My blog is worth $254,607.54.
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I am leaving soon. I am leaving this week. To see if I can learn something about photography from this man.
His photos are so touching they make me want to weep.
Please. Just please. Let some of his magic rub off on me.
See all of Marcus Bleasdale's work right here.
Oliver Weber. I had bumped into him on Twitter, that nebulous e-world where friends and followers are made in the blink of an eye. I was busy tweeting about my sundry doings. And there he was. I learned he was a photographer. Then I learned he had photographed Marrakech.
And so I clicked over and lost myself. In his pictures. Not just Marrakech but Havana, Moscow....
I have always admired photographers of black and white images. So drunk with color myself, their world seems spare and pure -- everything boiled down to an essence that the rest of us can only aspire to in some Velveteen Rabbit kind of way.
I wondered what made him tick. I asked and he answered.
When and why did you become a photographer?
I've been pursuing photography seriously since 2002. I'm especially interested in "street photography" based on spontaneity and the recognition of situations and moods. You never know what will happen and so the art lies in grasping the right moment with foresight. Once the moment is over, it's lost forever. So everything is condensed for me in that one moment.
Copyright Oliver Weber.
For me, photography is a picture language which everyone can understand, all over the world. This makes it singular, valuable and inimitable. Perhaps that is why I love it so much.
Copyright Oliver Weber.
What kind of equipment do you use?
Primarily analogue cameras, sometimes black-and-white but also color. The analogue process takes longer in comparison to digital photography but the process allows me greater objectivity in terms of my work.
Copyright Oliver Weber.
What surprised you most about Marrakech?
The friendly people.
Copyright Oliver Weber.
What is your fondest memory of Marrakech?
10001 nights, Aladdin, Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves. Somehow it really does encompass all of those things.
Copyright Oliver Weber.
Learn more about Oliver Weber here and see his portfolio here. He has a new book of photography coming out in German in two weeks. Follow him on Twitter here.
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PS Many thanks to Matador for naming me one of 20 interesting expat Twitterers. You can follow my odd thoughts on Twitter here:-)
2 pairs of brand new shoes.
1 Moroccan embroidered cushion.
1 black and white striped blanket from Chefchaouen.
1 chair thrifted in the Marrakech souk, freshly painted by me.
Happy weekend:-)
Oh, I know it's not right.
Oh, I know it's wrong.
Smoking.
I mean, my mother is a doctor. My brother is a doctor. My father is a health specialist. There are no excuses really. But there's something about smoking.......smoking an apple shisha that has me throwing caution to the wind.
Now don't look at me that way. Now don't start wagging your finger. It's only once every few months that I indulge............... in the legal funny stuff.
I could blame it on the bad influence of my Arab friends. But I rather think it might be the fantastic paraphernalia -- a flashback to bong smoking in the tenth grade. Ahem, I was just watching then, of course.
Why, even the monsters are smoking.
I think I might have to have the world's smallest outdoor shisha lounge at Peacock Pavilions. Where the bohemian troublemakers and I can relax on carpets and cushions outside and watch projector movies. And have a drink and smoke a hookah. Somewhere between the olive trees, the stars overhead.....
PS I have decided to leave my third person persona behind and try speaking to you myself. Hmmm...scary. What if you don't like me?
