HX Report
Irishman in the Middle East
Weekly Photo Challenge – Blur
Posted on April 4, 2015
MB doesn’t do ‘blurry‘. MB’s pics are razor sharp. You could cut your finger on an MB pic by the merest of touches. Touch at your peril!
However, MB has a number of paintings photos that he has never before released to the general donkeys public. He has kept them under wraps – until now that is – on account of fact he didn’t really want to start a collapse in the world art markets as everyone threw their Monets & Van Goghs into their rubbish bins and flocked to the auctions houses that were lucky enough to negotiate sales contracts with MB. Too many jobs depend!
Anyway. Here’s MB submission this week. It’s called – Istanbul. An impression.
Click to enlarge:
Taksim Square
Posted on April 1, 2015
MB wrapped his cold hands ’round a cup of hot coffee. In a cozy coffee shop overlooking Taksim Square.
He munched on a slice Turkish cake sitting by a window on the upper floor. There are so many Turkish cakes. And Turkish goodies of so many sorts they are like the stars in the heavens. MB finished his cake and wandered outside, cup in hand. He stood on the narrow balcony to view the sights below. The square spread out from MB’s coffee-drinking vantage point where visitors and locals alike enjoyed the open spaces of the famous square.
An elderly lady sells bird seed for peanuts to those who might like to fed the pigeons. In Taksim there are so many pigeons. More pigeons than people. The pigeons enjoy the free food. It’s far better that scavenging for a living like pigeons in other parts of Istanbul. If MB was a Turkish pigeon he would like to live in Taksim. He would not like to live in low pigeon-income locations having to scrimp and scrape day in day out.
MB likes to take pics. He didn’t have his camera at Taksim. But he had his iPad-mini gadget and gave it a go.
Next week MB will be taking himself to Panjim on the Mandovi river estuary. He will say hello to Vasco De Gama and also get to meet St Francis Xavier in the flesh. Even though SFX died in December 1552. No kidding.
But in the interim here’s a few of MB’s iPad shots from Taksim:
Refugees
Posted on March 28, 2015
At end of 2014 the number of forcibly displaced people in the world was estimated by the UN to be over 50M. The highest number since WW2. Africa, as ever, is one of the race leaders. But in the last 4 or 5 years it’s Syria that’s won the gold medal. 0.25M or thereabouts dead as dodos. Some 2.5 to 3M have fled the country and some 6.5M people are displaced within the country itself. A huge proportion of the countries housing stock is totally destroyed. Read More
Weekly Photo Challenge – Ephemeral
Posted on March 27, 2015
For MBs HX blog followers who are not native English speakers (& for a few who are) the word ‘Ephemeral’ means short-lived or temporary or brief. Capiche! Read More
The War In Syria
Posted on March 26, 2015
Last night MB watched an elderly Syrian lady cross an Istanbul street on her hands and knees as her two children begged for money nearby in the cold Spring night. Her feet are too sore or too diseased to stand upright.
By the end of 2015 Turkey expects to have 1.7M Syrian refugees within its borders who are fleeing the fighting back home, where over a quarter million people are already dead as a result.
Weekly Photo Challenge – Rule Of Thirds
Posted on February 20, 2015
This week’s challenge is the photographic concept – the rule of thirds.
One of the most popular tourist attractions in Istanbul is the Topkapi Palace, which lies in the old town next to the Hagia Sophia Museum & Blue Mosque. The palace was home to the Sultans and their harem of females for three hundred years in the days of the Ottoman Empire, until Sultan Abdülmecid in 1853 decided to move to the nearby Dolmabache Palace.
MB visited Topkapi Palace in early November 2014. The palace lies on the bank of the Bosphorus Sea Straits and the views from the palace grounds are spectacular.
Caught this shot of one of the soldiers on duty, with the Bosphorus blurred in the background:
PS – Ignore the tree!
Weekly Photo Challenge: Split-second Story
Posted on June 6, 2014
To tell a story in a single shot.
Midday ferry crossing in Istanbul a few weeks back.
The night before!
Photo 17/30: Le Pain Quotidien
Posted on May 5, 2014
The Idea
Have decided to post a photo per day for 30 days, each based on a word or theme. Feel free to offer a word or theme challenge to MB in the comment box below.
Photo 17/30
Today’s Bread. Sellers of this delicious street bread abound throughout Istanbul.
Photo 15/30: Sugar
Posted on May 3, 2014
The Idea
Have decided to post a photo per day for 30 days, each based on a word or theme. Feel free to offer a word or theme challenge to MB in the comment box below.
Photo 15/30
When it comes to food (or anything else), never under-estimate the Turks! They are the food wizards of the world. The entire population should be called Merlin.
The recent trip to Istanbul has left MB with many tasty tastes long lingering in the mouth. And some extra inches on the waistline. Will return to the Istanbul food topic another time. But for the moment, and on the theme of sugar – MB gives you a shot of some fruits (from an Istanbul food shop) made entirely from marzipan (which has sugar ingredient). And get this. Those crafty Turks have added some magical flavourings that make them taste exactly like their real fruit cousins!
Photo 13/30: Smile
Posted on May 2, 2014
The Idea
Have decided to post a photo per day for 30 days, each based on a word or theme. Feel free to offer a word or theme challenge to MB in the comment box below.
Photo 13/30
A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.
A trader in the Grand Bazaar @ Istanbul. Who was happy to see MB with his camera. And then treated MB to a cup of tea and a chat. A good egg!
Photo 12/30: The Evil Eye
Posted on April 30, 2014
The Idea
Have decided to post a photo per day for 30 days, each based on a word or theme. Feel free to offer a word or theme challenge to MB in the comment box below.
Photo 12/30
You will see this lucky charm in many shops in Istanbul if you ever visit. It gives protection from the evil eye!
Photo 11/30: Urban
Posted on April 29, 2014
The Idea
Have decided to post a photo per day for 30 days, each based on a word or theme. Feel free to offer a word or theme challenge to MB in the comment box below.
Photo 11/30
Thanks to MB2 for the ‘Urban’ challenge. From recent trip to Istanbul.
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