Portrait of an Arab
Syria 2010 A side street in Damascus
It was a warm day in autumn. We and the Damascenes dressed in shirt-sleeves, but this man, used to the heat of the Syrian desert, wore a wool coat and a wool scarf wrapped around his head. He sat in a small sandwich shop, chatting with the locals and I grabbed this shot.
Magazines and books are filled with photographs of men like him: rugged desert men or calculating shopkeepers, men with strong faces and strong features. They are a stereotype for Arabic men. These faces are rather rare though. I’ve wanted to photograph a face like this for the longest time, but haven’t seen one. I had my chance in that sandwich shop and I took it. I didn’t speak to him. I was pretty sure he would not want to have his photograph taken. One shot was all I got. I’m glad it was a profile.
If the man hadn’t been wearing that fringed scarf tied so that the tail swirls up in that graceful curve, the photo would be ordinary. Curved lines give interest and drama to photos. Look for them: fences marching up hills, telephone lines swooping, trees bending. winding waterways…try to use curves to bring attention to your subject or make the curves your subject. I read that if your curve begins on the left and brings the eye to the right it will make you photo more pleasing because we are used to reading left to right. What do you think? Is that true?
Have you noticed what great eyelashes desert people have? Even the men, old men, have eyelashes to die for. My middle daughter is a veterinarian and upon seeing some portraits of Moroccans, remarked, ” They have great eye hair.” I love that phrase, don’t you?