Finding the Grey

Today. Two shots, 10 minutes, 25 seconds apart.

Some days it just happens like this.

Got to spend a few days in Tbilisi on the first leg of  my Caucasus trip. Between the snow, rain and finger numbing cold I was able to wander the city a bit, muddying up my shoes and pant legs. At this time of year I get the impression that Tbilisi’s inner workings are happening in-doors,  so I’m certain I missed a lot of what was going on around me. I avoided the grand churches and government buildings for the back streets of neighborhoods. Walking street after street you begin to notice a hegemony of fogged up windows, grey walls, dark entry ways and unmarked store fronts. People zip past you avoiding puddles, open man holes, traffic and dog shit. You can miss a lot if you don’t slow down and observe.

These few days reminded me of how much I relish those first few days in a new city when you attempt to figure everything out. You turn every corner hoping to stumble onto something golden. Text jumps out at you. The women are more beautiful than you expected. You want to eat at every street vendor. Sometimes carrying a camera around can be a hindrance (socially, selfishly, a pain in the ass) but days like these when I’m alone, somewhere new, photography slows me down. I put away the guide book, eliminate my next destination, walk and just observe. It’s one of my favorite things to do.

And I don’t have to focus my energy on dog shit and churches.

Thanks for looking.

Jonathan

29 Images

Just got back from a trip to Georgia with my good friend Helen. To try to sum up the country after spending only a little over a week there would be both fruitless and premature but I can say that there are few places I’ve been where I have connected with both the people and their country so quickly. Chacha (sure I’ll have another), green green green empty mountain valleys, 6-hour supras, strong families, Kalashnikovs, avoiding spillage with your khinkali, everybody wants the guitar, picking fresh hazelnuts and eating them on the spot, outhouse visits, your daily dose of khachapuri, fishing for baby food, 5-hour 4×4 ride through wet mountains with one Russian pop album on repeat, dominoes, grandmothers, the craziest drivers ANYWHERE, grand churches being used by the locals, hot night winds, tour guide dogs….it is all good.

Also, I was there around the one year anniversary of Georgia’s war with Russia over disputed land in South Ossetia. The conflict is still fresh in the mind of Georgia’s collective consciousness and is bound to arise in conversation quite regularly. I noticed Georgians trying to assimilate back to the normalities of life with the ever present threat of uncertainty in relations with Russia heavy on the mind. I tried to capture this mood in my images the best I could.

I will return, for sure.

Thanks Helen.

Thanks for looking.

Jonathan

34 Images