The Beauty of the Rolleiflex

I feel bad for not updating the blog for the past couple of months, but as usual things have been quite crazy, non stop travel, lots of planning and research for upcoming projects and many commissions from magazines world wide.  Hopefully soon i’ll be able to write up a post where i show what i’ve been up to lately. More importantly my new company “Immortal Entertainment” is up and running and we promise to bring some freshness to the Middle East in terms of films, photography and music.

Today i present you with some photographs i’ve been shooting since November of last year, all the images were shot on a medium format Rolleiflex (circa 1960), this is one of my favorite cameras and i’ve been carrying it with me in my travels more often now.

Without further ado i present you with moments i’ve captured with this incredible camera, and i’ll let the photos do the talking.

Elon, North Carolina

Elon, North Carolina

Elon, North Carolina

Elon, North Carolina

Elon, North Carolina

Elon, North Carolina

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Stamford, Connecticut

Stamford, Connecticut

Stamford, Connecticut

Stamford, Connecticut

Stamford, Connecticut

Stamford, Connecticut

Stamford, Connecticut

Stamford, Connecticut

New York City

New York City

New York City

New York City

New York City

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

I’ve also been exploring shooting portraits with the Rolleiflex and I have to say that you’ll be seeing more of these in my work. The simplicity of it all and not having to put the camera up in front of your face connects you in a different way with the subject, not to mention what a great conversation starter it is.

Jamil Zraikat- Stamford, Connecticut

Nizar Wattad ( aka Ragtop) Screenwriter & Hip Hop artist - Los Angeles, California

Nizar Wattad ( aka Ragtop) Screenwriter & Hip Hop artist - Los Angeles, California

Nizar Wattad ( AKA Ragtop) Screenwriter & Hip Hop artist - Los Angeles, California

Omar Offendum - Hip Hop Artist/Architect - Los Angeles, California

Ramcess - Hip Hop Artist - Beirut, Lebanon

Max Cantor - Elon, North Carolina

Elon's Fire Brigade Chief- Elon , North Carolina

Danielle Buynak - Actress- New York City

Girl and her Dog - Los Angeles, California

Till next time, Salam.

All photos  ©2009 Laith Al-Majali

Cherien Dabis’s Portraits in Jo Magazine’s November Issue

Palestinian film director Cherien Dabis has made a name for herself after premiering her first feature film “Amreeka” at the Sundance film festival this year. The film has been a success in festivals and theaters around the world. The film which looks at the hardships and daily life of a Palestinian immigrant to the US, is a well crafted and well old story. Cherien has been a friend since we first met on the international film circuit and she possess a beautiful positive type of energy.

I’ve wanted to shoot a portrait of Cherien for a while, and we’ve talked about it the last time i saw her in Los Angeles, finally things worked out and i got commissioned to shoot some portraits of her for the November issue of JO Magazine.

Cherien was really fun to work with and we were able to get a number of looks shot in a short period of time. I had a couple of concepts in mind, got to try them all and three different shots were used for the article.

The issue should be out on the stands tomorrow, so if you are in Amman pick it up and check out the rest of the portraits in the article. I consider them some of my best portrait work so far. Unfortunately i can only share the cover at the moment.

The film’s Website:
www.amreeka.com

Follow the movie on twitter
http://twitter.com/amreekamovie

Fire in the Neighborhood

A large black smoke cloud rose over  the neighborhood as a building caught fire in Amman earlier today. People were already on the scene with cellphones lifted up, documenting the fire and the work of the firefighters of Jordan’s Civil Defense. I was at the office talking to a colleague about a fire that happened in the office next door a couple of days ago when we noticed the smoke and heard the sirens.

I rushed down to the scene with my camera to try and capture the work  being done to control the fire, which was caused by the heating system boilers at the bottom of the building. The scene was a frenzy and the firefighters were working at full speed.

As people watched by from up close, flames shot through the lower windows and everyone ran for cover, except the firefighters and me. My adrenaline was kicking in and i got closer.

The firefighters continued using foam to control the flames and the burning boilers.

Moving to the front of the building i noticed some firefighters working on clearing the first floor and making sure no one was inside.

I must say that everyone was working hard and this firefighter was helping in getting a large hose up to that floor. It’s crazy how he’s just hanging there with no support.

I went back to my first spot and tried to capture a bit more of the action on the other side of the building.

As you can see a lot of foam went into putting this fire to a sleep, i was on site for about 30 min and by the time i left they had everything in control.

One of the residents of the first floor was in distress and the police officers were trying to calm her down. I’m glad no one got injured or burned in this fire.

As I left the scene, i noticed one of the big cranes dropping personnel up on the last floor of the building. I guess they were clearing all the floors and making sure no one was trapped.

This is the first time i see the civil defense men in action up close and personal, and I was impressed with how they handled the situation at hand. They were professional and efficient. Be safe.

Featured in this year’s best photography magazine

A screen grab of my photo featured in Burn Magazine

Last night in NYC it was time for the Lucie Awards which are kind of like the Oscars of photography, Burn Magazine was awarded the Best Photography Magazine award. The online magazine which is curated by Magnum and long time National Geographic photographer David Alan Harvey has become one of the leading photography sites online.

In January of this year one of my photographs from the protests in Amman against what was happening in Gaza was featured in Burn, its kinda nice to know that one’s work has made it into such a high profile site for emerging photographers world wide.

So congratulations David for the award, the work you have been doing in curating some of the best photography out there has paid off and I wish Burn continuing success.

