Words and Pictures from the Middle East
It was one of those biting cold Damascus winter mornings, it had been snowing and the streets were sluiced in slush, I had been living in Mohajarin on the slopes of Jebal Qasioun, I splashed in and out of the dirty puddles as I trudged down the towards the Citadel and the Old city, I…
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It was one of those balmy Beirut summer evenings, the smell of Nargila smoke mingling intoxicatingly with the car fumes along the corniche, I had strolled alone as I almost always do when visiting the dysfunctional Lebanese capital.
Read MoreA typically beautiful Cairo morning, cool in the dusty shadows with cats basking in the warm November sun. I crossed the not yet busy square of Midan Hussein dodging a bread delivery boy balancing a rack of fresh baladi bread on his head; I slipped into my usual first port of call for coffee, one…
Read MoreTime for Mahfouz is a constant theme, in the opening chapter of Midaq Alley we hear Kirsha argue in favour of the instillation of a radio leaving the poet without a venue to recite his stories, “everything has changed” insisted Kirsha. The tram lines seen here along Sharia Port Said are, like the coffee shop…
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So it was bound to come out sooner or later; Me, Clinton and the funding ISIS scandal.
Read MoreWhat Do You Know About Syria So tell me: It’s been five years of a brutal war and almost every day the international media has carried some Syrian related story, from revolution to refugee and while most of Europe is now cowering under its bed in fear what can you really tell me about Syria…
Read MoreBab al-Jabiyah Damascus Four great gates has the city of Damascus And four Great Wardens, on their spears reclining, All day long stand like tall stone men And sleep on the towers when the moon is shining. This is the song of the East Gate Warden When he locks the great gate and smokes in…
Read MoreDid I have any weapons? Well, now there’s a funny story I thought. The truthful answer was yes I did
Read MoreI knew what I was getting into moving to Syria, I knew the risks, I have no regrets, my bank cutting me off and leaving me without funds was to say the least fucking annoying, it’s hard to imagine being made bankrupt is the least of your problems, I could live with the war, I…
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John Wreford Photographer 