Business in DC

cigarette break

Pennsylvania Ave.

4 coffees

Crystal City offices

bagels for a long night

Washingtonian characters

Big man in Georgetown

working in the street

the drag of a cigarette

Connecticut Avenue

Newspaperman

Before shopping

Chinese guys at the Mall

At face value, Washington might seem devoid of character: a city of dry lawyers and boring offices. But the city is actually filled with life and authentic characters who are not the average people walking down the street.

Tea and coffeeshops offer some interesting lighting and intriguing subjects to photograph. Here I bring you some of the pictures I’ve made in them.

Enjoying wonderful food

lunchtime

Waiting for food

Malls

This gallery contains 9 photos.

I’m always fascinated by what’s going on inside shopping malls. The most ordinary places can yield very interesting scenes

Daily life in DC

I love the speed and anxiety of daily life in DC.

The lawyer

getting cookies for the office

cigar guy

the pair

Army guy training for Afghanistan

Legs

business needs doing

Sandwich time

the little glance

 

Anti-cut protests aren’t over in Oxford

So today was another day of action against the cuts in public services and education. Various leftwing groups got together at the Carfax Tower, a landmark site at the end of Cornmarket Street. This protest did not match the scale of previous ones in Oxford, but there was some serious scuffle between the police and protestors. One arrest was made and the police confiscated the batteries of the protestors’ sound system on a trolley.

Handing out informative leaflets

The protestors hit Cornmarket street

Barclay's wasn't impressed by the protests

Shoppers watch in awe as a group of fed-up protestors penetrate the Clarendon Center

the mall guards were quick to mobilize to stop protestors

But in the end, the guards had to let the protestors march through the mall.

Protestors came back to the street to continue their rave.

An old-timer got excited about seeing so many young people protesting against the system

Police were very aggressive and stepped straight in to try and stop the protestors' sound system in the in the shopping cart.

Things heated up quickly as protestors weren't exactly keen on giving up their sound system.

Police gets in to try and remove the batteries from the speakers

Police stop and interrogate this young man.

Finally, the police decided to single out this student and arrest him.

The atmosphere quickly died out after the arrest but one could see protestors looking forward to the bigger protests against the cut of EMA in London on Saturday.

DC life

Here are some pictures of children on the street that make wonderful subjects.

In line for the White House

Squirrel and boy

Skating away

After school

Out with their dog

A little run

Daily life in DC 2

More Washington street photography

Morning

Latinos fixing a roof

A little peer

On scooter

On the way

Happiness

Tesco

I always have my camera at Tesco because it is full of life and interesting people.

A negotiation

buying the essentials

Getting some crisps?

escalator

Food for tomorrow

In solidarity with Egypt

I went to see the student new edition of student protests in London on Saturday. The striking feature was the mutual solidarity between Tunisians and Egyptians and the students. These pictures are from the demonstration outside the Egyptian embassy where people were supporting the struggle of their own countrymen in Egypt. I will have the pictures of the actual student demonstrations tomorrow as soon as I’m done with my essay!

Hundreds of UK-based Egyptians turned up to protest in front of their embassy to demand Mubarak to sep down

People were also following the live events in Egypt as their own protest went on

These girls were really happy about the uprise in their country

Whose streets? Our streets!

I went down to London on Saturday to experience and document yet another day of student protests against the rise in tuition fees at British universities. Saturday’s march was significantly less violent than the previous ones as police were better prepared and more numerous. Protestors gathered a lot of support from young and old people in the street that were sympathetic to their cause and also loathed the UK government’s vast spending cuts in the public sector and education. 

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Getting ready for a long day of protest

Old people joined the struggle too

And young people put on their best attire.

A very keen protestor

March

Even animals hate the cuts!

the younger generation was in the struggle with the students too

The students gathered widespread support from the street

Police getting prepared for a long day

Coordination

Police discussing the route of the demonstration

Camden ladies

Police marched with the students all day long.

Londoners were extremely curious about the protests.

The protests were mostly peaceful.

Reception was good to the students

Passing some time

Fighting for EMA

Protestors made sure they were noticed.

Students directed their anger against vodafone.

Top Shop survived major damage despite being attacked several times during the day

Police wer every keen to identify the potential troublemakers.

The march leader had a little rest on Oxford Street after 6 hours of continuous march and running.

But the march kept going till the late evening.

Some people got arrested.

Students filmed the police back.

In the end, students finally managed to attack a boots store.

Police had had enough and started rounding up people.

Many people were taken down and beaten.

More people got arrested.

Going home after an intense day

My series on Tesco continues…

Here are some moments from inside Tesco.

Hanging out at Tesco

 

Getting some olive oil

Cans in hand

Everyday shopping

Seven up

Oxford the way I see it

 

Oxford characters

Pure, simple, undiluted characters:

The University Congregation votes on tuition fees at Oxford

The Sheldonian Theatre was closed for ceremony today as the lecturers and university officials in Oxford got together to discuss the University’s decision on tuition fees under the new government measures. Students, except reporters, were not allowed in to join the discussion so they had to make their voices heard outside the Sheldonian.

The porters were in charge of preventing an occupation

Porters were careful and asked for everybody's Id's at the gate

Yet the atmosphere was very relaxed

But the porters stood their guard

Flowers and fliers were in store for the lecturers and university officials

A curious tourist had a look at the student's homemade banners

The police were intently reading the fliers too

The protestors really made their point

The result of the meeting remains to be seen...

Oxford the way I see it 3

Tourists

Labrador trio

On the run

G&D

Oxford characters 2

People that caught my eye on the street.

Weekends in London

So I went down to London last weekend to do some street shooting with my friend Marcin. Here are some of the results.

Havana revisited in colour

I have about 20 rolls of film that I need to see and develop and I haven’t got round to it yet. However, I’ve been re-examining my old digital pictures and came across these little gems that were hiding in the depths of my hard drive:

The Cuban sky...

 

The way I look like in the street

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From before and after Christmas

Oxford

Back to Mexico

Christmas at Puerto Morelos

I spent my Christmas week at an 5-star all-inclusive beach resort. The service was obviously excellent but the light was even better. I only shot film during this trip and I loved it. I had all the time in the world to just shoot without having to worry about the results and looking at a screen. I was much more focused on the next picture rather than checking how the previous one turned out. My New Year’s resolution is to shoot all personal project on film!

Leaving Mexico City

Cancún airport

The resort

Japanese restaurant

Beach style Christmas

Chilli boy (the black boy in the middle). He got 10 dollars for having a bit of a Habanero. This is what happened 5 seconds after he swallowed

Having a stroll in the town

Beach composition

Getting prepared for snorkeling

Tequila-fuelled beach party

Happy New Year :DD

 

New Leica M6 TTL

So, usually I abstain from talking too much about gear because it really is irrelevant to the artistic qualities of the photographer and his pictures. A great photographer can use pretty much any piece of equipment and achieve what he wants. However, a nice camera definitely makes the job easier. So I made a decision to go back to film in order to be able to shoot the Leica M6 TTL and shoot in BW straight away without having to go through the conversion phase on the computer. I’m simply blown away! The shutter sound is barely audible and far far quieter than on my M9. I just ran my first roll of film through it and it felt great no knowing what the pictures turned out like. Here are some of the results that I got:

Nighttime frames

Wadham Queerfest 2011