Coolture Shock

I feel like I start every post with talking about how I’m back after so long.  Maybe we can just assume that I will only post periodically, so I won’t feel the need to start out posts so apologetically.  Truth is, until I can upgrade to another DSLR, I’m using a 35mm SLR again, so I won’t be putting out as many pictures.  It’s funny, when I use film, I barely take any pictures, I get really calculated and precise about which shots I choose to capture – completely opposite from when I’m digital.  It’s cool though, I like how it forces me to be more patient when I’m shooting to wait for the best shot, and not snap until I see something I really want to capture.

So, here are some pictures from some events and outings I’ve been keeping busy with over the past few months.  I re-visited VCU for their Coffeehouse and Year-End Picnic.  I also took a trip to Philly again for the EZ Conference.  More recently, I got a chance to hang out with some friends and family around the area, I’m putting up some of those shots too.  Enjoy   

Strawberry Sunshine

Farhan was conquering his fear of being in a boat by jumping in every canoe he could when we visited Old Town Alexandria’s harbor.  I love the color of the sunset in this picture.  I’m pretty surprised it actually came out with my film camera, didn’t think film was tight like that.  Sure showed me.  

Green Giant

Dahman loves that kafiyeh.  This is from Saad’s in Philly.  

Posh

Huma was chillin on that cool red couch at TT Lounge in Richmond.  Who else loves bubble tea?

 

Bilal #1

Bilal was visiting Philly for EZ and we met up.  He knew I was there b/c of a Twitter update, pretty coooool!  

 

Droppin Knowledge

M.O.T., during a recording session at Dahman’s makeshift studio in Richmond.  He’s 1/3 of Symmetry Of Sound, check em out on myspace!  I manage the group, so please bear with the shameless promotions.

 

Shawarma Monster

He may not look it, but boy can Amer eat!  Then again, who can really resist all that awesome food from Saad’s in Philly?

 

VT In Full Effect

Some of that new classic VT crew, chillin in Philly at EZ.  Good kids.  Thanks for posing.

 

A La Gigglioteca

I ripped the caption from my brother.  We visited Food Corner for Mother’s Day.  Shawn was having himself a nice, wholesome gigglefest while we all waited for food.

 

Giggle At Me!

More of the gigglefest from Food Corner.  Ali was really lettin those small, controlled chuckles let fly all over the place.

 

Frogger At Sea!

Farrukh whipped out his Canon Rebel XT for some photog action at Old Town Alexandria.  Is town spelled with an ‘e’ at the end in this case?  Old Towne Alexandria?  Maybe.  Faizan was there too.  With his Nikon D90.  I was using a 35mm, and Farhan…well, he opted for the camera phone.  Did him quite well actually.

 

VA Connect

VT kids rolled to VCU for the Coffeehouse.  The group brought some great spirit to the event.  They wanted to take this picture so we’d have something to remember them by.  Good call.

 

Yogurt Inspector

For those adventurous enough to try, you know how some of those yogurt drinks are really good, but others are really horrible?  I can never remember which brand is which, so I always hesitate before buying any at a restaurant.  Amer was facing a similar crisis I presume, at Saad’s in Philly.  By the way, the one he’s holding is the good kind (just look out for a bottle shaped the same way).

 

Good Ol Days

Farhan and I went to college together for a few years.  This reminds me of him back at VCU.  Apparently, it also reminds some people of the mass immigration of Europeans to America in the early 1900′s.  I can see that too.

 

Hey, Boy!

Amer was hanging out outside the Penn Museum after EZ, in Philly.  Those cherry blossoms made for such tempting picture opportunities.  

 

Let The Fun Begin

Saad just graduated from college.  Congrats!  Now, you get to join the real world.  Sorry, dude, un-congrats.  Him and his family also came out to Food Corner for some Mother’s Day/Gigglefest celebrations though.  Giggle on, m’brotha!

 

The Beast(s)

Look at that camera!  Actually, you’d prolly have a better view if it wasn’t covered in that plastic bag Faizan used to protect it from the rain.  Meanwhile, Farhan was dominating his *free* scoop of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.  It was free scoop day at Ben & Jerry’s, and we happened to be near one in Old Town(e) Alexandria, so we hopped into the line and grabbed us some.

 

The S Effect in Effect

Sami a.k.a. The S Effect, was the official photographer for our trip to Philly for EZ.  We actually have the same camera (the one he’s holding).  Sometimes it’s nice to just sit back and chill instead of trying to constantly take pictures.  Having that film camera forces me to be more picky with my shots, so I get to spend more time and energy straight chillin.

