dj.tigersprout's photoblog
Painting w/ Light -- Out Takes #3
Posted by dj.tigersprout (New York City, United States) on 26 August 2008 in Abstract & Conceptual.
alex (a temporary travel mate i had met my 1 night in Wadi Rum), and i had just arrived into Jerusalem via a 5 hour bus trip that began at the Red Sea. we had managed to hop a cab and were headed for the old city (the original walled city of Jerusalem) -- and the part specifically referred to as the 'muslim quarter' in order to check into our hostel for the night. we were stuck in bumper to bumper traffic on the small and crowded streets that circle the massive outer wall -- everywhere i looked there was something to see: ancient architecture, sculpture, modern and brightly lit shopping centers, lovely street-side sitting parks, dark alleys overflowing with swarming congregations of Hassidic Jews (dressed mostly in black and with the tell tale, long black side-curls that hang to their chins and sometimes a good deal below), night clubs, bars, restaurants... the list of distractions was endless! of course i wanted to get out and run amok... instead, i took a deep breath and settled quite rationally for a few pictures out the taxi window.
however, the last time that i had used the camera had been 6 hours previous in broad daylight, so i needed to meddle with the settings. needless to say, i ended up missing all of the 'shots' that i had wanted for this reason... several others that had managed to take didn't turn out due to lack of light, movement, window blur... you name it. just as i became fed up with the whole situation (it was surprisingly hot inside that taxi cab) we came to rest across the street from a clothing store that was seemingly still open -- i could see quite a few people inside. although i couldn't read the bold, fanciful hebrew lettering above the door, it reminded me of an 'H&M' -- a brightly lit store specializing in youthful, well price and fashionable, brightly colored apparel: pants, shirts, jackets, socks, underwear, hair pieces... you name it. with the taxi in no apparent mind to budge, i rolled down the window and took spectacular aim -- this was going to make up for all the previous lost shots!
well -- of course the taxi jumped into motion just as i had clicked the shutter for a 3 second exposure... and not only that, a motorbike screeched by the window, weaving fluidly in between the mostly stationary automobiles...
tired and annoyed, i gave up and put the camera away, not even bothering to look at the results, knowing it would be blurry beyond recognition. lucky for me, we didn't have much further to go. our taxi finally managed to break through the gridlock and sped successfully to our entrance gate. we grabbed our bags and hopped out, making our way through the labyrinthine high walled corridors of the inner city. it wasn't until much later, while lying comfortably in bed, that i decided to browse through my stored photos, beginning with the numerous shots of Wadi Rum that i had taken earlier that morning. when i got to the end of the saved digital library, i came across several under exposed and blurred shots of our arrival into Jerusalem just hours before. i quickly began deleting them, one by one... perfectly annoyed at the thought of all the amazing 'lost moments' until i stopped and contemplated the very last exposure. i studied the awkwardly dark composition, first intrigued and then simply captivated, before finally reaching up to switch off the overhead light and go to sleep -- this one, i decided happily, i would keep.
all work protected by Creative Commons
Canon EOS REBEL XT
8/5 seconds
F/5.6
ISO 400
18 mm