Stories 1 - Tugnina

Tugnina - Images by Andrea Merli

Relations 3 - Caritas Baby Hospital

Looking for a large context, rich of interesting situations and human relations, I focused my attention on Caritas Baby Hospital, a pediatric hospital at the entrance of Bethlehem which offers high quality health care to the children of the local community and the entire West Bank. The hospital includes three main sections: outpatient clinics, in-patient sections and a premature section. Local doctors and paramedic staff work together with foreign doctors and nuns in a multi-cultural environment which is open to Christians and Musilims alike. The hospital is equipped with advanced facilities for treating most child diseases, while it defers to Israeli structures those who need surgery interventions. Definitely, CBH is a context deserving a broader analysis, but I here I should limit myself to the specifications of the brief, that is capturing human relations.
The following images are taken inside one of the two in-patient sections.

Nuns, social workers and nurses are interacting in the semi-circular space which opens the way to a round of rooms, one next to the other. The architecture of the place is very interesting, as much as the light coming in from wide windows on the sides. Moreover, an external corridor runs along to the circular border of the entire section, so that visitors can look inside at the children without entering the working area. I used again the 50mm lens, but I matured the need of moving to 35mm. Actually, when I use a zoom lens, that's where I end up more often.

The relation between a mother and a child is something unique, anyplace in the world. Here I found this young mother playing with his child, as they waited for the doctor's visit. Colors were working very well. Also, I feel that the expression of the child and his mother's look on the third frame are quite strong. Light was reasonably good as we were close to the window. My exposure for this series was: ISO 320 - f6.3/60. I think this setting reasonably worked, but when it comes to indoor moving subjects who are not posing, it may be well worthy to increase a bit the ISO, up to 500, and gain speed. Does it sound right? Any comments are much appreciated!

The doctor arrives and looks for the daily updates on the patients' folder.

Another scene which attracted my attention was that of a young mother who was having her hair combed by her daughter, hospitalized there. The atmosphere was that of a family spending a very simple and beautiful moment, as if they were at home. And they were not bothered at all by my camera. Actually, most of the scenes I saw at the hospital involved children with very serious diseases, and suffering parents besides them. This is to clarify that the two series above inevitably show just a portion of the relations and emotions taking place at the hospital. But, all in all, the entire environment was indeed friendly and warm. And I was impressed.

After visiting a child in a thermal chamber, a doctor briefs a group of students and nurses on the patient's conditions.

Here, another doctor approaches the bed of a child, while his mother remains on the side.

Finally, in the premature section, an early-born child is being treated with UV. His mother feeds him milk before the doctor's arrival. The first frame is visually powerful, and the "sun glasses" band on the child's eyes add some humour. The second frame well catches a moment, and I am quite satisfied with the composition and details in such a low light. Exposure: ISO 400 - f7.1/50.
No doubt, I will be back at the hospital. There are so many stories, people and situations which deserve to come out to the light. And I want to find out more.

Relations 2 - Mehwar Center

The following series of images is part of a larger body of work which I realized at Mehwar Center, an organization which offers shelter, protection and counseling to Palestinian women who are victims of domestic violence. These activities are of the utmost importance in a context where women are exposed to increasing levels of violence, exacerbated by the stressful environment of the occupation. The Center is located in the countryside near the city of Beit Sahour.

The Center is committed to foster integration with the local community, and it provides a number of services which are open to the public. A kindergarten, a gym, a small cafeteria and some training facilities, for example, encourage the local population to approach the Center and to establish a positive relation with it and its inhabitants.

The Center is built like two concentric rings. The outer one is dedicated to activities and relations with the local community, while the inner one is the actual shelter home for around 20 women from all over the West Bank, and beyond. For their own safety, it is not possible to show these ladies, but the pictures below make an effort to recreate the atmosphere inside, beginning from a counseling session.

The impossibility to photograph the ladies inside the shelter required coming up with some creative solutions for showing their daily life in their private spaces. I found this challenge very interesting, and I often played with the depth of field so as to blur their faces behind some objects in the foreground.

It was a great experience spending two days inside the shelter, trying to capture the unique atmosphere of a place where, despite all fears and sorrows, simple humanity shines.

