THE BIGGEST RIP-OFF IN AMMAN

Most everything in Amman is expensive, especially nice things like electronics and cars. You can expect to pay about double what the item would cost in the US. But yesterday at Safeway I discovered the most inflated item to date: a six pack of Jello pudding cups. The cost was $13 USD. Thats 13x the cost in the US. Other rip-offs include the ubiquitous Amstel pint at a bar ($8.00 USD), a battery for my Apple Macbook ($300 USD), nine pieces of sushi at a restaurant ($25.00 USD), and any new X-box game ($100 USD). That's not to say there aren't a few good deals here. Cigarettes only cost $1.50 a pack, a large bag of sandwich rolls costs $0.35, and unlimited coffee and tea delivered to your desk at work is free.

DROPPING A LENS HOOD ON JOHN MCCAIN

It's not everyday that an American is seen running around the Jordanian Senate. I found myself there yesterday, a little intimidated, and again, with no real photographic direction. One of the first shots I took was this bottom one. I used the second floor ledge as a make-shift tripod, and as I pressed the shutter my plastic lens hood fell off and dropped below onto a Senators desk. His aid was nice enough to run it back upstairs to me. After that, my handler was quick to redirect me anytime I got anywhere near the ledge. Amazingly, my oversized camera bag was never checked at any of the many security checkpoints inside. Had a check been done, they may have discovered the mis-screwed lens hood, and foiled my premeditated plot to embarrass myself.

THIS IS SHIT!

Literally shit was what this shoot was about, and the theme kept popping up. Up in Zarqa, about 25 miles north of Amman, there is a waste water treatment facility paid for in part by US tax dollars. They recycle Amman's shit water and send it down the Jordan valley where it is used to irrigate crops. Obtaining the "privilege" of photographing this facility took two hours. Efficiency is almost non-existent in Jordan. No is almost always the first response to any request here. Persistence is the only way, and to get what you want, you have to take it to its extreme. After two hours of waiting, I was taken into a classroom and given a safety orientation in Arabic. If I understood it right, I wasn't supposed to drink or swim in the shit water. The instructor then issued me a helmet, mask, and special safety shoes to wear. Once inside, I was extremely limited as to what I could shoot. If I got to close to a concrete pillar or a dirt embankment, my escort would quickly whisk me out of harms way.

After about an hour I had what I needed and we left and headed back to the magazine office. Immediately after stepping out of the elevator, the head of the magazine, Dr. Mustafa Hamarneh, asked to see my photos. I showed him each one, and to each he would reply, "this is shit", and he wasn't being humorous. I found out later that he and the designer of the magazine had had a huge fight just before I got back. Later when things had calmed down and the designer had the photos laid out on the computer, the Doctor nodded when I asked if he thought it looked ok. Honeymoon over.

THE PROMISED LAND

This bottom photo is somewhere in the vicinity of where Moses stood when he first laid eyes on the The Promised Land. Even without that history, it can't help but be a holy place. It certainly makes a strong case for GOD being Nature. I imagined myself coming out of the desert and seeing this vista. Of course he didn't know it, but what Moses was looking down at was the lowest point on earth, the Dead Sea (known back then as the Salt Sea). I wonder how many travelers reached this point, saw the beautiful body of water below, and ran down these rugged mountains only to find the water totally useless. Luckily I know better, plus I have a car.

INTELLECTUAL RAG BECOMES MAGAZINE

I have somehow become the head photographer for Jordan's most cerebral magazine, formerly a weekly paper called Al Sijill. It happens to be an all Arabic magazine. The newspaper was very well respected, but under-purchased. Because of the latter, they now want to emulate the style of The New Yorker, and have changed their format to a monthly magazine. They have a few hurdles to overcome when it comes to photography. In both the above cases, with very little information about the articles the photos would go with, I was given ten minutes in the subject's office to take a suitable photo. What the writers expected was a simple on-camera flash shot with the subject at their desk. What they got was thirty minutes of me frantically trying to make an interesting shot in boring poorly lit offices. The top man is a very famous football coach here in Jordan. He led two teams to become world champions in 97' and 99'. The fellow below is a well known actor and playright. When I showed the writer the actors photo above he said, "no good, too dark!" Luckily the actor liked it. I hope I've learned enough tricks over the years to continue to be fast on my feet. If not, there's always on-camera flash.

LOST IN CITY WITH OLDEST MAP

The city of Madaba is an anomaly in Jordan due to its sizable Christian population. And there in Madaba, at St. George Greek Orthodox Church, is the oldest biblical map in the world. It is actually mosaicked into the church floor. I took a very strange route through this hillside town to reach the church and the map, and ironically got very lost trying to return to my car. It took me about 2 hours to find it. My original plan was to spend the "magic hour" on Mount Nebo, the spot where Moses first saw the Promised Land and then died at age 120, but instead I took magic hour shots of chickens in cages. 

BREAKING THE Q RULE: AQABA

I haven't worked in over 3 months, so it seemed about time for a vacation. My friend Bryce and I headed down to the only seaport in Jordan: Aqaba. Notice the lack of a "u" following the "q". This doesn't happen at all in the English language and could help you answer a question on Jeopardy one day. The Gulf of Aqaba is very nice to swim in, even if an underwater sewage pipe had dumped thousands of gallons of sewage into it the day before we arrived. 

Driving continues to be very exciting in a country where the horn is a way of life. I was warned not to drive at night as camels get stupid after the sun goes down. The camel featured here was tied up at the park at 6 am when I took this picture. He was out in town with his owner the night before. The tourists see this silly animal and are compelled to take a picture, then the owner asks for money. This camel was so well trained that when I started shooting him without the presence of his owner, the fucker wouldn't stand still and kept ruining my shots. He kept moaning, and if I understood camel, I'm sure he was saying, "one dinar asshole!" So just to spite him I cranked my shutter speed with the hope of getting the shot anyways. The camel then started making stupid faces to ruin the shot. Well trained indeed.

MY FIRST PHOTO JOB IN JORDAN

Full disclosure: no money changed hands, but I was physically working as a photographer. My friend Hazim is the CEO of Kulacom, an internet service provider here in Amman. He was interviewed yesterday by UMen magazine, and asked if he could provide his own photographer: me. Another of countless examples of my friends hooking me up over here. I spent the afternoon trying to capture the youthful coolness of his new company with my camera and a few strobes. These are a few of my favorite pictures. I'm not sure what the magazine will ultimately use. I did learn a few cultural lessons today. First off, smiling is not a natural Arab reaction to a camera, and secondly, sitting on a ledge with legs raised toward the chest is considered feminine. Good to know. No wonder I've been getting funny looks. 

JORDAN ROCKS

It's not every night in Amman that you can head out and hear live Michael Jackson cover songs. Well, it happened last night courtesy of my friend Emad Alaeddin, frontman for the band Avowed. Emad played for a sitting room only crowd of over 40 people. He respectfully stopped right in the middle of "Losing My Religion" to observe the Muslim call to prayer and followed by asking if there were any porn stars in the audience. The epitome of class. Emad (aka Emo) is bringing out his entire band in July for a very special show here in Amman. They will be playing in the parking lot of the Landmark Hotel. Get your tickets now, or to save money, just park your car in the lot the night before.