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Postcard From Cairo
January 12th, 2009
Wish you were here. The tea and sheesha at El Fishawi is almost enough to keep me sidelined from shooting all day, but I just discovered my hotel has a wifi connection so felt obliged to go shoot something just for you.
Photographically it feels like Cairo is handing my ass to me on a platter. It’s a huge city and today in coptic Cairo I saw some nice old churches but nothing that caught my attention enough to make me raise my camera. But I’m learning lessons again, like how I shoot and why, and I’m learning to shoot the images I want to shoot, not the ones I feel I ought to, if that makes any sense. I’ve been at this over twenty years and I still have the ghosts of my heroes whispering to me, and I think “hey, you should shoot that – Sam Abell would” or something similar. And the thing is, I’m not Sam Abell or Steve McCurry.
Part of what I love most about this is the exchange, the relational element, the moments when a smile turns into chai and a moment turns into a real experience. Actual experience, actual relationship, even for a few minutes, those are the ones I live for and I’m getting less and less satisfied with the counterfeits. The result is less images at the end of the day and I’m having a heck of a time coming to grips with that. Used to be I could go out and shoot 20 frames I loved. That number is getting much, much smaller. I know it’s a good thing, that my images are (usually) getting better, but measured against old standards fewer great frames feels more like failure than moving forward.
On top of that I find Northern Africa much harder to shoot in. Lots of visually interesting stuff that captivates me but it’s all much more intimidating to me. When people don’t want their photograph made here, they REALLY don’t want it made. I totally respect that, but it wears on a guy. The flip side – when they relent or even ask to have their portrait shot, it’s often a wonderful exchange, full of talk and gestures, tea, and genuine hospitality.
Phew, sorry for the confession, but people keep telling me my transparency helps somehow and my scarce blogging time on this gig has made me feel like I’m missing y’all.
The heartfelt transparency is why I keep reading; it’s tough on writers but gold for readers.
Staying away from the Bruce Gilden approach I hope?
I totally agree with Taylor Davidson- your posts are fantastic and I await them eagerly.
It is good to know (although I understand how tough it is) that you still “struggle” with the rejection side of things and it isn’t just us newbies who feel slightly weary and disappointed (“was it the way I looked, the way I asked, etc etc) after a day of rejections. Thank you for the honesty. You keep me inspired
cheers
vanessa
David, you just be safe. I’ve been there twice, the people are wonderful but in my eyes, so are the people of Iraq. Humans are wonderful, but there is influence everywhere.
Safe journeys.
Tom
Glad to find your having a successful journey; by successful I mean your being challenged in new ways. This bit of introspective hits home with some of us.
Have you shot here before? Or is this a new experience? How are you dealing with the last of color in the buildings and street scenes? I never find much contrast in Cairo. Not to mention the ever present pollution that gums up your lens and sensor.
good to hear from you.
safe travels bro.
Maybe you’re approaching some kind of an epiphany. Those can be kind of painful in the birthing stages. Or maybe it’s just that tea and sheesha dragging you down, dude. I love your post; it’s very real.
I bet your work will turn a corner soon and be better for it… just trust yourself, your instincts.
And I love hearing about self-doubt from people I look up to. It’s good to know that everyone’s human.
Keep up the blogging. We live vicariously through you.
I love the post. After shooting in Morocco and listening to your hardships in Tunisia and now Cairo, I think it’s safe to say that North Africa is a tough place to shoot. However, I also think we learn the most when we’re tossed into hard settings and asked to get great images. I’m sure you know this far better than I. Just wanted to let you know your post struck a chord.
Great post. I am real fan of this blog, love reading your observations and self-analysis. Kind of good point of view how to think before and while shooting… which makes the difference and the personal style after all.
David,
I think what your experiencing is natural. You have a great talent, and being self analytical is a good thing in helping to develop ourselves- provided that you balance the feedback to yourself – don’t be afraid to give yourself a postive too. After all, you are recognising that your photographic style is continuing to develop and grow and that you are developing your own style along the way. No mean feat.
I experienced something similar in Hanoi last year when I bumped into a guy using a tripod to get some beautiful shots in the Temple of Literature. I didn’t have one, as I had decided to travel light, so couldn’t do long exposures in the low light. I kicked myself for the rest of the day. But a few weeks later, looking back on the experience , I realised that I had taken the opportunity to get out and do some street shots by the market using some panning techniques – the shots turned out to be some of my best from the trip.
It was a bum experience at the time, but there was a silver lining after all.
Safe travels,
Dave
so wonderful to see a different world, imagine the smells and even picture your sheesha…
safe travels & hope you get some yummy coffee in there too…you must begin withdrawl when you’re away from your fav. stomping grounds