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Clavier & Richan 
Two Ouled-Nail prostitutes 
n.d. 
  
Carte de visite 
Paul Frecker 
 
LL/18588 
  
A carte-de-visite portrait of two Ouled-Nail prostitutes. Members of a Berber tribe whose territory extended from Biskra to Jelfa in Algeria, the tribe grew prosperous due to the manner in which its women earned their living, by dancing and prostitution. Young girls were, and still are, trained from an early age in the art of dancing and lovemaking. They leave the desert between the ages of nine and twelve to go into the cafés of the oasis towns of the Sahara and practise their trade. About fifteen years later they return to their desert homes and get married, the quality of the marriage depending greatly on the size of the dowry they have managed to save. After securing a satisfactory marriage, an Ouled Nail settles down to become a good wife and mother.
 
The costumes of the Ouled Nail are always magnificent, focusing on a profusion of jewellery. Their hair is oiled and worn in braids on both sides of the face, looped up and held in place by large earrings. Their arms are adorned with studded bracelets. They have always gone unveiled, even when most women in North Africa wore veils. They wear the money they earn in various ways as part of their costume, either in long necklaces, or as part of their elaborate headdresses, or to hold their skirts and shawls together.
 
After several dances in costume, the dancers would retire behind a screen, and then reappear completely nude, except for headdress and jewellery, to continue their performance One traveller recalled, 'unlike the Egyptian dancers, who specialize in soft, undulating, serpentine movements of the abdominal muscles, the Ouled-Nail pride themselves in being able to make their belly pulsate violently and in syncopation to the music'.
 
Western fascination with the Ouled-Nail centered on their remarkable appearance and their profession. Their customs and costumes embodied the exotic and were written about extensively from the mid to late nineteenth century. Several artists made them the subject of paintings and for the same reasons, they proved equally appealing to photographers and their customers. 
 

 
  
 
  
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