Maria Joao Salgado
Project: Her, Sahara
Biography
Maria João Salgado was born in 1992 in Portugal. Since 2015, she has focused on documentary photography, mainly developing projects on human rights and alternative living communities.
Documentary Photographer I Instagram: mariajoao.sal I maria19salgado@gmail.com
Her, Sahara
At the 3rd oldest active refugee camp in the world, Western Sahara’ women have been confined to the open air for more than 44 years. During the night, they crossed into the desert to flee with their children from white phosphorus and napalm bombs, stepping on bodies and huddling in vans until reaching safe land, building from scratch one of the most organized refugee camps in the world, according to some international humanitarian organizations. After the ceasefire with Morocco, men returned and these same women had to reinvent themselves in order to exist, without giving up their rights. The last African colony remains lost within the international political discussion, but women in Sahara give proof to the world that they know exactly what they wish.