Relations 1 - Women's Day

Here comes the color. With a new round of assignments, dedicated to "human relationships", color images make their first appearance in the coursework. Here I would like to show a couple of frames from the shortest of the three sessions, which is about an exchange of views taking place at the University between some students and a faculty clergyman. In occasion of Women's Day 2009, an exhibit celebrating Palestinian women had been organized, so as to praise their role in the fabric of Palestinian society. As local people say, "men are the heads of the family... but women are the necks where these heads rest, deciding when and where the heads should turn..." Clever indeed. The exhibit included a corner with photos of women martyrs and, also, of some young ladies who participated to the armed struggle in the early years of the Second Intifada. Some of them lost their lives while taking others' lives. In the framework of the exhibit, this corner stood out as a very sensitive spot, at least to foreigner eyes. So, an intense debate quickly involved the American clergyman, the Italian photographer and the Palestinian students visiting that corner. In a genuinely passionate but far from overheated atmosphere, big questions were pondered, despite their destiny of remaining ultimately unsolved... Why are these women being remembered here? Is it to pay respect to their death, or rather to celebrate them as fighters for their country? Or more precisely, as they say in Arabic, as redeemers? What feeling do these images encourage? Sorrow? Admiration? Sadness? Courage? Hopelessness? For you, what is the meaning of keeping their memory alive? Are they presented as desperates, heroes, or... are they simply looking at you from the wall? Don't you think that Palestinian women who resist are those who remain steadfast and carry on with their lives, granting their living presence as a gift to their land? Questions like these are so incredibly complex, especially for those who are directly involved. Words and gestures tried to put together fragments of thoughts... eyes crossing and hands cutting through the air in the effort of making a point on the road to nowhere. But the real point, I guess, was the thinking itself, the questioning, the sharing of thoughts.
The debate lasted quite long, with alternating players all captured by the depth of the subject. The experience of martyrs inevitably exerts a large influence on Palestinian culture. And it seems that the existence of that corner had hardly surprised any Palestinian student, but when the sensitivity of a foreigner spurred their critical thinking, many showed some sort of unexpressable uneasiness. And an old, rancid, familiar frustration came up to the surface... "We hate this had to happen, we would never do it ourselves. It is so bad. But we can't forget them. We have to remember them. What can we do?..."



From a technical point of view, the 50mm lens worked perfectly for capturing subjects close to each other. Light was bad, and I had no option but raising ISO to 800. Most frames were taken at f8/30. I could have used a wider aperture, by one or two stops, and gained some speed. Finally, color does not add anything to these images. They probably work better in BW. Most of my situations are indoor these days, and I am looking forward to some nice, bright light.

John Easterby's favourite

I think it's worthy to mention the picture John Easterby considered the most "working" of my street series, in the tutorial. Here it is:

The haredi family having a pic-nic in the Wall Plaza was definitely a subject to work on but, sure enough, I had not included this frame in my selection below! Instead, I had chosen an earlier shot, where the standing man is looking down at the people. That's an extra reason to think twice about it. John pointed out visual elements such as the motion of the man, his shadow, and the vertical grid dividing the frame in two sides, where the subjects are. Composition is balanced, exposure is correct and the contrast between the dark suits of the men and the light background works fine. Also, the colors of the stones of the ground parallel with the horizontal grid on top of the wall. From a formal point of view, the scene is neat, without distracting elements. Now, what is this picture saying? And why does it work better than the other one? Here it is again, for comparison:

Definitely, the first one is more dynamic: there is movement and the shadow of the man stands out of the background, while in the lower frame it remains glued to his body. Also, the wall looks better uninterrupted on the left side of the frame. But if I look at what actually happens, in the first frame there is no connection between the subjects, while in the second one there is. Even for a moment, the man is interested in the people beside him. He has noticed them, and he leads the viewer to look deep at the father sitting next to his son, lost in their own world. Perhaps there's a bit of envy in his eyes, or may be a touch of contempt for they are having a pic-nic where they're not supposed to. Who knows. All in all, the upper frame works much better from a visual point of view, but the second one holds different options inside, asking for more than a glimpse to be deciphered.

