Did I say I would take a photo of the sheep market every day? Ha. That was overly ambitious of me. The problem is not, for once, my own sloth. No, it is the weird cultural tensions that arise when a white woman takes photos on the street in Mali.

First of all, you have to remember that every time I leave the house, people stare at me. More often than I'd like, the thought of that unwanted, overwhelming attention keeps me from getting out and exploring more of Bamako. As a friend said the other day: You get tired of being the number-one show in town.

If I'm carrying a camera, multiply that attention by a factor of ten or more. Sometimes the attention is friendly ("Hey, don't you want a picture of me? I want to pose!"). Sometimes it's hard to tell -- they just stare. Sometimes the attention is angry, like the time a man yelled at me for taking a picture of his cool old Renault parked on the street. And sometimes, it's a real pain in the ass.

Like today. The sheep market is growing, which is what I wanted to show you. But because it's growing, there are more and more eyes following me and my camera. Yesterday I was cowed by all those staring men and I circled home, camera still in my bag.

Today I carried the camera without the bag, so that everyone would see right off the bat what I was up to, and I wouldn't have to steel myself for taking it out. I bumped into Ali, our guardien's brother, on the way out and told him what I was doing. He seemed approving and I took that as a good omen.

Ha.

I apologize for the crappy quality of these shots, but keep reading and you will understand why I kept my distance from the subject.

First I shot a couple street shots, first looking toward the Koulikoro road. You can see that cars can still pass.

This next shot is a little closer to the main road, looking in the same direction. The man in the center tried to sell me one of those sheep. In the background, too small to really see, are lots of sheep and some sheep-related things (like bales of hay and buckets to bathe sheep).

Out by Koulikoro road I took this shot, looking back toward our street. Note the hay in the foreground, and sheep building up on either side of the street.

I took this shot of alfalfa (food for the sheep) piled up beside the road.

Then I took this shot:

It is even less interesting than the others and I only posted it to show you how far I was from the people. Nevertheless, the man on the right came over and demanded a cadeaux for being in my photo. It wasn't until I uploaded the photos on my computer and zoomed in real close that I saw he was looking straight at the camera and "posing" for me with his hands behind his back. See?

Now, if you take a close-up shot of someone, it’s polite to ask first, then perhaps buy something from them or give them a small gift. In my mind, this guy was far away, a small part of the street scene, and didn’t deserve anything. But I didn’t want to start an argument so I told him I had nothing on me and that I would be back tomorrow.

The first part is true; I deliberately went out with empty pockets. But I doubt I’ll go back to that end of the street anymore. If I give him a gift, everyone else within sight is going to demand one (whether or not they are in my pictures). And they will demand them every time I go out there with my camera. I'm sorry, but it’s just not worth it to me -- worth all those gifts, or the arguments that will ensue if I deny them.