Freedom.

Last night I posted stuff about going outside and the plan to take some snaps blah, blah, blah. 

I also mentioned about an experience of the ‘haram’. (I have deleted the posts but mentioned that I shall note about it soon, which is I am doing right now).

Note: Skip if you find this tltr. lol.

The photo above is a shot from a crossover bridge along the Prince Turki Road. I took it last night, which was a Friday and their kind of weekend, so there were really quite a number of people everywhere.

I have once took a photo from this crossover bridge, which actually was a [not-so] long-exposure shot, but using a smaller compact camera.

So what I had with me last night was a much bigger cam, and with a little awareness, of course, I could not simply lay the camera down on the parapet and operate through the timer to get another long exposure shot.

So, I took chances and snapped on normal mode, not minding about the creativity, composition, whatsoever.

I managed to take five shots when on the sixth attempt, one of my companions, the oldest, asked me to stop and suggested that we go. 

Mutawa

Apparently, my busyness made me unaware that a Mutawa passed by and got near me actually, and ‘almost’, wanted to confront or stop me. 

Mutaween (plural) are government-authorized or government-recognized religious police (or clerical police) of Saudi Arabia.

But he probably noticed that there were four of us (with the three waiting behind me), and decided to let it pass. They usually come in group.

Haram

My companion also mentioned about a Saudi passerby uttering, “Haram, haram.” All of them happening without me having the slightest hint. Haram or haraam, is an Arabic term meaning “forbidden”.

Push Luck

It’s a bit saddening. Luckily I didn’t actually get stopped or confronted by the officer, or otherwise, I might have felt oppressed. It’s hard to push luck. 

As a foreign to this land, I do my part to participate, initially by asking some locals about what is haram and not.

I was happy to interact, maybe a month ago, with a Saudi from tumblr. I asked her, Elaf, what are the dos and don’ts when it comes to photography here. She briefly said, “…You can take pictures anywhere, just not allowed in the mosques.”

Another one, Malik, a colleague, said it is completely okay to even bring a camera around. That you can take pictures of mosques, but definitely not inside them. Because I have already posted some. Well, just the tip of the mosque. Like this one. According to him, still to this day, there are some who still aren’t that open-minded and might not welcome nicely the idea of photography.

Other forbidden to take photos of are government buildings and facilities, people basically without their consent (I guess this is for individual/solo shots), and especially of women and children.

I think I shall give street photography a rest for now, or restrain my self as much as I can. Respect.

25 February 21

photographyinksa

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