My Middle Eastern Days Galleries

Ruined Aegean Civilizations, Turkey : This gallery is chock full 'o pix I took the whirlwind 4-day tour I stupidly signed up for while suffering a minor bout of ennui in Istanbul. Don't get me wrong, I saw and shot alot of cool stuff. It's just that I really really hate organized tours, and I don't know what I was thinking. Plus I got really sick. Anyway, you may, if you're feeling in the mood for a little masochism, read my longer account of the trip right here. Oh, and be warned, I saw way too many colliseums on this trip, and therefore so will you if you continue through this gallery. It includes shots from Priene, Miletos, Didyma, Ephesus, The Temple of Artemis, The House of the Virgin Mary, The Cave of The Seven Sleepers, Pergamon and Asclepius, Hieropolis and Pamukkale.

Ruined Aegean Civilizations, Turkey

This gallery is chock full 'o pix I took the whirlwind 4-day tour I st ...

Updated: Nov 21, 2006 4:36am PST

Cappadocia, Turkey : Cappadocia is totally where Hanna-Barbera got the idea for the Flintstones. It's an area of Turkey south-east of Ankara which has very odd rock formations formed by lava a real long time ago. All manner of people hung out there and dug caves and underground cities; Hitites, Persians, Christians, and now Turks, who still build, use, and live in caves today. Stylin' caves, though.

Cappadocia, Turkey

Cappadocia is totally where Hanna-Barbera got the idea for the Flintst ...

Updated: Nov 20, 2006 2:02pm PST

Kurdistan, Iraq : I took a three day weekend in September 2006 to invade my Iraqi friend's family vacation in Kurdistan. I flew from Baghdad to Erbil, where they met me and drove me to Shaqalawa, a touristy waterfall, NOT Halabja, and Sulaymaniyah. I've written a long-winded description of my trip here.

Kurdistan, Iraq

I took a three day weekend in September 2006 to invade my Iraqi friend ...

Updated: Sep 18, 2006 5:21pm PST

Baghdad, Iraq : I lived in the Interzone in Baghdad from August 14th, 2003 until October 31st, 2006, over three years. Most of these pictures are from my first few months there, when everything was still new and fun. There are a few later additions, but pretty much the glow had worn off by the end. When you barely look up from your work when you hear an explosion that could be 100 yards away, you've settled in. So anyway, enjoy these snapshots from the most dangerous city in the world. They don't really describe anything, but it's a glimpse. For many painfully long tales of any misadventures I may or may not have had in Baghdad, please feel free to visit my incredibly narcissistic blog, messiestobjects. Be sure to visit the archives, as I haven't actually written about Baghdad in a while since I no longer live there. P.S. Please forgive any light-heartedness, sarcasm or snark in the captions of many of these photos; back in the early days when things in Baghdad seemed as though they could potentially go either way, it was much easier to have a sense of humor about the whole thing. Nowadays, with things deteriorating so rapidly and all of the anguish, pain and bloodshed going on, and most Iraqis blaming it on the utter incompetence of the American administration, many of these comments of mine seem callow to me now. But I will keep them up because I don't wish to censor the way it all felt to me at the time. Posterity and all that.

Baghdad, Iraq

I lived in the Interzone in Baghdad from August 14th, 2003 until Octob ...

Updated: Jun 10, 2007 8:15am PST

Blackhawk Ride to Balad, Iraq : This day trip was so cool it deserved it's own gallery... My boss sent our head engineer, Ion Irimescu, & I to Camp Anaconda outside of Balad to do a site inspection on May 15th, 2005. All I really cared about was the helicopter ride there and back, a half hour each way. Awesome! I wanna grow up to be a helicopter pilot now. Anyway, the experience also afforded me the opportunity to get some nice shots of the Iraqi countryside...

Blackhawk Ride to Balad, Iraq

This day trip was so cool it deserved it's own gallery... My boss sent ...

