Perspective

I know the angle is odd. But I like it anyway.

I also like the long shadows.  And, for no good reason at all, I like how the curvy, new building appears . . . as though peeking over the shoulder of it's aged neighbor.

So Many

There are so many textures, so many forms in this image. It's tempting to describe them in terms of opposites--new and old, hard and soft, flexible and rigid, organic and manufactured. Yes, it's tempting. I think it's also a mistake.

The mistake is in oversimplifying the visual complexity of this space, reducing a brilliantly eclectic cacophony into a checklist of yes and no.

Rain is Coming

The rainy season is coming. It's here, actually. We've already had our first drenching downpours.

Good thing too because those plants are looking rough.

Green Shutters

It's sunny, really lovely and sunny.

I'd love to sit by this window and watch the world outside, and then close the shutters and take a nap.

Exactly Thoroughly

One reason why construction sites really appeal to me is that, for most modern structures, there is a tremendous amount of repeatability. Often every level is exactly the same, repeated over an over until the penthouse level. This fire-escape on the side of a half finished building downtown reminded me of it:

Amazing! Each level of the stairway is exactly, thoroughly the same.

That's something that age does away with--over time the roof will sag a bit at one end, or maybe the corner of one window will crumble, or perhaps the facade will deteriorate or half the shingles will go missing. A window breaks, a balcony gets bombed in, maybe a bullet grazes the cornice overhead.

But new buildings haven't had the chance. They're like newborn babies who haven't so much as skinned a knee yet.

Within

Lighting matters. The quality of the light in a photograph is usually the first thing I'll envy in another photographer's work. In my own pictures, light is usually a big part in my decision to publish or not publish a photo. It's even a factor in whether or not I like an image, which is another mater entirely.

That's true this time. I like the light on the deteriorating exterior of this building.

But I didn't publish this picture because of the light (though it's good). I published it because of that upper window--the one with the shutters thrown wide, the one exposing the perfect darkness within, a blackness that draws my eye and holds it and will not let it go.

Hundred Hands

Sometimes I wonder how many hundred hands have gripped this knob and entered through this door.

Sea Turtle Watching

There are sea turtles in Beirut.

Or perhaps I should say there is at least one sea turtle in Beirut that I spied while walking on the Corniche with my kids. I had never seen one here before.

Happy Weekend, everyone!

Up and Down

Up goes the eye to the top of the house on its way down.

The other day my husband said he'd love to buy it and rehabilitate it. Maybe in another (wealthier) life?

Piles and Piles

Just south of Achrafieh, there's a lovely public park that I wrote about months ago, and just down the hill from it, you'll find this amazing lot:

There's so much to see at a place like this: piles and piles of dirt--three different colors of it--and huge tubes that could become excellent storm sewers and heavy machinery to get the work done and (in the background) lots of pallets of concrete blocks.

It's really something.