Do you hide when it rains? Do you take cover? Or do you sing and dance?
I see so much romance in a rainy day. The enchanting city streets reflecting reality to create a better, softer world.
Shanghai sparkles…
Tag rain
Inside the Slaughterhouse~ Shanghai
1933, a maze of amazingly original architecture, flying bridges, spiral staircases, dimly lit corridors, an eerie feeling of disorientation, and a must location to challenge any aspiring photographer. I love returning to this building again and again, that primarily served as a cattle slaughterhouse after its construction in 1933 in Hongkou, later a cold storage facility, and a medicine factory among other uses; it now hosts creative spaces, restaurants and shops as well as a few bewildered photographers. The possibilities here are endless to create, dream and compose.
Anhui Diaries~
Hongcun
Long Chuan
Long Chuan
Long Chuan
Long Chuan
Hongcun
Hongcun
From a recent journey to the old villages around Huangshan (yellow mountains) of China’s Anhui province, I was utterly inspired with the landscape, the feeling of calm that blankets the area and the mystical sense of being so far away from it all.
It made me think a lot about the nature of water, and reflections that are abundant in this place; the magic of seeing the world repeated, maybe for us to think twice.
A place I will happily return to.
Impressions From a Journey Between the Folds of Time
things can only look up from down here
back to basics
heartbroken
destiny waits for no one
to rise above the level of lost
preparing for a clean slate
the unrelenting ghost of yesterday
memories laced with teardrops
the spirit of winter
holding up the sky
juggling life and its twists and turns
those hands of fate
Sometimes life invites us into a brief interlude between the folds of time. There we see beyond the obvious, we feel more deeply and we re-evaluate our lives and where our importances lie. The past month has been just such a life changing happening and as I emerge trying to find the end of a thread I let go of, I find that a whole new selection of threads present themselves to me. I pray that I may choose wisely where to get back on the train we call destiny.
Photographs taken during the past month in Germany, Lebanon and China
More images on my instagram feed
Kinetic Life
Have you felt lately as though you keep on moving from one task to the next, from one place to another as if chased by your own shadow? It is as if we are all gripped by a fear of being caught standing still. We plan our year before it even starts and we project into our future leaving very little room for the unexpected. Our lives are preplanned and dictated in our phones that link to all our other devices that we allow to remind us that we are not free but bound inside our own self created prisons.
the color of rain~ China
With rain in China comes color, like fireworks on New Year’s, the umbrellas adorn the streets like confetti, I wait for the rain…
rainy contemplations~ China
The rain, it has the power to enforce a stillness, a sense of calm, a blanketed silence, and inside of that we can somehow think more peacefully…
I love capturing memories of raindrops, umbrellas and the brave ones who walk and think in the rain.
Pingyao moments~
Pingyao, an ancient town in the Shanxi province of China, completely walled, preserved and authentic looking, is home to the yearly Pingyao photography festival where thousands of photographer meet. I visited for 3 days as 2 of my photographs were curated and included in a show there and during the last 2 days, it rained endlessly setting a beautiful mood for photography. I walked and walked, got drenched and took some photos that I will treasure for always.
Life in the old lanes~ Shanghai
Old lane on a rainy day~ Qibao~ Shanghai
Behind and right next door to the glitz and glamour of Shanghai, real people live their real lives in the old lanes. The first shock you get walking through the very old parts of town is the extreme narrowness of the alleys and the very small size of the overcrowded rooms people call home. It is quite a wake up call that I make sure I take myself through at least once a week so as not to be fooled by the fake reality that expats tend to exist in in a place like Shanghai.
Is growth a one-way street?
ascending~rainy day in the city
In a life where we rush from the days of our childhood to gather information and knowledge that we believe will help us grow, many of us end up facing an awakening later along the way. The truth that we seek so desperately appears to be much simpler than we had projected it to be. Maybe instead of all the baggage we carry, the books we read, the college degrees we hang on our walls, a shrinking back to basics is what is needed. Any time I had a revelation of any kind, it seemed to appear from the simplest moments in life, a raindrop, a rainbow, a flower, a walk in the forest, the smile of a child, a look in the mirror, a moment with a friend, a twinkle in an eye…
Every so often I am compelled to change gears and alter the direction of my stride and the search never ends…
