Taking the Leica M9 for a Stroll in Downtown Amman
I’ve been on a hiatus from the blog for a while, I’ve been traveling all around as usual, working on a number of exciting projects. Thousands of photos have been taken since my last post and i’m slowly going through a bunch of different edits that I hope to publish on the blog soon. As you can see I have also changed the theme for the blog and this will allow me to display my photos larger than anytime before. Looking to get a new website up too, so keep an eye out.
I’d like to dedicate this post to Emad (pictured above) , a long time collaborator of mine, who for the past 5 years or so scanned my negatives and developed my color and medium format film in Amman. I just found out today that he passed away 3 weeks ago, he was one of the few people that understood what I was doing with my photos and has helped me share my film photos on this blog. I needed to clear my mind for a minute so I headed downtown to shoot some photos.
Thanks to the good people at Leica, I have a M9 on loan for a couple of days, and it was time to put it to the tests on the streets of Amman. All I can say is that I can’t wait to own this camera one day.
So here is a selection of what caught my attention this evening.
Hermano, you are so talented! i love the pictures, and how the blog looks like now. i speacially love the one with the man and the kitten
. I also love the one you took in the market, it reminds me of the markets here in méxico city. I´d like to read all the signs and letters on the pictures, one day, I promise i´ll speak and write arabic. Thanks for letting us know more about your city! PAZ Y AMOR !
November 30, 2010 at 12:26 am
Amazing pictures, with wonderful content! You’re so talented.
As for your friend, may his soul rest in peace.
November 30, 2010 at 1:35 am
Thanks for putting these images up. There are some very interesting ones with plenty of colour and atmosphere.
November 30, 2010 at 1:43 am
absolutely beautiful pictures.. i think this is the first time i see downtown with so much colour… brilliant new blog look.. keep em coming.. kisses xxxx
November 30, 2010 at 10:21 am
sorry those pictures do not talk to me at all.
My eyes just wander past too much detail.
In composition less is more. I recommend to get yourself a copy of John Berger’s ‘Ways of seeing’.
And technically there is so much more potential in the Leica lenses. Keep at it. Practice makes perfect
November 30, 2010 at 11:34 am
Dan, thanks for your advice, i’ll keep at it and i’ll keep on practicing.
November 30, 2010 at 2:54 pm
Really great photos there. Ah them Leicas…
May your friend’s soul rest in peace.
November 30, 2010 at 2:03 pm
These are truly incredible.
November 30, 2010 at 7:13 pm
DAMN! That was refreshing! I envy you that M9!
Great work
December 5, 2010 at 10:57 am
I really like these, Laith. I think your understanding of colour is excellent. But, I gotta ask you, how do you get such clear shots at night? Are you using a flash cuz I can tell from the lack of noise it’s not a high ISO and there’s no way it’s a 2″ exposure.
December 15, 2010 at 9:13 am
Beautiful. I especially love the environmental shots. A lot of familiar places, but I haven’t recently been there at night, so this was new.
December 21, 2010 at 11:02 pm
Enjoyed your photos. I have quite a few photos of downtown Amman on retroscap.es. Check them out. More similar photos to come soon.
February 1, 2011 at 11:36 am
I love the picture of the man with a kitten — they sort of look alike, which is weird! He also has an interesting but creepy expression on his face.
February 17, 2011 at 11:31 pm