Category: Stars

2025, Oman Selection, Stars

Moonlight over the Rub al Khali – Oman

Moonlight over the sand dunes of the Rub al Khali desert, Oman

Under the soft moonlight, the Rub al Khali reveals itself in all its nocturnal majesty.

Under the soft light of the moon, the Rub al Khali, the vast sand desert of the southeastern Arabian Peninsula, reveals itself in all its nocturnal majesty.

The silvery dunes draw silent undulations, while the starry sky stretches to infinity above this landscape of raw and timeless beauty. An atmosphere of absolute calm and solitude envelops this legendary desert, inviting contemplation and reverie in the heart of one of the largest sand deserts in the world.

2018, Bolivia Selection, Stars

Giant Cacti under the Stars of Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia)

Giant Trichocereus pasacana cacti under the starry sky of Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

On Isla Incahuasi, these motionless giants seem to be in dialogue with the stars.

Standing like sentinels in the heart of the salt desert, the Trichocereus pasacana cacti watch over the white immensity of the Salar de Uyuni.

These botanical colossi grow with infinite slowness—barely one centimeter per year—with some reaching over ten meters in height after several centuries of life. Their time-sculpted silhouettes stand out beneath the night sky, silent witnesses to the freezing nights and scorching suns of the Altiplano. On Isla Incahuasi, these motionless giants seem to be in dialogue with the stars, anchored in volcanic rock for generations.

2025, Oman Selection, Stars

The Waltz of Stars Over the Dunes of the Rub al Khali (الربع الخالي)

Star trails over the dunes of Rub al Khali

Star trails over the dunes of Rub al Khali (the Empty Quarter).

In the silent immensity of the Rub al Khali, the largest sand desert on the Arabian Peninsula, the night sky becomes a giant dial revealing the movement of the stars.

This long-exposure photograph captures the slow rotation of the Earth on its axis, as stars trace perfect circles around the northern celestial pole. In the foreground, the ochre dunes are illuminated by moonlight. Shaped by prevailing winds, they create a fluid and shifting landscape where sand grains, resulting from weathered sedimentary rocks, have been molded by wind erosion over millennia. In this frozen scene, everything speaks of motion: the wind, the stars… and time itself.

2025, Oman Selection, Shellfish, Stars

Bioluminescence of Krill Rising to the Surface at Nightfall (likely Euphausia sibogae) – Arabian Sea, Oman

Bioluminescence of Krill surfacing at nightfall, (likely Euphausia sibogae) - Arabian Sea, Oman

Bioluminescence of Krill surfacing at nightfall, (likely Euphausia sibogae) – Arabian Sea, Oman.

At nightfall, krill rise from the depths to the surface, driven by the planet’s largest daily animal migration.

There, tossed by the waves, it releases a cold, bluish light. Its bioluminescence, emitted by small organs called photophores, creates fleeting flashes on the water’s surface. This shimmering sometimes transforms the nocturnal ocean into a sea of living stars, shifting and silent.

2016, Algeria Selection, Sahara, Stars

Tea time for the Tuaregs of the algerian sahara desert

Tea

Tea time for the Touaregs of the algerian sahara desert

The preparation of tea is a ritual of extreme refinement among the Tuaregs. Using the same leaves, three consecutive tea are prepared. The flavors of each tea evolve infusion after infusion.
A Tuareg saying says: “The first is bitter like life; the second is sweet like love; and the third is gentle like the breath of death.”.

Read the paper about the Tadrart Rouge, a window to the Sahara and its history

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