Twitter in the news

Recently the company Twitter has been in the news as a result of Donald Trump’s seemingly uncontrolled rage against the company and all of social media as a whole. In my opinion Twitter should block the president’s messages that are racist, unethical and which could ultimately lead to more acts of violence.

On another note, all of this talk about Twitter made me think of a photo that I took last August in Fes, Morocco. I was exploring the ancient medina and came across a particular section that was a food market. The chicken sellers, or butchers one might say, have caught my attention on each of my 6 trips to Morocco. The time it takes from grabbing a live chicken, killing it, taking off its feathers and head, is about 5 minutes or less.

This particular chicken seller was cool with me hanging around and taking photos of him working. I probably spent 20 minutes with him, watching his skillful techniques. At first I was only interested in getting some documentary photos of him working. Then I noticed some other chickens in the frame including the two painted ones on the right and the whole chicken lying on the counter behind on the left. It had been de-feathered and was ready for the customer. I probably shot 100 frames and luckily enough I caught this one where the chicken’s face covered the butcher’s. The chicken’s eye became the butcher’s. I didn’t notice the 5th bird until I got back home and viewed the image on my computer screen. Sure enough, the guy was wearing a Twitter shirt, and the live chicken that he was holding was facing the same direction. Maybe they were both flying off to ‘Twitterland’? This is one example of the beauty of street photography. Sometimes the photos are smarter than you, the photographer.

I think Donald Trump should also wear a Twitter shirt. :-)

Website launch - First blog post

I would like to dedicate this first blog post to my two favorite cities, Paris and New York City. They are the topic of my first photo book, published last September by Lammerhuber Editions in Vienna Austria. They are also two cities which have been severely affected by the current Covid19 virus. I took the first photo at a hand ball court in Coney Island, Brooklyn, NYC. I hung around with the players for an hour or so, mainly taking photos of them inside the court. On my way out I noticed how the chain link fence was casting interesting shadows in the late day sun. I asked one player to come my way and he agreed to pose for a portrait. To me his face symbolizes the strength and tenacity of the people of NYC. I took the second image on the steps just below the Sacre Coeur in Montmartre, Paris. The street performer’s name is Iya Traore and he is known for doing amazing stunts with a soccer ball. Here he climbed up a lamp post and started juggling the ball at the top. This photo symbolizes the vibrant and spontaneous moments which one can find when exploring Paris on foot. These moments will surely return after the virus lock down ends.