First visit to the new National Museum of Qatar

It’s been awhile since my last posting. been so busy settling into a new project at my day-job as an architect. Amongst all of this, I was fortunate to visit the newly completed National Museum of Qatar recently, on a quiet Friday morning with nobody around. This architectural masterpiece by french architect Jean Nouvel was inspired by desert roses, crystallised sand that can be found in some desert regions, including Qatar. These are some of my first impressions, taken with my Leica Q.

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One of the finer details that immediately struck me, is that the exterior paving is constructed from rough concrete with sand and small stones strewn over it. This closely resembles the Qatar desert floor. The sandy paving gradually transitions to cobble stones at the entrances to the building.

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I’m looking forward to a few more visits, as well as (obviously) exploring the interior and displays on offer.

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Dusting off the Rollei for Croatia

Apart 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.

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Everyday Doha ... and things #4

During the summer months, I find it really hard to keep my street photography passions going in any active way. Just this past weekend, I tried again to hunt for a few usable shots at a new local shopping mall, but I always leave disappointed. Some street photographers are probably highly skilled in indoor mall photography, but it is not my strong point or main interest.

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Week 2 in Sri Lanka - Fuji X100s vs Leica Q

I spent my last week in Galle to mostly travel around the area, in an almost desperate attempt to see and capture as much possible quality stock before my return to Doha. This is (as always) made easier by renting a scooter, and with the wonders of Google maps in my pocket, deep explorations into the back roads and rural farmlands is always possible without the angst of getting lost.

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Week 1 in Sri Lanka - Fuji X100s vs Leica Q

As always, my trusted Fuji X100s, a constant travel companion of circa four years, accompanied me. However, having also recently accuired a new Leica Q, I was interested in seeing which one of these tools suit me best. Admittedly, my heart layed with the Fuji before the trip, as my short time with the Leica has been slightly unimpressive to date.

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Portraits of Syria

With Aleppo again being in the international news for all the wrong reasons, I feel sad in the knowledge that many of the areas in Syria that I've been privileged to visit and experience before the 2011 start of this dreadful civil war, have been damaged at best, or at worst, completely destroyed. 

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It's as simple as Black & White in full colour ...

After many years of street shooting, all the time working almost exclusively in colour (and yellow for the last part), I think that a great colour display helped me to rediscover and appreciate the qualities of black and white. I started becoming interested in things like tonal ranges, shadow detail and light qualities.

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