Portraits of the Near East

Title font used: 'old printing press'

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In this part of the world war is not something that is merely written about in text books, studied in history or something that is taking place far from home without threat of it reaching your own borders.War is written in the streets and on the walls, penned with bullets from yesteryear.

Conflict is in the very fabric of this place, with most countries in the region having experienced some kind of war within the last 50 years, if not with each other then civil. This is not to mention the fact that the Syrian civil war still rages on. 

Car bombs are a common method of attack, usually targeting politicians. 

I recently stayed 3 days at a respiratory hospital for the Bedouin people, interviewing the workers there and some of the patients. Annoyingly I actually forgot to take my camera with me for the trip but it was a stunning savanna in the middle of the desert. While I did not experience it myself I was told that just a few days previous the bombs falling over the border in Syria could be heard from the ward.

Note the coffins graffitied on the floor 

Numerous military personal punctuate the streets in each of the nations that I have visited here in the Near East. While these countries generally feel safe from day to day the governments would rather not take the risk. They know how quickly a situation can change from tension to conflict and so would rather keep a tight reign on the situation.

Thousands of crusaders crosses line the walls

Not only is war a thing of the near past but also the ancient past and the scars still remain; etched into the walls but also into the psyche of the people groups that were targeted.

Abandoned military bunker 

While some military installations serve as a reminder that certain wars have ended there are plenty of signs to remind you that more is expected to come...

I think it speaks for itself...

Title font used: 'weekend warrior'

Backgammon

So recently I have done quite a bit of travelling within the Near East and as a result am pretty exhausted, so this is a kind of random filler story about backgammon rather than any kind of update...

 One day I was downtown, camera in hand, without much to do so I went for a walk around to see what there was to see and more importantly photograph. The area was quite dull, generic architecture, traffic, Starbucks - it could have been any city in the world. That was until I stumbled upon the game of backgammon...

I don't know about where you are from but in the UK it is not an everyday occurrence that you see a sizable group of 40-50 somethings gathered around a board-game on the side of a busy street in the middle of the working week. Here it actually seems perfectly ordinary, in fact men sitting around generally doing nothing in the middle of the week is ordinary here. Of course the sight of this group got my 'interesting photo opportunity' sense tingling. I would love to say that I made a beeline for the group, quickly introduced myself and began an impormptu photoshoot.

The truth however is possibly mildly more amusing and certainly paints me in a less glorious and more accurate light... The men were sitting on the pavement on the side of a roundabout. I saw the group when I was about 1/3 of the way round the roundabout which is when my interest was spiked. As I got to where they were sitting I realised that I could barely speak a word of Arabic and was clearly a tourist, waltzing around with an expensive DSLR over my shoulder.

I chickened out. I passed calmly on by with an air of determination as though I was actually headed somewhere just around the corner and not at all interested in taking pictures of what was clearly the most mundane activity imaginable - a group of oldies playing a board game. Seriously my life is just one big adventure ...

So anyway after I had passed them by I looked back over my shoulder and winced slightly as I watched a perfect photo moment slip by because I was too afraid to capture it. I continued walking all the way around the roundabout and back down the street I had approached from. The internal dialogue at this point was something along the lines of ...

'Seriously?! What is the worst that could possibly happen, they say no? They start speaking in Arabic and waving their arms about as you take photos? Would they really chase you away? ... Seriously man up and just go take some photos!'

This is not a game of backgammon but I did see this on the way.

After about 5 minutes of walking the wrong direction I decided to throw caution to the wind! ... I crossed the street and headed back to the roundabout.

As a brief aside this whole experience involved crossing the road a lot of times and it was on one of these times I realised that they don't have zebra crossings here. Instead crossing the road is similar to photo opportunities, you pretty much just have to put yourself out there and hope that you don't die.

I arrived at the backgammon game which still lived on - it seemed they were not planning on going anywhere too soon. I walked over and stood looking over the shoulder of a guy observing the game and tried to do my best 'This is a genuinely enthralling game' face, despite not knowing the first thing about the game of backgammon.

After a few minutes one of the guys spotted my camera and saw straight through my paper thin guise of watching the game for interest, he started speaking in Arabic and motioning with his arms. Fortunately it was not as I had feared, he was not shouting and waving menacingly but rather giving the gesture for taking pictures.

I took the opportunity, muttered something in English and quickly retreated behind my camera and just started taking photos. It turns out the group of guys was pretty friendly, one of them had lived in Germany for 20 years and spoke some English, I spent about 30 minutes trying to scratch together a conversation with him and intermittently taking pictures. They were all taxi drivers who were passing their time at a slow point in the day.

My conversation with this one guy was actually quite sad, he was asking where in the city I had been and was quick to advise me where in the City not to go, he pointed over my shoulder down one of the roads and frowned. I asked him why I shouldn't go there. He explained that it was not safe, or clean there because it was the Muslim quarter. I was shocked at his casual prejudice as he continued to explain that he was Catholic and that this whole area, including the group of backgammon players were catholic. (It explained the rosary beads that they were carrying) As the conversation continued he explained the different catholic areas that I could go to and what they were good for, being a taxi driver he was of course trying to offer me a lift to these places. 

Interestingly the prices he was quoting me were excess of triple the going rate, no doubt seeking to take advantage of the naive tourist. To me this was a very interesting insight, outwardly people here are usually extremely friendly and polite but the truth is that they trust you as far as they can throw you and do not care to be trusted by others as far as I can see.

