Category: Travels with Mami
Jordan, Palestine & Israel 2015 Part 1: The itinerary
With 10 days blocked out exclusively for my mother during my contract break in March, Mami took her persuasion skills out and convinced me that it was time for yet another trip with our backpacks. We looked at maps and weather reports together, thought of options that were not too far away yet not too close.. and when Daesh started smashing art to pieces in Iraq we agreed that Petra in Jordan was a place that we should make sure we experience as soon as possible.
We booked our flights to and from Amman without booking hotels, and I decided that if we’re going to spend days looking at monuments and beautiful desert, I want my mom to understand some of the local context and history, and experience some of the places I visited in 2010. So we added Palestine and Israel to the itinerary, and the circle was closed. March 9th to 19th 2014 – Jordan, Palestine, Israel. The photos and the stories are coming!
India 2013 – Part 9: Thoughts on Photos and Vulnerability.
After sharing so many photos from India and my other travels recently, I would like to once again explain my relationship to taking photos of people, and how I experienced the attitude towards portraits in India.
The photo above is of a young woman who lives in the Dharavi slum on the outskirts of Mumbai, also famous as the “Slumdog Millionnaire” slum from the movie with the same name. She works for a non-profit women’s organisation for which she embroiders sequins and beads onto pillow cushions, dresses and other fabrics that are then sold abroad. One pillow cushion can take her about two hours to work on, she will work about eleven hours a day, and what she earns from the work is just enough to cover her expenses and provide the right nutrition for her little son, her first one. This young woman told me about the organisation she works for and how she is thankful for being able to provide for herself and her child, we spoke about her priorities for a while while she kept on working, and then she asked if I would like to take a photo of her.
That’s right. She asked. And often, especially in India, people are very happy to have their photo taken and don’t consider it intrusive, especially not after a proper talk. On the contrary, it’s an honor to be captured in an image together with what values most to you.
Photography can be a very powerful tool and it often takes a serious amount of consideration on my part whether I want to share an image or not, and how the person in it is portrayed. Vulnerability in images is a sensitive matter with many layers – and unfortunately very often based on the prejudice and expectations of the beholder. I will not state that people who live in the Dharavi slum and many other areas of Mumbai aren’t in a particularly exposed and vulnerable situation, nor that a person who already feels empowered shouldn’t have access to better opportunities – but if we take the woman above as an example, and many other faces I recently have shared on this page – I would like to insist that you look at the image again, and see the fact that she is very proud of having her own one-room apartment, a tv, a healthy little son who she can spend her entire days with, and an income she is in total control of.
Now look at the image below, and imagine the huge smile the girl had on her face while pulling on my skirt to have her picture taken, just before she exposed her most natural of faces for me – and see the sincerity and beauty in it instead of feeling any sort of pity.
Seriuosly, pity is a serious insult when not asked for. Don’t you even dare.
India 2013 – Part 8: Mumbai – The Dharavi slum, street food and the Dhobi ghat.
Mumbai was so many things at once that it was almost overwhelming trying to get more impressions in after more than two weeks of intense travelling around India. We did the must-sees of the city; The Gateway of India, the big British heritage buildings and the markets. We also saw the world’s biggest outdoor laundromat – the Dhobi Ghat – where the bed linen, towels and clothes from Mumbai’s hotels and hospitals are washed, and had some really good street food. For me personally, the highlight was our trip to the Dharavi slum, also known from the movie “Slumdog Millionnaire” where we got to walk around, talk to people, see the clay pot production process, and get an insight into what life looks like when you live so close to your neighbours – and how what looks like simple metal boxes can be beautifully furnished and decorated apartments with high-tech TV sets on the inside – a contrast I unfortunately didn’t get the opportunity to capture in a photo. I will share a couple of more photos from the slum later, and until then you have this selection of children playing, food and contrasts from this extremely segregated city.
Leaving Mumbai, we said good bye to magnificent India. See you again, some time.