If you haven’t explored the site its really worth it, and is a great visual journal for photographers and photo enthusiasts.

www.burnmagazine.org

Raekwon “The Chef” in London

Sometimes you hope for the best and things work out, through a couple of contacts i was able to hook up with Raekwon’s crew and shoot with him in his London show on the 3rd of October. I got to say, Raekwon was  quite down to earth and kept it real, he rocked the show too, throwing Wu-Tang classics at the crowd and dropping some songs from his latest album ” Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2″

This is the second time i get to shoot with members of the Wu-Tang Clan, my first was in Amsterdam last year while i was photographing Salahedin. Guess it should become an annual tradition or something….enough words, here are the photos.

Eslam Jawad was there too, guess this shot will end up going into my Arab Hip Hop book.

Once i knew that this guy designed the new album cover for Raekwon it showed me how important the fans are for the Chef.

Thanks go to Cmack, Supreme, Eslam , Nasser and of course Raekwon for making this happen.

Featured in U Men Magazine

For those of you who are in Amman, pick up the latest issue of U Men Magazine, which features a 4 page article on my photography work documenting Arab hip hop around the world. The article was written by Jackson Allers who is based in Beirut where for the past couple of years he’s been writing about the Arab Hip Hop movement, among many other things.

I just got back from London where i was shooting with Raekwon from the legendary Wu-Tang Clan, keep an eye on the blog for exclusive images from his show in London.

Going Old School with CMACK

While exploring the Hip Hop scene in Jordan, I got to meet Cmack an old school hip hop dancer and MC from Los Angeles. He’s been in Amman for a while teaching a new generation of hip hop dancers the in’s and out’s of the art. Cmack aka Kraig E is part of the legendary west coast dance crew “The Soul Brothers.” Cmack has danced and choreographed with some of the best in the industry including Snoop Dog, Dre and Michael Jackson. Currently I am directing and shooting his first music video and once i get to editing it i’ll post some screen grabs, but for now here are two photos I made while on location.

Check out this video that shows the Soul Brothers in action.

An American Summer: Photos from Los Angeles and NYC

While i was in the US this summer, i ended up shooting over ten thousand frames, lots of digital and many rolls of film, you can imagine the work that goes into sorting all these images, editing them, exporting and all the good stuff that it takes to get these images out and ready. So here is the first batch of photos from my summer in the US.

The first frame is from the silent movie theater in Hollywood, i got to say that this is one of my favorite captures of the summer.

This was shot while i was in cab in NYC, everything lined up nicely for the shot.

In L.A people tend to walk less and you end up moving around the city in some friend’s car, thus you become ready to shoot from the window.

This one is from a moving car too.

I still try to walk around the city as often as i can, frames like this would be difficult to achieve from a car.

A car shot again, i was staying in Burbank this time around.

Was in town at the time of Michael Jackson’s death, went down to Hollywood Blvd and this is what i saw.

While shooting with my friend Omar Offendum around the Hollywood sign, a group of tourist monks appeared out of nowhere.

Went to universal city walk to watch a movie, saw her licking his head.

L.A is not only glitz and glamor, it is also the home of the homeless, while walking downtown in skidrow captured this frame.

Another one of my favorite photos from the summer.

Back to the streets of NYC, i may have made 10 photos of her, there is a modern elegance to her.

Central park is always filled with characters.

The light was really nice that day.

The sun shining through the trees created this spotlight effect.

The stairs at the apple store in NYC.

Got to hang out with my buddy Max Cantor , a budding photographer/filmmaker who goes to Elon University.

The light on the corners of NYC streets is fun to play with, that is if you don’t shoot on program and know how to manipulate it.

Demonstrated here again.

The Zeiss 50mm 1.4 does such a great job in low light conditions, it makes me want to shoot at night as often as i can.

The headline says it all.

Another one of my favorite shots from the summer, he was checking out pizza being made.

While in NYC i got to catch up with lots of friends from college who i haven’t seen in ages. Connie was one of them.

Under a bridge in Queens.

L.A wins over NYC, the pacific ocean is right there, this was at Zuma beach.

Another capture from Zuma beach.

A brilliant print of Ray Charles at Paris Photo Lab, Chris Weeks hooked me up with the guys there, they do some beautiful work.

Developed lots of film there and they also got to print some shots from my last big assignment, they prints look brilliant, wish i can share them…but I can’t, those who know what i am talking about know about embargos.

Ate a lot of Thai food while in L.A, Ord Noodle is the spot to go to, this is not it. Yet the food was good and they had no clue i was shooting them.

Again the 5D Mark II shines in lowlight and allowed me to capture her and the tattoos nicely.

Fredwreck was spinning at The Garter in Venice Beach so he told me to pass by, some crazy light action going on there.

Fredwreck was spinning some old school hip hop, some funk and also some MJ favorites. He introduced me to Block a famous hip hop photographer who has shot many of Snoop Dog’s album covers. Can’t wait to go back to L.A and see some of his work. B-Real from Cypress Hill was there too.

I’ll leave you with this image from the Garter.

Slowly but steadily i’m preparing a number of new posts with lots of photos so keep an eye out.

Downtown Amman just before Iftar

It’s been a while since I took to the streets and wandered around with my cameras, today I had an urge to go shoot. I headed downtown and captured these moments, thought I’d share them.

and I’ll leave you with a humorous one.

A portrait of Actor Shia LaBeouf

I’ve held back on posting this portrait of actor Shia La Beouf for a while, but since Transformers II hit the theatres in the summer I thought that it’s about time to show it. The shot was taken while Shia was on a break from filming some scenes in Jordan, we had talked and hung out for a bit and then I asked him if I can shoot a quick portrait. I made 4 frames and this is the one I liked best. The next day I hit the darkroom and made a nice print which i gave him before leaving Jordan, he seemed to like it too.