Magdy Badrmany became a friend of ours while we lived in Egypt. He is a Bedouin guide in the White Desert and we were impressed by his professionalism, his driving skill, and the way he simply and quickly set up our camps and cooked wonderful food for us.

On one camping trip a sandstorm blew up on the horizon. We watched it approaching, knowing it would probably drive us into the cars for shelter. I was not even brave enough to take out my camera as I did not want sand in my good SLR. I was fascinated as we watched the ominous approach, and saw the way the shadow of the storm changed the colours of the white desert. As we watched, creams and warm golds became silver and mauve.

I had named all the others in this series for the men concerned – but found that most Australians do not remember Moslem names well and floundered when trying to tell me which quilt they had liked. I usually quilt the names of the men into a text panel at the bottom anyway –so chose an easier-to-remember title this time.

Photograph by David Paterson.

Jenny Bowker

Snapshots in the Palmetum