptable to sit leaning against an arm rest or to sit using one leg as a rest.
     
  
   
  
The area is periodically drenched with seasonal rains. The area outside of Taif and Abha is far higher than most of the Kingdom, close to 2,500 meters. In the winter months light snow has been known to fall here in addition to hail and blisteringly cold temperatures.
     
  
Tthe tightly packed walls hold with nothing but their own weight.
   
  
Bones of either a goat or a donkey rest with the nearby skeleton in one of the only remaining homes still standing in the tiny mountaintop village fort.