Meet the ancient nomadicTuareg tribe , who for centuries crossed the Sahara desert, sometimes being led by the blind who used their heightened sense of smell and taste to pick a safe path across the ever-shifting sands.
Their men became known as the 'blue men of the Sahara' because the dye from their distinctive indigo scarves rub off onto their faces giving them a mysterious air. The Tuareg evoke images of a long forgotten and romantic age.
But behind the ancient way of life is a culture so progressive it would even make some people in liberal western cultures blush. Women are allowed to have multiple sexual partners outside of marriage, keep all their property on divorce and are so revered by their sons-in-law that the young men wouldn't dare eat in the same room.
What is even more surprising is that even though the tribe has embraced Islam they have firmly held onto some of the customs that would not be acceptable to the wider Muslim world.
It is the men, and not the women, who cover their faces, for example.
Photographer Henrietta Butler, who has been fascinated by the Tuareg since she first followed them through the desert in 2001, once asked why this was. The explanation was simple.
'The women are beautiful. We would like to see their faces.'
But this is certainly not the only place the Tuareg, related to the Berbers of North Africa, differ from the Muslim world of the Middle East, and even other parts of their own continent.
In recent years, the Tuareg - who have been arguing, and fighting, for independence for decades - have aligned themselves with extremist Islamist groups, as they try to further their cause.
Those partnerships have since crumbled, but now the Tuareg living in south-western Libya face a new threat - that of ISIS - while those living in Mali, Niger and northern Nigeria now have to contend with the rise of Boko Haram.
And then there is the general, cultural shift: Butler has noticed more of the women taking up the hijab.
And while she has been assured the women are wearing it for a fashion statement, rather than for religious reasons, she cannot be sure.
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