Finding the Grey

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

Some days it just happens like this.

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

Spent a few days in Plovdiv, Bulgaria in order to take care of some paperwork and get away for a few days. Plovdiv is a charming city settling somewhere between Europe, the Balkans and her Soviet past. I was there over Easter weekend so I think I missed some of the normal bustle of the city but managed to relax and unwind away from the constant bustle that is Istanbul.

Bulgaria surely needs more exploring and I plan to return soon.

Thanks for looking.

Jonathan

19 Images