“500 Pieces Of” is a project i started last year and involves the participation of 500 people. I am giving each person a unique numbered print (of different sizes, up to 20×29 cm) and I will ask him/her to draw or write something connected to the printed image.
All pieces (a total number of 500) are cut off from a big 400×300 cm photography and will be all puzzled together at the end of this year, revealing the final image.
Structurat in 7 sedinte, pe parcursul a doua saptamani, workshopul este adresat tuturor celor interesati de experimentarea fotografiei pe film si imbina sedintele teoretice cu lucrul practic in locatii si practica de laborator foto.
I was travelling for 3 weeks in Syria. The trip started with a train from Bucharest to Istanbul. Then I took a flight to Amman (Jordan). I entered Syria by car (with a shared taxi). Most of the time I stayed in Aleppo and Damascus. I’ve also been travelling to Homs, Latakia, Palmyra, along the Euphrates on the east, and in the mountain region. I’ve made the road back from Aleppo to Turkey, and then I took back the same train to Bucharest.
Syria is a true experience, rich in visual and olfactive flavours. Neighbouring Turkey, Irak, Jordan, Israel, Palestinian territories, Lebanon and the Mediterranean sea, the country has green plains, mountains, a small coastline, a lot of desert and a great river running through the eastern part. It has a population of around 22 millions made up mainly of sunni muslims, but with significant alawite, shia, christian and druze minorities.
Here is a selection of the photographs i took during the trip along with a slideshow and some 1min shortfilms.
I wish to thank all the people i met during this trip which were very kind and helpful: Andrew Mazotta, Todd Biggs, Hasan from Damascus (such a great dinner!), the Kurdish people from the Damascus hotel, Claude (who crossed us the border to Lebanon with his great 60s Citroen), Dominik Rohmus, Bakri Rawwas (for his help and great friendhip), Osama-the hostel manager, Zeca Vidal, the Italian friends, Joachim and Joka, Hirofumi Sekiguchi, Nadine from Homs, her family and friends, Alexander and Evgeniy from Russia and the list goes on… and especially Neli, for being with me on this trip.
It was morning and the air was filled with smoke and good smells from the grill - Aleppo
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Damascus, the entrance at Azem Palace
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On the streets of old Damascus
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Damascus, in front of the Umayyad Mosque. It was Christmas Day and one man dressed in Santa Clause was taking photos with the locals
One guy from Damascus invited us for a cup of tea and showed us some photos of his family and a film with his father coming back from Mecca
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Near our hotel in Damascus - the street was empty after a very busy day
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Raw meat - Aleppo
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Butcher’s area - Aleppo
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A boy is resting after a long bussiness day. Most of the shops in the markets of Syria are family-based, and young boys are helping their fathers on the job- Aleppo
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Raw meat and women clothes - Aleppo
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Washed-out photos of young women in an old bakery - Damascus _________________________________________________________________________________________
Damascus
A group of iranian shia muslims were celebrating Ashura (the mourning of the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad) in the Umayyad Mosque - Damascus
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Hasan is playing football with his daughter in their apartment near Damascus. We met him in downtown and he invited us for dinner at his house.
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Children play near the entrance of the Citadel - Aleppo
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The city of Aleppo seen from the Citadel. Aleppo is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world. It knew human settlement since the 11th millennium B.C.
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It is friday and it’s football-day for the children of Aleppo
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Bakri, an english language student and his good friend Peter, a swed who was studying Arabic in Aleppo. We met Bakri in Aleppo and he took us to his home where we had tea and a very nice time
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At the Great Mosque of Aleppo
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Beetween the ruins of Resafa. Known as Sergiopolis in Roman times, the city is now an archaeological site
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It was early morning, just after the sunrise and the way to the Palmyra Castle was paved with golden light
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Two men were chasing their camel on the desert of Palmyra
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I saw this man twice, in the evening, riding his donkey in the market of Aleppo. Maybe he was on his way back home
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The ‘rider’ was serving a kebab, so he had to be sure that his donkey won’t run away - Palmyra
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3 beduin kids came to greet us, in the desert, near Palmyra town. The only non-arabic words they knew were “merci” and “yes”. So we had a long merci-yes talk. They were taking care of their family herd.
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A world map near-by the reception of the “New Tourist Hotel” in Palmyra
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For more photos on Syria you can watch the following slideshow:
Vlad Petri este un artist ce pare să fie vizitat frecvent de inspiraţie. Pune mereu în practică idei ce ridică întrebări şi provoacă reacţii în materie de film şi fotografie. Revelionul în tren, „autobiografia” prezentată într-o serie de fotografii cu parturi nefăcute în care s-a trezit sau fotografia-puzzle gigant sunt doar câteva dintre proiectele sale.
