North Africa, circa 1885
By Jean Geiser

For thousands of years the Berbers have inhabited the lands of North Africa, collectively repulsing foreign invaders (starting with the Phoenicians in roughly 1000 B.C. and continuing through a parade of others including the Greeks, Romans, Vandals, Arabs, Ottomans, Spanish, French, etc.) while still guarding their tribal independence. This image, taken by the Swiss photographer Jean Geiser who ran one of the most successful commercial photography studios in Algeria during the later half of the 19th century, is a wonderful portrait of the spirit of a people who have spent several millennia defending their lands.