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 , once asked why this was. The explanation was simple. We would like to see their faces. Before a woman marries, she is free to take as many lovers as she wants.