Australian photographer Tim Cushan's remarkable photographic essay, Camel Tribes, is startling in its power to bring us face to face with these creatures that appear to our eyes completely foreign and new even as we are reminded that they are, in many ways, our oldest, dearest, and most trusted companions.

Cushan is singularly and supremely gifted in his ability to suspend time long enough to bring us a glimpse of the humanity of these animals. While other photographers are occupied with the pursuit of perfection, Cushan understands that it is in the absence of staging that the true miracles reveal themselves. He somehow manages to make his uncanny knack of catching the Camels at their most relaxed and candid appear effortless.

It is as if the Camel Tribes indeed recognize him as an old friend, drop their guard and their pretense, and reveal themselves in their full splendor. And, no greater compliment can we pay an old friend than to trust them enough to feel at ease being completely and utterly ourselves.

Just as in the human population, Camels' temperament is a study in contradiction. They are no more one-dimensional creatures than we who have assisted in their survival as a species - even as they have tirelessly served our needs as humans. Camel Tribes are endearing - docile and sweet with care. Yet, they are also harsh - stubborn and angry. Contrast the image of the irritable, stubborn, spitting camel against Cushan's image of these loving beasts in perfect repose, relaxing with their hind legs tucked yoga-style beneath them, their heads cocked in curiosity towards a gathering of clouds sweeping across a blue desert sky.

First recorded in 4000 B.C., Camels have accompanied and supported human expansion throughout the ages, being utilized for trade, transport, ceremony, and war. While in a practical sense, they have been essential in furthering trade between the East and West, it is the mysticism and energy of the Camel that is compelling. Despite the harshness of the environment they inhabit, and with seeming imperviousness to the heavy loads they often carry, they maintain their perseverance, their humor - and their devotion to us, as if they lived to serve and nourish.

Neither an historical essay nor a factual introduction to Camels, this photo essay began simply as a journey to capture on film the personality and spirit of these beings that have walked with us in our history and development, and serve as powerful symbols.

By its very nature, any journey into the desert - and where else to encounter Camel Tribes? - is a journey of the soul, a departure from the known into the unknown. In the desert we find a parallel with the inhospitable corners of our own fears that appear to us devoid of life. And it is there, in the midst of desert sands, that we are blessed to find our companion animal, the Camel.

As with any journey of the soul, once we set our intention by setting out upon the road, we set the stage for the unexpected - in this case, "the Blessing of the Raj."

It is not surprising that, throughout the ages, Indians from time immemorial have sought "the Blessing of the Raj" upon their travels and endeavors through life.

It was while in Rajasthan, where Tim had gone to begin photographing Camel Tribes, that he came upon small traditional hand paintings depicting Elephants, Camels, and Horses. He was told that the Blessing of the Raj was, “Elephants for strength, Camels for love, and Horses for victory.”

At first glance, the association between Camels and love might elude us. And yet, what other creature has nourished us in the way that Camel Tribes have? They have provided a literal oasis on legs in the midst of harsh and barren lands.

Camels, Horses and Elephants are deeply intertwined with our mythological and actual journeys, and therefore with us as nomads, wanderers, explorers, travelers. They strike in the imagination chords of the exotic, and their images seem to summon the songs of faraway lands, and the rhythms of commerce, trade, and Arabian nights.

While on this photographic expedition, Cushan encountered the Raika. A traditional camel herding people of Rajasthan, the Raika's lives are directly and historically linked through the caste system. They are Pastoralists - nomadic herdsman that maintain their herds along traditional routes without official ownership. They were breeders and handlers for the maharajahs. When that system disappeared in the 1950's, not only did their way of life dating back thousands of years ,but also in more recent years a decline in the Camel population of Rajasthan.

Sitting with the men under the tree in Northern Rajasthan in the Great Indian (or, Thar) Desert, the voices pause and in the vastness of the silence remains only the sound and call of the desert. And, the Camels - the voice of the world. And if the winds shift and a sandstorm kicks up around them, devoid of any other barrier a man may huddle behind a camel, who takes the brunt of the sandstorm, providing shelter and protection from the elements.

That Camels should remain so mysterious is in no small part attributable to their inevitable association with the desert. The desert, as the sea, is as symbolic as it is factual, representing the force and expansive power of nature, and the realm of the wilderness of spirit. As we cling to the islands of our cities like mirages in a sea of land, we sense that appearances are deceiving. That this enigmatic creature, the Camel, should inhabit the desert is somehow fitting, as they themselves are icons of mystery.

This installment of Camel Tribes - the Dromedaries - is the first offering. The companion images - the Bactrian, or two- humped Camels - will be photographed in 2010 in Mongolia and Ladakh, India.

Acknowledgement:
Through the friendship, hospitality, support and dedicated efforts of Hanwant Singh Rathore,IIse Koehler Rollefson and LPPS (Pastoralist Welfare Institute), Camel Tribes was assisted in coming to life.
I was taken to timeless places with a view, one where old worlds are recognized for the importance they continue to hold in a ‘modern’ one. And to stand for those who are not heard, so they to may have a voice.
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