There are a few real challenges being a photographer in Qatar. The most obvious is the harsh climate. It is virtually impossible to venture outside (let alone into the desert) during the roughly six months that we consider "high summer" due to temperatures that can routinely exceed 50 degrees Celsius. Thankfully "low summer" 2018/2019 has arrived, meaning desert exploration trips are again possible for the next few months.
Read MoreI’m proud to have one of my images from my “Qatar Unfiltered …” series represented in this traveling group exhibition.
Read MoreFor a good while now I’ve been wondering what the true added value of various social media platforms are in support of my photography ambitions, and on my personal life as a whole. I’ve expressed some of my opinions on this matter before in a previous posting called Social Media is making us dumb. This continuing stock-taking effort is perhaps not entirely personal, as I notice many other photographers also expressing similar doubts and reservations online.
Read MoreBeen a while since my last blog posting, simply because there hasn't been much going on in my life apart from a few photography outings to explore Doha and the wider Qatar in search of material for my ongoing "Qatar Unfiltered" series.
Read MoreJust returned from a cold and rainy week in Tunisia, and more specifically, the capital city Tunis. It's been a while since I last visited an African destination, but found the atmosphere to be more distinctly Arab than African.
Read MoreIt was with almost childlike anticipation that I delivered my first roll of film for development in perhaps two-and-a-half decades. It's been long in the planning since I bought a few rolls of 120 film on impulse on a visit to Dubai a while back. At the time I didn't know which of my vintage cameras I'd be using, but I suspected 120 film should at least fit one of them. As I'd bought all my vintage cameras at bargain prices over time, I wasn't even sure which of them actually still works.
Read MoreWatching the image develop before your eyes brings out a childlike excitement in me, as would remember the wonder of film photography used to be when I started with it in the 1980's. It's a pleasant break from time-to-time and I will endeavour to do more of it.
Read MoreAs I travel the world and roam the streets, I often come across interesting classic and vintage cars, buses, trucks motorbikes, scooters and various other modes of transport. As a bit of a car enthusiast myself, I can never resist taking a few pictures of these increasingly rare beauties.
Read MoreBeing a bit obsessed with travelling as lightly as possible, the Leica Q is a compact camera, but nowhere near as compact as the Fuji X100s. Even when the Fuji is adorned with an adapter lens, it is still more compact and lighter to carry around. Though I did start getting used to the feel of the Q in hand, I still find the Fuji to be more comfortable to carry around and hold for long periods while moving around. I prefer using a wrist strap, which works perfectly well on the Fuji.
Read MoreApart from my current favorites, my Leica Q and Fuji X100s (no, still can't put it away), I'm also planning to try my hand at film photography again. I'll be taking along an old Rolleiflex I picked up in an antique shop in Aleppo (Syria) some years back. After consulting a few YouTube videos to understand how it works, as far as I can now tell, it is in some form of working order.
Read MoreLady luck has been smiling upon me again with a first prize win in a Viewbug competition entitled "Modern Tall Buildings".
Read MoreEcstatic to announce a second place in the first Theme of the 2017 edition of Life Framer International Photography Competition. The theme was "Civilization" ind is the first in twelve themes over a twelve month period. This theme was judged by Simon Norfolk.
Read MoreI’ve spent the last few weeks working through my entire Vietnam archive, stretching from my first visit in 2007, through to 2011. More specifically though, I’ve reconsidered my images from a visit to the northern mountain region around SaPa and surroundings, a mountain village where a number of ethnic minorities reside and trade their cultural wares with tourists.
Read MoreNow, I know that the web is full of advice for street photographers on best lens choices, camera settings, "stealthy" shooting, etc, which I will try not to repeat or discredit, but instead hope to offer some new advice of my own.
Read MoreThese are platforms where anything goes, where the good and the bad are hardly indistinguishable anymore. It seems like our brains are switching off when bombarded with a constant flow of information. This information is dished up in such a way that, once we've scrolled past it for that fleeting second, most of the information the posting contains become forgotten history.
Read MoreThough many variations can be found, street photography is generally defined as a type of photography that features candid moments of subjects in public spaces. This I consider to be the most basic, purist definition, but it becomes more complicated when one extract further meaning from this simple statement. Let's consider the three key words making up this basic definition: "Subject", "Candid" and "Public".
Read MoreFirst impressions of the city were promising, especially while driving through the historic downtown area from Freedom Square down Rustaveli Avenue. This area contains many grand, historic European style buildings. Most of these buildings are well maintained and beautifully lit, which made an even better first impression while driving through the streets during a perfect blue hour. I was excited about the prospect of getting shooting out into the streets as soon as possible.
Read MoreIt's become a bit of a trend over the last few years to (rightly) question where the genre of Street Photography is heading towards. With typical arguments decrying the facts that "everybody calls themselves photographers", "everybody carries a camera", "social media sites are flooded with bad and mediocre images", ""likes" have become more important than real skill", bla bla bla, together they stack up making a highly compelling case motivating the demise of Street Photography.
Read MoreI quickly realized that this very Jaipur trip was kind of my Street- and Travel Photography genesis, ground zero where it all started. Apart from a disturbing, unhealthy fascination with the "dutch angle" at the time, and shooting most images in a cinematic 16:9 ratio (even in portrait!) this set of images is the first one that showed some kind of promise.
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