THE DUKE OF MUKHEIBEH

I've started taking photos for a new interior design and architecture magazine called Trend Design. This is the kind of work I really enjoy. On one of my first assignments I met The Duke of Mukheibeh, a title bestowed him by the late King Hussein. The Duke was born into a wealthy land owning family, and has spend his lifetime caring for the environment and the archeological history of Jordan. The Duke was very gracious with his time and access to his home, which happens to be one of the finest art galleries in the country. Note the Mona Lisa on the floor. It was painted by a schizophrenic Egyptian painter that would slice up his canvases when he finished painting them. The Duke glued her back together like a puzzle. As a cultural side note, I have often compared Jordanian hospitality to Southern hospitality: terrific on the surface, but generally fake underneath. I've been invited to a million dinners here that have never materialized. Keeping with custom, when I left the Duke's house he said he would invite Julie and I over for a drink sometime. Imagine my shock two days later when I actually got that call, and then again the following week. He is quite the host. The Jordanian equivalent of The Dude, and damn does he abide.

DON'T STOP.....................

I've just finished a three month marathon watching all 86 hours of "The Sopranos". In two hundred years when people study American culture and art, this masterpiece will certainly be on the syllabus (if they still have those). This show managed to talk about all the major issues of our time without ever being preachy. They tackled terrorism, homosexuality, man's search for meaning, mood altering medication, family dynamics, racism, disenfranchised youth, suicide, depression and anxiety, death, fidelity, and more. The show never attempts to answer these issues. It just shows them in an honest way, and allows the viewer to reach their own conclusions. All this depth against the intriguing backdrop of Mafia life. It has been a few days since I watched the final episode, and like any great book, it is still lingering in my brain wanting more reflection and ruminating. And I can't get that fucking Journey song out of my head!

ANOTHER FASHION SHOOT?

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in! I've started working with a new editor here who runs the most read magazine in Jordan, called Layalina. She also runs a new interior design magazine called Trend Design, which is why I originally approached her for work. I like her a lot, so I begrudgingly agreed to shoot another fashion spread, this time for a furniture store called Midas. It was mostly a painless process besides the dopey male model who had a total range of two expressions. The other exhausting thing, which is common here, is that I as the photographer was in charge of each set design and set dressing. This made each photo (7 in total) take over an hour to shoot. Another interesting fact: I shot the bar and loaded it full of booze bottles with the permission of the store. Several patrons walked by during the shoot and left the store in disgust. Now the few bottles you can see will have to be photoshopped out.

WHERE IN THE WORLD WAS THIS TAKEN?

If you've never witnessed Water Buffalos attempting to screw, then you haven't lived. I think my favorite thing about this picture is the look on the female's face. She is clearly a little embarrassed by her partners antics. This wasn't taken with a particularly long lens. My presence was known and I was only about 15 feet away as he made his move. It didn't last long. She trotted away in disgust. He glared at me for a few seconds afterwards as if I had ruined it for him. This all took place in the eastern desert of Jordan in a town called Azraq. There is wetland oasis there, and the buffalo have been introdued to help manage the grasses (and to hump without persecution).

MITSUBISHI ECLIPSE COVER

I'm really enjoying shooting the covers for Torque magazine. Of all the different photographic genres I've dabbled in, cars are one of my favorites. The day of this shoot the editor and I jumped in the car without any idea of where to take it. I thought the Eclipse's orange would look nice against the Dead Sea blues, so that's where we went. I shot a ton of different cover photos and thought I was done when we came to this turn-off where the cliff dropped straight down to the water. The final shot was taken with me on my editors shoulders (god bless him). After I snapped it I told him we had the cover shot, and like Babe Ruth calling a homer to right field, so it was. Not really. They were going to go with another cover, but I lobbied hard for this one, and finally managed to convinced the nonbelievers.

BEHOLD: THE INTERNET

Julie and I moved into our new place a month ago, and today we finally got internet. I've gone a month without easy access to the net. It was unpleasant. We would have gotten internet sooner, but my connection here ran out of the CPE devices shown above (my college roommates are CEO and CTO of internet provider Kulacom). I would like to believe that the run on those devices was due to the photo I took above which was featured on billboards here. If so, my inconvenience was self-induced.

AMMAN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

I am nearing the end of a long project with the Amman Symphony Orchestra. One more portrait of the Arab Ensemble and I'll be done! I shot about twenty different shots for them, and between cancelations and logistical issues the project has lasted months. Pictured above are the conductor and the first chair violinist.

MY BOOK IDEA

This is a shot I took of billionaire Pascal Mouawad. Inevitably, during every photo shoot you capture a few unflattering moments like these. I used to throw them away, but I've started to collect them. I think they would make for a great coffee table book.

THE FINAL FRONTIER: SPORTS

This past weekend I shot an amateur boxing championship match. In attendance was the featherweight Arab boxing hero Prince Naseem of Yemen. Actually, he's from England, but his parents are Yemini. Prince Naseem was well known for his theatrical ring entrances, his unorthodox style of not guarding his face, and his failure to reach what most considered his full potential as a boxer. He was at the event as a celebrity, not a boxer. If he had boxed, it would be several classes above featherweight, like paperweight. The event was my first opportunity to shoot sports, which I made my way through using very high ISOs as I don't currently own a fast lens. Dark and fast=pain in the ass.