Street 03 - Bethlehem Market

My third session on the street took me to the Bethlehem market, not far from home. This time I used a 35mm lens, and I found it extremely suitable for the job. While the 50mm had made me wish for a wider angle more than once, I felt the 35mm range to be perfect for such a rich context. Also, I kept the ISO setting higher than in earlier occasions, ranging from 200 to 400, which gave me a full dynamic range in most shots. So, I guess I will be working more frequently in this ISO zone, going lower than 160 only in the open sunlight. Does it make sense?
The market, a shadowy area, was full of inspiring characters and situations. People were going about their grocery shopping at ease, in the midst of piles of vegetables and hanging pieces of meat. I often searched for the advantage of elevated standpoints, allowing broad views from above.
Holding a camera is a big incentive for looking at things in different ways and being creative, or simply feeling awake. If I didn't have to take photos, I wouldn't be looking for details, angles, and light conditions. As trivial as it may sound, that's the way it is. So, whenever I'm out in the street I realize that it's not just the content of my memory card what matters, but the experience itself of living certain moments, of being alert. I guess that street photography is a key to experiencing life, before anything else. I've had this feeling several times. The actual outcome of each session is indeed relevant, but I think that it's important to be able to appreciate life as it unfolds before our eyes, with a sense of gratitude for what is simply taking place. Of course, this cannot be held true for any kind situation, as it all depends on the subject matter, but in general I am attracted by positive scenes, the more so when they happen in unlikely places. I like to look for expressions of optimism, hope and endurance, even if I realize such things don't often make the news. And I am aware that when I look outside I am probably searching to "fill-in some blanks" inside, which is quite the opposite of matching it.

Street 02 - The Western Wall

Few hundred meters away from the Holy Sepulcher, the maze of alleys of the Old City leads to the Western Wall Plaza, the most sacred place for Judaism. I reached it by following a haredi Jew who was making his way through the narrow streets, without ever looking to the colorful Arab shops lined up by the sides.

At one point he crossed his path with an Arab man coming up in the opposite direction, and I was glad I could make this moment stand still in a frame. Nothing at all happened between the two as they they simply ignored each other, well grounded on their own planets. I was walking quite fast behind the religious Jew, and could not really glimpse at the Arab's eyes. But I felt he looked at us, obviously he must have noticed me with my camera. But what about the man right ahead? Did the Arab man spend a half thought on him? Most probably not. After all, these are very ordinary encounters in the Old City of Jerusalem. But you never know. Walking on the very same stones, bringing along such immensely different backgrounds and cultures, might spark an entire universe of different feelings, given that the Other is seen and acknowledged as part of the context. Often, in daily life, this is not the case.

Once in the Wall Plaza, I looked for subjects out on the stage. I noticed a lady and a child who were peeping through the iron grating before the section of the Western Wall reserved to men, while a foreign tourist was relaxing under the sun, nearby. The base of the post which holds the Israeli flag was marking a divide between the two subjects at the opposite ends of the frame. Again, I guess I was attracted by the contrast of them being so close, so far away.

In the same area, I noticed a scene unfolding which could not be neglected. A young haredi father, sitting on the ground, was preparing a simple lunch for his two children. Totally absent from what was going on around them, the family was taking a pure moment for themselves, as if they were camping in their garden at home. Indeed, that place must feel like home to them. And I was attracted by the informal and gentle manners of the father in feeding his children, still too young to be dressed according to the tradition. Also, the contrast in my eyes between two familiar-looking children and their distant-looking father invited me to stop and observe. An unexpected spot of family warmth was open there, and it was noticed by other bystanders. Probably I should have tried different angles, including a lower point of view.

Then I reached the Wall by entering the men's section, which is about four times larger than the women's one. Religious Jews, haredi, soldiers and some tourists were all facing the white stones of the Wailing Wall. People were praying in different ways: bowing their heads and bodies, reading lines from the Torah, leaving small papers in the cracks of the Wall or simply standing. Young people were chatting, others collecting small change. The sight of weapons in a sacred place, however customary it has become in this case, could not avoid creating a feeling of semi-conscious uneasiness. I took the first picture without looking, with the camera at waist level, and that's why the soldier's boots are cropped. It was the only way I could take such a shot, and I took several others. But 50mm is probably too tight for this solution, and a wider angle would be safer.

After a couple of hours I left the Wall Plaza, and as I was going back towards Jaffa Gate I happened to meet again the family who had been eating together. They were going home, with the kids playing their last games with the handrail of the stairs. I think this composition fairly works, thanks to different subjects in motion, at different depths of field. The higher left corner though is too confused with people in the background, distracting from the face of the soldier-scholar. Exposure is f10, 1/50, 100 ISO. Since I was standing in the shadow, I think that ISO should have been higher, aperture a bit smaller (f11-14) and shutter much faster. In fact, in full size almost all subjects are slightly blurred. I need to work on this over and over again!