My December

Ever since winter started, I haven’t really taken too many pictures.  These are actually collected from the past 2 or 3 months.   Cheque it out.

 

Emo Sunrise

On my last visit to Richmond, I crashed with Tayeeb at his new place.   This was right when he was waking up.

 

Foggy Top

Surprise, surprise!  Another road trip to Philly.  This time we were returning for the 2nd MANA conference.  It was a great outing, and an amazing conference.  The weather was sort of icky, as you can see…

 

Txt Mnstr

Between sessions at MANA, we were wandering around the convention center.  We just got through rummaging the bazaar, and were trying to figure out which place to get cheesesteaks from.

 

 

Raef

The man himself, performing at the Night of Sawa open-mic event in Lorton.  Raef came all the way down from MD to share some of his songs with the group.  Here he was, singing his song, Bread & Circus.  Jamal was captivated, as you can see..

 

Group Effort

Ibrahim brought up some friends to help him sing some spiritual songs at the Night of Sawa.  I don’t think anyone was quite prepared for the 25 minute performance that took place, but I’m sure they enjoyed it…

 

Lettin It Marinate

We went out to East West Grill for dinner.  Most of us ordered cheesesteaks.  Zahra was sitting contemplative for almost half the time, and not eating.  Eventually, we found out she had put ketchup on her sandwich, and wanted to wait until it really settled in before eating it.  That’s dedication.

 

Modern Sculpture

At Kabob Palace (or “KP”, as I found it’s also called), a group of us were waiting for food and Jamal created a wonderful sculpture.  He hadn’t quite worked out all of the details, so his finger played a critical role in holding it all together.

East-West

Rima came to visit from Cali.  Naturally, this warranted another road trip to Philly.  

 

 

Def Prayer

Mar 2008

marsOne caught some quick prayer action in an alleyway on South St in Philly.  There happened to be some pretty fresh Philly handstyle up on the wall.  This is one of my favorite shots.

 

 

The Champ is Here

Rima and Z post up in front of the Rocky statue in Philly, in front of the Art Museum.

 

 

Kid in a Candy Store

Mariam was pretty happy to see all this random mural we passed by in the city.  Even though it was still unfinished, she was like ecstatic.

 

 

Schoolin

Mariam points out feautures in the mural to everyone else.  The art basically covered the entire wall of an elementary school in West Philly.

 

 

Z X

I have to confess.  I did place them in front of this mural, but we had to take advantage of it somehow…

 

 

City Hall

A closeup of City Hall in Philly.  This historic building stands in the center of downtown Philly.  

 

 

Alternatives

In the open air market on 52nd St, Mariam stands in front of a shop window full of mannequin heads.  

 

 

Scene it All

The view from the top of the Art Museum steps.  City Hall stands at the center, with the Ben Franklin Pkwy connecting it to the museum.

 

 

Larger Than Life-size

More evidence of Philly’s artistic culture.  This enormous mural was painted on the side of a theater in North Philly.

 

 

Dope Check

Inspecting sneakers in a shop on South St.  

 

 

Cosby Eats Free

Once we got back, we hit up Ben’s Chili Bowl in DC.  Apparently, this is Bill Cosby’s favorite spot in DC, they got his name and picture like everywhere inside.

Fresh Developments

Earlier, I posted pictures from my manual camera of a road trip to Philly that I took with my family.  On that trip, I used a roll of professional B&W film at Penn’s Landing, but I couldn’t find anyone that would develop it afterwards.  So…7 months later, I finally found somebody that would develop it, and I just saw the pictures yesterday for the first time.  I’m putting them up now, since I’m actually fairly close to the time when the trip occurred chronologically with the blog at the moment.  I really like how alot of them turned out, especially how they look in full-size, click on em to check em out in more detail.

 

Chill Freeze

Mar 2008

Seeing these pictures reminds me of how insanely cold it was that day, by the riverside.  My cousin was takin a second to zip up his jacket to keep the cool out.

 

 

Cruiseline

 They have this huge boat that was converted into a restaurant.  My mom wanted me to take her picture in front of it, but for some reason wouldnt smile, or look at the camera…yay.

 

Over Here, Ma

I rest my case.

 

 

So Rich

 I love the textures in this picture.

