‘Written in Nov.2014’

Why did I choose to place two chairs instead of one? I never noticed it till right now... I put two chairs because a scene and sunset as this one and the mood as I was in, plus the emotions rushing through me was calling on me to share this view. A moment and experience such as that one on that day called on me to be shared. And I honestly don’t remember if I was thinking of anyone in particular then or just of you, my audience in general, but six months later from capturing this image, I know that deep down in subconscious, that there was what I must have been feeling. A feeling of sharing. That’s the thing with my pictures and moments. I want to share where I am visually, provoke in you what I, the capturer, was feeling when I clicked the shutter. I want, no actually I need you, to mimic my emotion of sharing at that moment.

Who do you see sitting in those two chairs? Are you even in one of them? Is it the sunset view or would it be just about the company? Who do you want to share this moment with?

Photograph was captured from the balcony of Father Fabian’s home, a priest caretaker of an old church in Mount Nebo, near the burial site of the prophet Moses, in Madaba, Jordan. May, 2014.

I love landscapes and travel type of photography. Gives me a chance to explore my hometown and region where I'm from. My mission is to literally showcase the beauty of the middle-east region as much as I can. And so from constantly researching inspiration from landscape photographers online, I'm always mesmerised by photographs from Iceland, the Grand Canyon and other exotic places on every photographer's bucket list. And as much as I am proud of all the images I've captured from my two home-towns of Jordan and Lebanon mainly, this one image, taken at the Baptism site near the Jordan River stands out from my recent landscape photos. I was walking along the pathway looking for an angle and as I came upon this I saw it. A beautiful sunset, a religious structure, a bending body of water and luscious greenery. All the elements needed for a landscape image. To me, from a technical standpoint, the river leads my eyes from the bottom left towards the centre ending at the church. If this were anywhere else, I think it would be 'just another landscape' shot maybe, but because of its context knowing its in the location where Jesus Christ was baptised, so much intense history is suddenly added to it and brings about so many questions. That's one of the reasons I love photography, of the answers and beauty it gives yet the questions it adds as well.

Greek Orthodox Church by the Jordan River near the Baptism Site at the Dead Sea in Jordan