India 2013 – Part 7: Jodhpur – Blue, calm and kind.
Jodhpur, also known as the blue city, is not a small place. Yet, it manages not to be too chaotic or dusty, and it is easy to get around by foot. We arrived after five hours in a taxi where my google maps app and gps clearly had saved us from getting completely lost – the taxi driver spoke no word of English and clearly had no idea where we were going. As always, things work themselves out and we found a nice guesthouse we wanted to stay at. In Jodhpur, we took up some of the touristing, visited the beautiful Mehrangarh Fort and the clock tower, had nice lunches, a pedicure session, a private cooking class with the owner of our guesthouse and a look at very sparkling jewelry. It was nice, and still as blue as I had remembered it.
(Edit: If you want more practical information, you can check out Pankaj’s website about Jodhpur, his own town.)
India 2013 – Part 6: Magic little Pushkar.
We took a taxi to the beautiful little town Pushkar, one of the most holy places in India, after the train from Jaipur had dropped us off at the Ajmer station. We decided to check in at a TripAdvisor #1 and true gem worthy its name; the Seventh Heaven Inn. Without any doubt the most beautiful and pleasant place we stayed in during our entire trip. In Pushkar, I reconnected with India again after a couple of busy days of exploring, and enjoyed the simplicity in just walking around, talking to people and photographing. We didn’t have much of a plan in Pushkar – as there simply isn’t much to do apart from walking around and trying to take in the tranquil ambience, which for me was absolutely perfect. It was so nice and flowing we decided to stay longer, our room was bright and airy, and the internet connection was great, allowing me to continue my job application spree and small consultancies. I thought a lot of the last time I stayed in Pushkar, where I also got to know the two Italians that I traveled with for more than two weeks. It was all lovely and both my mother and I were happy with what Pushkar had to offer. What also happened was that we got so comfortable that when the time came to decide for our next step, we decided to move on by cab to the very blue city of Jodhpur. Trains and buses simply weren’t convenient nor time efficient enough, and comfort and time had become a priority as we were reaching the end of our trip. More on Jodhpur in the next India post, and then there’s only Mumbai left.
India 2013 – Part 5: Jaipur, the pink city.
Here are the photos from when my mother and I visited the pink city Jaipur in India last year. I had been there three years earlier, but wasn’t very impressed at the time as it’s a busy, grey and dusty city where people aren’t very keen on stopping to have a talk. Going with my mother, however, was very different as she really insisted that we visit all the different temples and attractions around. I’m more of a people person than a building person – but I did get to photograph a couple of interesting faces, play with monkeys, and see a lot of cool, colourful buildings. Still not particularly pink, but beautiful.
On our second day in Jaipur we went to the impressive Amber fort, which I remember really enjoying visiting last time – it was still as interesting.
White beard in a net
I met this gentleman in Jaipur, India, last year. With his white beard tucked into a net and his moustache coloured black, he was standing just outside the Hawa Mahal, the magnificent “Palace of the Winds”. He posed and asked me to take his photo and I took a whole bunch. I’ll share more photos from the “pink city” with its beautiful palaces some day soon – they are next up in line from the trip.
Good night, friends!
India 2013 – Part 4: The wonders of Agra
So now I have a moment to continue the colourful story of the trip my mother and I did in November 2013 when we decided to hop around India for two weeks. You can find the earlier photos and stories here, and this one is about what I consider the world’s most magnificent structure, the Taj Mahal, and the very impressive red Agra Fort which I missed when I was in India in 2010.
Saigon, also known as Ho Chi Minh City. Last stop in Vietnam.
Saigon was our last stop in Vietnam, and also the last stop of the entire two-week trip. The weather was far more pleasant than in the capital up north, so walking around the city was nice and the atmosphere and people felt very different. We did a lot of shopping, a lot of eating, and spent a lot of time next to the very much appreciated rooftop pool of the hotel. I had a nice and relaxed birthday and it was generally a good way to end the trip, which had been intense and packed with impressions.