What is sad for me is that the Catholic community is this nations perception of what it means to be Christian and it is a poor display. The struggle to promote Christ in a predominantly Muslim region is made that much harder by those who misrepresent him. 

Title font used: 'Cubic'

Contrast

Shot up buildings next to brand new builds is a common sight here and is representative of the place as a whole - full of stark contrasts.

Remnants of war torn buildings are common place

If you like gritty urban grunge, contradictory messages, or just plain old interesting-face portraits, you can have a photographic field day and I am still loving it here!

The oldest Church in town with the youngest and largest mosque right behind it

In the week that I have been here I have tried to dig as much as I can to get a grasp of different elements of the culture. I feel like I am beginning to understand some of the nuances (by which I mean contradictions) that still make absolutely no sense at all.

Delicious local food being prepared (no its not pizza)

Image culture: This place takes the notion of 'first impressions matter' to a whole new level. Fitted clothing, overly groomed hair, flashy watches and smart shoes, all with designer labels, seem to be essential for young people. Not to mention the surprisingly high number of pristine Porches, Ferraris and Mercedes cruising the pothole-ridden roads. Here, image is everything. The level of respect that you command is pretty much entirely down to the way you look. It is not uncommon when meeting someone for them to look you in the eye, then down at your shoes, then across to your wrist, before talking to you in whatever way they see fit. To me this is usually in broken English trying to sell me something.

An old house which has actually been converted into a boutique cosmetic surgery complete with valet parking

At the same time this is also very much a relationship culture: 'It's not what you know it’s who you know.'  It takes time to build relationships with people that are anything more than surface level. But once trust is built you’re in possession of one of the most valuable commodities; everything becomes cheaper, faster and easier when you have 'wasta' with the people you are dealing with.

Very strong, very nice coffee

Mix all this in with an honour-shame culture and you have something that is comparable to driving here; a culture that is fantastically exciting, confusing and dangerous all at the same time. Don't ask me what the cultural equivalent of crashing would be, suffice to say that I don't think I've done it yet... That or I did it on arrival and have since died and gone to cultural heaven?

In case you were wandering this is an 'interesting-face portrait' ... taken in landscape

Well, seeing as this post is very quickly headed to a realm of incomprehensibility I think it's time to wrap things up and oh yes, maybe actually mention some of the things I have done ...

• Conducted my first interview and written my first story from it (yay!)
•  Been published
• Blown a chunk of my spending money on an amazing photo book
• Served some field workers by painting their apartment
• Made some new friends (unfortunately not locals but friends all the same)
• Been on an enjoyable and informative 4 hour walking tour of the city with my new found friends
• Visited a convent
• Watched the sun set every night
• Learned to play a new board game
• Taken a bunch more photos
• Gotten a hair cut (kind of a big deal here with the whole image culture thing)
• Tried local food (its delicious)
• Learned how to say 'How are you?' and to respond appropriately in Arabic
•  Met more field workers and heard snippets and tasters of great stories that I am hoping to hear in all their glory over the coming weeks

Title font used: 'Scorched Earth'

Arrival

Welcome to the Near East! After a few flights and rather a lot of queuing (which contrary to popular opinion Brits do not enjoy any more than any other nationality) I arrived last night to this beautiful land, something I have been anticipating for nearly a year and I am finally here! In less than 24 hrs I have already been a bit blown away with culture shock... I was greeted by a sea of head-scarves shouting very loudly in the baggage hall. The ride to the apartment where I am staying was also a bit of an adventure with no street lighting combined with the sport of dodging pot holes in the road. The driver told me that having lived here 6 years he's learned the basic rule of the road is not to 'mind the gap' but to fill the gap, which explained three lanes of traffic on a two lane carriageway.

Queuing to change planes in Turkey

Having been given no complimentary food on the flight over (grumpy face) we swung through the golden arches of familiarity enroute and I stuffed my face with delicious greasy junk food. I did actually want to experience the local food but nothing else was open at 10.30pm. I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities for this later.

Man modifying his boat

The first day was full. I tagged along on a trip attempting to source some local products for a business venture to employ marginalised women to produce local style jewellery that can be exported, thus empowering them as well as raising awareness of the social injustices that they face.

 Local glass/pottery store

An interesting interlude: Despite not being able to speak Arabic I managed to explain to the kind man in the shop that I was not interested in buying any of his bongs and that in fact I do not smoke at all because I like to be able to breathe. At least that's what I tried to communicate... For all I know he could be under the impression that I already own several and occasionally I hot box my room.

Middle eastern smoking devices

After the shopping trip ended we visited a nearby town for the purpose of cultural orientation and as an ease into work. Over the course of the day my supervisor filled in some of the blanks about what my work will look like over the next 6 weeks. It sounds exciting, challenging and fun all at the same time and I am tentatively looking forward to being stretched and comprehensively shoved out of my comfort zone.

Tea -  How did they know?!

There is an eclectic and sometimes incongruous mix of culture in this place. It is not uncommon to see a woman in a black robe and head covering walking down a street that has a 30ft billboard advertising wedding lingerie. I am hoping to come away with a better understanding of how culture and belief interact here and I will go about picking the brains of people who can answer me and observing as much as I can.

Typical building

I am picking up a few bits of Arabic already. I can now recognise the numbers 1-10 written down and can say hello and thank you. The body language is a whole other ball game but it's easier to pick up than words and you can get a surprisingly long way simply with hand motions and head movements.

End of another long day. Watch this space, plenty more to come!

Does this need a caption?

Title font used: 'urban jungle'