 

 

Hellooo

I think the only reason she actually looked at it this time is b/c i was like 4 inches from her face.  This is one of the rare occasions on which my fisheye lens gave me something useful.

 

 

DC Swag

Ayyaz showin off that swag from the original DC. 

 

 

Great Freezing Fun

Something hilarious was going on, everyone was having a nice laugh while trying to stay warm.

 

 

Touchdown

 

The kids were throwing around a football and it came to my mom.  I think she had just kicked it, and was surprised at how far it went…

 

 

Gallery Seats

The football stars chill up on the deck and throw passes out to everyone else.

 

 

Gladly!

I had no problem getting people to huddle together for pictures in this temperature.

Next Stage

I finally developed the rolls and got to see how the pictures were turning out, and I was really pleased that they didn’t completely suck.  So, I guess that gave me confidence to start venturing out with the manual cameras some more.  I also picked up a fisheye lens from ebay.  The quality of it is highly questionable, but it still makes for some pretty interesting shots.

Well-Lit

Feb 2008

This is def one of my favorite pictures.  I drove around one night with my camera and a tripod that I bought from CVS, which completely sucked and ended up breaking.  I was experimenting with taking night shots and I took a bunch of pictures of the Richmond skyline.  For this one, I ended up next to the James River, over the hill from the Hollywood Cemetary.  I think this picture really mixes that eerie element with the downtown feeling that makes this part of the city unique.

Incomplete

Mar 2008

I hyped up Philly so much at home that my family wanted to check it out.  So, during spring break, we all took a road trip up for a few days.  Here, we ended up at Penn’s Landing, which was great, but just extremely cold this time of year.  I couldn’t be in the group picture, so my mom saved a spot for me

Had Enough

Mar 2008

The cold was really starting to get to everyone.  Shortly after this, we were finally on our way back home after an interesting weekend roadtrip with the family.

Fishy

Mar 2008

Dahman usually becomes a regular subject in my photography, because he’s generally around whenever I feel like experimenting with anything.  The day I got my fisheye lens, I ran up into his room and got really close to his head with it, and got him to turn around.  I quickly snapped this picture, which probably caught him off guard, he was in the middle of writing some paper.

Light Rail

Mar 2008

On another night of adventurous photography, I ended up near the river again and took this picture of a guardrail.  The lights in the background are from streetlamps that illuminate the ramp for the highway in the distance.

A Return

More road trips.  Yes, a 3rd trip to Philly.  But, I’m not complaining, I have a blast everytime.  This time one of Dahman’s childhood friends was visiting from Chicago, so we went to Philly and NYC in one weekend to show em around.  Here are some pictures from the Philly side of the trip.

 

 

What Do You See?

10/18/07

Oussama and Tayeeb look out across the Delaware river that borders Philly on the East side, over to Camden, NJ.  Dahman fiddles around with his camera in the background.  Penn’s Landing, where the picture was taken, is a nice little boardwalk spot that’s an awesome place to hangout when the weather is nice.

Pale Comparison

Oussama walks in front of the Ben Franklin Bridge, which connects Philly to Camden and crosses the Delaware River.

 

 

It's In Hue Too

The Ben Franklin Bridge at night.

 

 

Vandalish

The entrance to a shop on South St. in Philly is covered with art and graffitti.  This was a shoe/clothing store, very Philly.

MANA

I couldn’t help it.  I had to go back.  We took another trip to Philly, just me and Ali this time.  We went up for the first MANA conference, in downtown Philly.  It was a really good trip, and an amazing conference.  I def plan to go again next time around, iA.

 

 

Students in the Shade

11/3/07

We went back to AICP, and of course to Saad’s.  While we were at AICP, there was a small class being taught in the corner.  I was taking a few pictures, b/c it looked really nice.  Afterwards, some guy started asking me all these questions about why I was taking pictures and everything…I guess he was paranoid that I was spying on them or something.  

 

 

Here it Comes...

This was on our drive back.  The clouds kept covering the sun.  Right here is where they began to part and the sunlight started to stream through even more.  It was even more beautiful in reality, this picture doesn’t do justice.

The Fraternal Twin

I could’ve posted all of the Philadelphia pictures into one entry, but I don’t think that would do justice to the unique character of city.  Everything in the previous post was taken in downtown Philly.  The following are pictures taken from West and North Philly.  The vibe is completely different in these areas, compared with downtown.  They’re not at all identical, but they’re def still twins…fraternal twins!

