My Travelogues: Some Random Street Shots From Muscat

"To me, photography is an art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place...I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them."
Elliott Erwitt, the master of street photography

I am not a professional photographer nor do I go out on the streets with my camera hanging around my neck every time. However as an Architect, my eyes are trained to observe, and often I find interesting things around me that may not make sense to anyone else, but me. Hence, when I am out for any purpose, be it for work, shopping or even a simple walk, I end up clicking snaps with whatever device I have handy and usually it is through my mobile. I have this urge to click and the reason is that the subject of my observation is not only beautiful, but I feel probably they are rare, or hidden from the eyes of the world or sometimes unnoticed and neglected, and that I should capture them through my lenses. Tomorrow they may cease to exist or may not stand the ravages of time, but I would have them frozen in time and in my possession. It is a strange feeling and I don't know how many of you out there would actually relate to what I am trying to say. Also, the subject of my interest are more of buildings and inanimate objects and hardly of people. Sometimes though you may find people in some of my clicks but only so as to reflect the scale of the subject.

I can recollect, how my parents would eagerly look forward, to see the photographs I clicked during my college days, but ended up in disappointment since 95% of the prints (we didn't have digital cameras then) turned out to be of inanimate objects, buildings, streets, and landscapes. But then that's how we were trained in our profession; to observe, perceive and reason. Guided by knowledge and prompted by interest, till today, I practice this habit of photography.

With the advent of the digital era, the world of photography has revolutionized. Photography has become simpler and archiving them has become easier. During my college days in the late 90s, we looked at prints to decide what to print, now we look at digital images to decide what to publish digitally. I would say that the internet itself is an archive all by itself since it has the largest collection of pictures. All of you would certainly agree that we now spend more than half of our waking lives looking at digital displays. Hence, practically speaking, most of us are archivists ourselves, as we daily view thousands of photographs on the screen, some curiously and some compulsively, be it on our laptops or mobiles.

"I have an affection for a great city. I feel safe in the neighborhood of man, and enjoy the sweet security of the streets."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow on urban sentiments.

I share the same sentiments...

So, out for my walks many a times here in the city of Muscat, I have wandered in my neighbourhood, within a radius of five kilometres or so, with the sole intention of walking but I couldn't resist some clicks in between those walks. I have managed to capture some pictures of doors and windows, flora and fauna, streets and walkways, and many other elements that go into the making of an urban fabric. Many of you would've read about them in my earlier posts viz. Flowers on the street of Muscat and Just a Pedestrian on the street. Here, in this post, are some random shots from the street which actually gives a glimpse of the Omani Art and Architecture - the grand timber doors with decorative work, the stained glass windows, florid mural work, the geometric designs of the lattice screens, fountains, and fort-like crenellations; these typical elements contribute towards creating a common visual link across the urbanscape.