Street 01 - The Holy Sepulcher

I chose a special spot in the heart of the Old City of Jerusalem for my first session on street photography: the square before the entrance to the Holy Sepulcher. Usually crowded with groups of pilgrims and tourists, that day the place looked quite calm. People were walking in and out the sanctuary, moving quietly, their steps almost making no sound on the ancient stones. I took my time to look around, searching for interesting situations, and eventually a few did come up. From a technical point of view, I used again my 50mm lens, which I found convenient for selecting subjects in a limited space. In fact, the square is closed by walls on all sides. Sunlight was struggling against heavy clouds, with rays of light touching the ground here and warming up colors there before retreating where they came from. While not very convenient for setting exposure, such changing conditions made the the experience lively and challenging. After reviewing the pictures, I took notice of a couple of things: 1/160 turns out to be a low speed for freezing people walking slowly, assuming this is the goal. Aperture and ISO should be adjusted so as to allow at least 1/200, or faster. Throughout the session I kept shooting at 125-160 ISO, but afterwards I realized I could have gone higher without any noticeable loss of quality. Moreover, I found the metering system of the Canon 5D very accurate, without the need to slightly underexpose like I used to with my Minolta. These notes show how much I am still working to get comfortable with my equipment. Well, as the great Charlie Parker used to say: “You've got to learn your instrument. Then, you practice, practice, practice. And then, when you finally get up there on the bandstand, forget all that and just wail.” I guess I am in between the first and second step... with some occasional wails!
Here I would like to comment on a few pictures which, in my view, have somehow managed to pull themselves out of the series.

I climbed up the external stairs next to the entrance of the Sepulcher, and I found there a very good position to observe the scene, out of the way. At a certain point, I felt like the "instant" happened. A crowd of tourists moved out of the frame and a young man entered the stage, well dressed, with a stick by his side, as if he was entering an Opera house. What I like in this picture is his posture and movement, which express dignity and confidence. The paved floor provides a nice pattern, while the columns on the right provide a solemn close the image. It is a pity, though, that from this point of view he could be entering any historical place, since there is no recognizable feature of the Sepulcher.

I remained in the same spot for quite a while. And then, a black man entered the scene. He must have been some religious preacher, since he stopped in a corner before entering the Sepulcher and started wearing a white robe over his clothes. Interesting. I took a series of pictures while he was getting dressed, honestly hoping to have a longer lens. The more so I felt when I looked back at the picture and realized that I had included in the lower right corner of the frame the hand of a bystander, oddly enough, again holding a stick. My first reaction was of disappointment, since I thought I should have paid more attention in composing and making sure it was out. But my second look gave me a different feeling. Somehow, I found that little hand an interesting detail, especially because the eyesight of the man was pointing exactly towards it. I don't think he was actually looking at it, but the result in the picture was quite working. There was a connection. In the end, I think that if the hand had not been there, the picture would have been weaker. Moreover, there is something mysterious about a man changing his clothes before entering a place, and the hand with the stick further adds to the sense of mystery.

Lowering my sight, I finally looked at the people closer to me. A man reading a newspaper was sitting on the first step. Then, and old woman entered the frame, lost in her thoughts. There is nothing particularly exciting about this image, except for two quiet people minding their own business, so close, but so far away from each other.
And then... I made my encounter with a local man, Issa, who was enjoying the morning sun in the square.



Chatting with him was brilliant, as I admire very much old people who make it through their age showing love for life and knowing how to make a day out of everyday. At some point he showed me a little photo of himself, when he was young. It's there in the corner of the steps, in the second frame. I took many shots, and could have worked much more. But this time I really felt the constraint of a prime lens. In any case, it gave me a good feeling being able to approach him, talk with him in my "handmade" Arabic, make him express different emotions and capture them. I like sharing moments like these with positive people.

Suddenly, a door behind me opened, and another man came out. He looked around for a second, and then sat on a stone, looking very tired. Given his robe, he must have belonged to some congregation. As I got closer, I noticed an interesting composition: the man himself, with a hand on his head, was filling the right side of the frame, while the open door was filling the other side and providing a sense of depth. Also, the door had a great texture. Sunlight was coming from the right, behind the man's back, but his face was still visible. He did not remain there for long, and I felt like I had captured a moment worth of being seen.

Last, I wish to include a picture showing the entrance of the Sepulcher. The clouds opened the way to a slice of light in the background, marking a sharp contrast with the shadows of the surrounding walls. The man in the foreground is underexposed, but he is important to add depth to the scene. Metering was quite difficult here, as the different elements stand in a very different light.

All in all, this day out was a positive little piece of experience... as I tried to work to improve my awareness.