The big billboard ad looming over the highway read “Expect the unexpected” as a man in camouflage held a shiny rifle and smiled at the cars passing by below. I thought to myself – I hope this is advertising hunting, but quite frankly in the Middle East I’m not quite sure – anything goes! My [...]

Just like churches dominate the European landscape, Mosques take the honor in the Middle East.  During my travels in the Middle East this winter I had the chance to visit a few and photograph some of them.  I was rarely let inside the mosques to do photography, but when I was it was a special [...]

I sat on the formal couch and listened to the Arabic words swirling around me; lightening fast and coming from every direction. I looked at the people surrounding me and took note of their gestures and facial expressions. I tried to piece together the puzzle of what was being said, but I knew that was [...]

While traveling throughout the Middle East I saw many doors graced with hands.  However I never really got the full story on the hand knockers.  Some people say it’s the Hand of Fatima and it’s supposed to protect your home from evil.  However one of my favorite explanations was that the hands knockers were either [...]

Yella means “Let’s Go!” in Arabic – a favorite word of mine.  This Friday I have a few last remaining nuggets of photo goodness from Jordan.  I’m moving on from Jordan…next stop Lebanon!  However, I wanted to share a few of my favorite photos from Jordan which speak to the culture, landscape, and experiences of [...]

While in Jordan I saw all of the main tourist sites, but I also had an opportunity to get off the beaten path with my local host family. I had the opportunity to see a place few foreigners have seen; In fact, I am willing to bet that no foreigner besides expats have been there [...]

I’ve taken a lot of pictures of people around the world.  But this young man surprised me.  He was the first who actually had a sense of humor and wasn’t afraid to show it to the camera.  I was shocked when I looked through the lens and saw him ‘pose’ for his picture which he [...]

I sat on the couch and my stomach grumbled wondering why in the hell I hadn’t given it anything but a thin piece of bread, oil, thyme and an abundance of coffee for the last 6 hours. My stomach was angry at me, it was calling out to me wondering why I was torturing it. [...]