Updated: Aug 02, 2006 3:20am PST

David Leeson In Iraq 2003 : Here are some photos I found on an unmarked CD in the International Zone. I had originally posted them in the 'Baghdad Found Photos' gallery, where I have a note asking for the person who took these photos to contact me so I could give proper credit. Thanks to TF I found him, and his name is David Leeson. He is a professional Photojournalist who was in Iraq during the invasion in 2003, and he considers the photos which he took there to be among the best of his career. It is therefore with great generosity that, after I contacted him, he wrote back and allowed me to keep his pictures on my site. Not all of the photos in the found photos gallery were his, apparently, and being a stand-up guy, he provided a list of the ones which were his so as not to take credit for someone else's work. If you would like to further explore his amazing work, his website is davidleeson.com and you can also visit his blog here.

David Leeson In Iraq 2003

Here are some photos I found on an unmarked CD in the International Zo ...

Updated: May 13, 2006 10:36pm PST

Baghdad Found Photos : Here are some photos I found on an unmarked CD. They were mixed in with photos belonging to David Leeson, whom I've made a separate gallery for. I have no idea who took them, but they're obviously professional, or taken by soldiers with a good eye. Really good stuff. If you are the photographer, or know the photographer in question, please contact me so I can either give proper credit or remove them from my site if desired.

Baghdad Found Photos

Here are some photos I found on an unmarked CD. They were mixed in wit ...

Updated: May 13, 2006 10:31pm PST

Bethlehem, Palestine : Mad Hypertrekking Points! I met a guide in the square of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. It was 3:00pm... I asked him if I had a chance of making it to Bethlehem before dark... he hesitated a second, looked at his watch, and said, "Normally, no way. But you are lucky today: I have a cousin in Palestine. He has a car. We will go to the border and sneak around the guards, hop in my cousin's car, and he will take you to the Church of the Nativity, then bring you back." Boo-Yah! Saw the whole Nativity thing, and still made it back to Jerusalem in time to watch some guys with funny hats bang their heads on the Wailing Wall. Here's a link to my Jerusalem & Bethlehem story: Holy Claptrap & Good Hypertrekking Points.

Bethlehem, Palestine

Mad Hypertrekking Points! I met a guide in the square of the Church of ...

Updated: Nov 07, 2005 1:48pm PST

Jerusalem, Israel : Jerusalem was really interesting! I wish I had more time there, but I hadn't even planned on going in the first place; I was in Jordan and had an extra day, got bored, and decided to borderhop for some mad hypertrekking points. Got some pictures, too. Here's a link to my Jerusalem & Bethlehem story: Holy Claptrap & Good Hypertrekking Points.

Jerusalem, Israel

Jerusalem was really interesting! I wish I had more time there, but I ...

Updated: Nov 08, 2005 10:07am PST

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan : I've just completed my 2nd trip to Jordan, and I think I did everything there was to do this time around, except Wadi Rum, where both Lawrence of Arabia and Peter O'Toole, pretending to be Lawrence of Arabia, hung out. Next time. Anyway, enjoy the new photographs... I took a few too many landscape shots at Ajloud, and some shots of crumbling Roman stuff at Jerash, but afterwards there are some shots of a muddy hole to look forward to!

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

I've just completed my 2nd trip to Jordan, and I think I did everythin ...

Updated: Nov 06, 2005 9:00pm PST

Kuwait City, Kuwait : I only spent two days in Kuwait, and on top of that, there isn't much there that's photo-worthy. but here's what I got.

Kuwait City, Kuwait

I only spent two days in Kuwait, and on top of that, there isn't much ...

Updated: Apr 17, 2004 5:22am PST

Dubai, United Arab Emirates : Dubai has a similar problem to Kuwait. It's not very photogenic. The difference is that where Kuwait is just plain uneventfull and mostly unattractive, Dubai is busy and colorfull, yet it's essentially a big shopping mall and hotel strip. It looks alot like what I'd imagine would happen if Las Vegas moved to Florida. Keep the neon, lose the fun.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Dubai has a similar problem to Kuwait. It's not very photogenic. The d ...

Updated: Sep 04, 2004 1:04pm PST

messiestobjects' messy photographs

"Where you come from, is gone. Where you thought you were goin' to, weren't never there, and where you are ain't no good unless you can get away from it." - Jesus Built My Hotrod