How Meterful

8/4/07

In West Philly, there is an outdoor marketplace that’s over 5 blocks long.  Here you can find all sorts of stuff, clothes, sunglasses, shoes, watches, etc.  There’s a huge Muslim population in the area and you can find many Islamic merchandise stores, masjids and halal restaurants all around this region.  As we parked and eagerly stepped out into West Philly for the first time Tayeeb took a second to fill the meter before we went exploring…

Rebel Movement

Dahman was standing in front of a window in the hotel room, taking in the view, as we were getting ready to head out for the day.  Here, he’s pictured with a shirt he designed, as part of his Rebel Movement collection.

Reflecting Glass

The AICP mosque in West Philly was originally a church that was turned into a masjid.  The windows of the building all have this very decorative design that makes it stand out against all other buildings in the area.

Longing...

A vase full of flowers on a window ledge…looking out into the real world?  Maybe wishing they could get some fresh air…?  Who knows…

Holy Socks

Not the most flattering picture, I know.  But Tayeeb’s socks just seemed to fit right in with the holy atmosphere inside of the AICP mosque…

Inside Out

I’m sure you can guess where we are in this one.  The 52nd St. Masjid is a small prayer room on the second floor of a building that directly overlooks the outdoor market in West Philly.

Hey Lo Ish

Really gettin that glow after praying, no?  Tayeeb continues to take in the sights at the 52nd St. Masjid.

Scrumptious

I know it’s a fatboy thing to do, to post pictures of food, but this chicken was sooooo good!!!  ”Saad’s Halal Place” is a well-known middle eastern restaurant in West Philly, right across the street from AICP.  His rotisserie chicken is amazing, not to mention many other items on the menu.  I think he only has this chicken on the weekend’s though…a must visit for those who like to…eat.  You know who you are.

Graffilly

So, I heard Philly was the birthplace of graffitti.  Naturally, we had to go out and find some street art to see if it was really true.  Not only is Philly just plastered with murals and art all over buildings from all parts of the city, but the graffitti specifically is amazing.  We wandered into North Philly after visiting the Al-Aqsa mosque in that region and we found an abandoned building cooovered with graffitti.  These are some of the pieces that were on that wall.

Illness is a Blessing

I have no clue what this says, but I love it.

So True...

It really don’t, stay tuned…

Illadelph

That’s right, road trip!  During the summer, me and 2 friends really wanted to take a road trip somewhere and were debating on where to visit.  Tayeeb threw in the idea of going to Philly and we were like..ehhh…what the heck is in Philly??  But…alas, we eventually caved in and decided to check it out.  BEST TRIP EVER!!  Philly was so much fun that I ended up visiting it again 4 more times within the next year.  Def one of my fave cities.  Check out some pictures from that first trip…

 

 

A Legendary View

8/4/07

We went along the Ben Franklin Pkwy upto the art museum, which is where the famous Rocky steps are.  At the top of the steps, there’s actually an imprint in the concrete of Rocky’s footsteps, where you can stand and look out at the city.  Tayeeb was enjoying the view when I caught him reppin that brand from another land.

 

 

International Acclaim

Here’s a better look at the view of the city from the top of the steps.  In Urban Design, this is called a vista, where the eye naturally follows the lines made by the trees, flags, or other monuments up to an important point in the center.  At the center of this vista is the City Hall building of Philadelphia, which is beautiful in and of itself.  All along the sides of this street, the Ben Franklin Pkwy, there are flags from every country in the world, all lined up in alphabetical order (mostly).

 

 

Monumental Anticipation

In front of the Art Museum, there is a monument in honor of William Penn and the original inhabitants and settlers of Philadelphia.  These particular statues were poised, with weapons in their hands, looking off into the distance as if waiting for something to come and attack.  Even though they’re inanimate, I still find alot of vigor in the way they’re portrayed.

 

 

Surmountable Heights

This is a structure in downtown Philly.  I thiiink it’s part of Temple University, I remember seeing that red “T” somewhere when I took this picture.  This was really the most striking thing about the building though, the way it just seems to go on and on…

 

 

Oblivious Bliss

Near the Art Museum there is a fountain on Ben Franklin Pkwy that has huge statues and a big pool around it.  We went during the summer and it was especially hot that day, so there was a sizable crowd of people, especially kids, in and around the water.  It was incredibly refreshing.  Here Tayeeb was enjoying being under the path of the water as it sprayed out of the fountain.