Jordan

New in DESTINATIONS: Jordan

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Dusty, smoky, hazy... did I mention smoky? 

Travelling around Jordan was a fascinating experience. So foreign to my Australian eyes. Memories that float to the surface from my week there are: the ever present cigarette smoke in the air, the traffic that appears to follow few rules, the regular calls to prayer, the muted tones of creamy stone and concrete. Sweet pastries and kunafeh soaked in honey, the friendly people, the metal detectors and security guards on every hotel entrance, the silence of Petra, the cats and kids that follow you around, the overly insistent sales people at every bedouin tent or tourist souvenir shop. The blue skies and views of the desert that stretch for kilometres, seemingly unending, the way the light bounced off the surface of the dead sea, the warmth of the sun on our faces as we floated in the water and watched the most amazing sunset I have ever witnessed.

DESTINATIONS up now:
Jordan [Amman & Jerash]
Jordan [Petra]

Petra, Jordan:

The dusty shades of Jordan

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Editing the images shot in Jordan is proving difficult. I am struggling with the colour palette in ways I did not expect. Jordan is, as you might imagine, almost entirely desert. And that means dust, sand, stone and concrete, in varying shades of soft pastel yellows, oranges, browns and reds. Barely a scrap of green to be seen, save for a handful of street trees in the city and the olive tree orchards dotted about outside the capital Amman. Being January, it is winter, so the overcast sky was mostly filled with grey flat clouds. The smog (trapped by the cloud cover) coloured the sky with a dirty brown to pink hue. No white clouds to balance the tones, or to let your eyes rest. Monotonous, analogous, (monogamous!), monochromatic colour. 

Every so often the clouds would break open and blue sky would shine through like a jewel. It was glorious. But now I look at these blue-skied images and think - they don't fit - they're too different.

Yes I could just change the tones, remove the dirty pink from the clouds, cool the brown-greys or warm the blues to make everything feel cohesive. But would that be an accurate representation of the place? And, is that what I want to achieve?

Iceland might have been an icy blue all over, but it has nothing on the dusty shades of Jordan.