Off the coast of north lebanon.
Gathered with a few friends for seaside sangrias. This is how the day ended.
Calm and quiet like you rarely ever experience anymore these days, a nice 25 degree breeze, the sounds of a few small waves breaking every now and then... Then you close your eyes and let the thoughts wash over you.
There's something mesmerizing about glassware photography. I find wine glasses to be a beautiful object to photograph, especially in a dark environment.
This unedited picture was taken on a beautiful windy night in Faqra, Lebanon; a half-empty, half-full glass of wine, backlit by a raging barbecue fire. With the aperture wide-open, a slow shutter speed of some 2 odd seconds allows the wind-stricken flames to merge together in an apparent explosion, and leaves the core of the fire appropriately overexposed. It could be criticized for hand shaking during the exposure, inevitable at these slow speeds, which is evident from the smeared contours of the glass and reflections. Sure, a tripod would have made this a better picture,strictly technically speaking, but as I've learned, it is photographic imperfections such as this one that so often seem to add a little something to a photograph. Something raw and unexpected, something beautiful. In this case, a nice snapshot of the way I was seeing that night after the few watered down glasses of wine that preceded this one...
This is a response to "Sidewalk in Achrafieh" Posted on Blog Baladi a few days a go. I said I'd have a pic of sidewalks in Hamra for comparison... well here's what I was talking about...
Try negotiating the parked vehicles and avoiding the garbage juices on this lovely piece of Hamra property... Square footage pricing? Let's not mention that...
Stay tuned for sidewalks with construction material and bulldozers... Coming soon!
I woke up about a half hour ago. Today is the last day of classes before a our long ‘vacation’; another word for Friday and Monday off, prolonged weekend if you will. Med II is almost over. Most will tell you that it’s all downhill from there. 4 exams left in the countdown, that’s four more weeks of hell and it’s over. We made it. I can feel it, I can smell the clinical years coming! I’m too tired to get up. Yes, way too tired to get up, take my daily morning shower, get in my car, let the engine warm up for 4-6 minutes, drive 20 Km, 15-20 minutes, park in that extravagantly overpriced underground parking lot, get the [first of my two daily] poisonous double espresso[s] from Fadi’s (coming soon), waste 30-45 minutes either with M. when she’s here on time, or in the computer lab, and go to class from 8:00 to 12:00 am, have lunch, and go to class again from 1:00 to about 4:00 pm depending on what day of the week it is. What more can I expect from just another day in college? What else? what, other than the relentless tide of expected events and incidents, usual occurrences and pleasantries, hypocritical moments, complaints, and whining? Not much.
You know what? I’m not going. Screw this. As you can probably see I spent the better half of yesterday snapping pictures in class with utter disregard to our lovely professors and their feelings. There’s no point in going today. I need a break. A long one, we all do. When the end is so close, you just feel like letting go. I want to let go. Today, I’m getting in my car, and taking a different road, because I can, because I want to. I don’t care what happens, or how the day unfolds, it’s all on the table. I’m buying DVDs, seeing an old friend, driving senselessly, I don’t care, today is mine and I’ll do anything with it that I see fit.
Pictures taken: April 15, 2009, 9:03 PM.
Can you tell what I’m writing? That’s it. I’m going for it. It’s done. Going outside to check what’s the weather like…
No. I don’t like the weather… Pretty bad-looking clouds threaten… But it doesn’t matter. It’s all in the mood. M., oh colleague, sorry I ditched you. This reminds me of that day we don’t speak of! :)
A stripped treeline against the gorgeous Faraya Mzaar sunset sky captured on good old 35-mm film. This picture was taken on new year's day after a wild night and at the end of a fantastic skiing trip. As the shutter snapped, I accidentally kicked over the tripod, causing the blurred effect. I thought that the picture was ruined and snapped another one of the exact same composition. When they came out the blurred one looked so much more vivid for some reason...
Zouk, Lebanon - June 2006
Picture (Right) Taken: June 6th, 2006, 7:27 PM
This sunset silhouette of the Zouk Powerplant Chimneys was taken using a point-and-shoot digital camera from behind sunglass lenses for added underexposure beyond the maximum offered by the camera. Makes me miss summertime.
Picture taken: Summer 2003 (Translation: Abou Kamal, Head of Harbor)
This picture was contributed by an old friend of mine. It was taken for a photography course assignment.
Abou Kamal worked at the port in byblos and agreed to be photographed for the portrayal of a work-laden lifetime. It immediately struck me how powerfully this image exposes the years and decades during which this seasoned veteran was being hardened and the weariness that ensued. The expression on the man's face, his 2-day old beard, and even the wear and tear on the small captured portion of his hand are the tell-tale signs of time and its toll.
"People come and want to take pictures of me all the time. They come from all over Lebanon, and they all promise me they'll come back to show them to me but sadly they never do" said a saddened but stoic Abou Kamal as the shutter snapped capturing this moment.
I wonder where he is now...
Picture Taken: November 20, 2008 - 3:37 pm
Chill... very well written :)
Went by my high school today. I graduated from this school in 2001.
This bench was not there during my high school years. Someone's getting old...
