Ein Qiniya Field Notes

Summer/Fall 2017 and Website Updates

On November 27, 2017 / Ein Qiniya Field Notes, Nature & Landscape / 4 Comments

Things have been quiet on the blog for a while, my last blog post was in June, which coincided with the birth of my first child and is probably the reason I’ve been off the airwaves for so long. Another reason is the unavailability of my Leica M9 since June while it gets a new sensor in New Jersey- a process that has taken probably longer than any camera repair in history! So in the meantime I’ve decided to re-do the website, meaning re-editing all the pictures and re-designing all the albums. New albums were added, and others were taken

Spring Photographs, 2017

On May 7, 2017 / Ein Qiniya Field Notes, Nature & Landscape / 4 Comments

Spring has sprung in Palestine and it can be see everywhere you look- from the blossoming almond and citrus trees in house gardens to the fresh green coating covering the vast hills around Ramallah. But to get a real feel for Spring around here you’ll have to walk a little slower and look a little closer. I find the the greatest beauty is in the smallest of flowers, often tucked away in the middle of a bush but well worth the discovery and close examination. This small collection of photographs from the current Spring season reminds me of the cathartic power of nature- its ability

Ein Qiniya Field Notes IX

On November 3, 2015 / Ein Qiniya Field Notes, Nature & Landscape / 2 Comments

We’ve had some rain lately so I’ve been hitting the olive fields of Ein Qiniya more often looking for greenery and early buds in the ground. This also happens to be the season for olive harvest in Ein Qiniya and in Palestine at large, so farmers can be found all over the fields with their families sharing an age-old tradition. Ahmad, below, is one of these villagers from Ein Qiniya who I met while he was harvesting some of his family’s trees. If you ever get to read this, Ahmad, thank you for the good conversation and for letting me take your picture

Ein Qiniya Field Notes VIII

On October 15, 2015 / Ein Qiniya Field Notes, Nature & Landscape / 4 Comments

In this part of the world summer seems to last for an eternity. When you are the type of person who ‘requires’ photography as part of their daily self-therapy your senses atrophy after a while from walking the same landscape and photographing the same shade of light falling on the same dead-dry thorny bush, or a boulder that might start to look remotely interesting if you stare at it long enough. However sometimes I tell myself that the difficulty of shooting in this type of fixed landscape for an extended period of time might just be the challenge I need

Ein Qiniya Field Notes VII

On May 8, 2015 / Ein Qiniya Field Notes, Nature & Landscape / 3 Comments

Getting out in the open fields of Ein Qiniya, a small village on the outskirts of Ramallah, has lately become a near-weekly ritual for me which if skipped leaves a palpable gap in my life. More than ever I feel the need for roaming the open fields and letting myself drift with nature. The urban life of Ramallah can be suffocating and the sights and sounds of cars, people, and ever-replicating white-stone buildings become overwhelming at some point that an escape is mandatory for maintaining sanity. When I walk in these fields with my camera on my side I let myself wander freely.

Food For Soul: A Morning Walk in Ein Qiniya

On April 10, 2015 / Ein Qiniya Field Notes, Nature & Landscape / Leave a comment

Today the clouds were divine and the air was chilly so I took a walk in Ein Qiniya just outside Ramallah. I encountered a shepard and his flock, I heard frogs croaking, I listened to the sound of water flowing from the nearby spring, and on my way out I saw a kestrel flying up high. This is food for soul.

Palestine Field Notes VI

On April 3, 2015 / Ein Qiniya Field Notes, Nature & Landscape / 4 Comments

As promised here’s the second installment of my pictures of Spring this year in Palestine. All were taken from the central West Bank area surrounding Ramallah. I hope you’ll enjoy!

Palestine Field Notes V

On March 25, 2015 / Ein Qiniya Field Notes, Nature & Landscape / 5 Comments

Spring is finally upon us here in Occupied Palestine, which means I’ll try to increase my outdoors time as much as possible to soak it all up. I used to think there was nothing like Fall in Minnesota, and now I think there’s nothing like Spring in Palestine. As I walk in the ancient fields of shepards and farmers I’m constantly reminded of how incredibly beautiful and diverse this land is. In this blog post, and the next one which I’ll post next week, I’ll try to highlight some of this beauty as I see it. I hope you’ll enjoy it

Ein Qiniya Field Notes IV

On February 15, 2015 / Ein Qiniya Field Notes, Nature & Landscape / 6 Comments

Spring is not here quite yet in Palestine, more rain and frost are expected for the region this week, but that doesn’t stop me from hitting the fields whenever I get the chance. In Palestine one does not need hiking trails, they’re already carved out by sheep that have been sheparded in these fields for thousands of years. One just has to find the beginning of the path, and follow it to the next, and so on. What saddened me during today’s walk were signs of new construction around this pristine area called Ein Kinya, just outside of Ramallah. This

Ein Qiniya Field Notes III

On November 24, 2014 / Ein Qiniya Field Notes, Nature & Landscape / Leave a comment

Another olive harvest season has passed and yet Palestine remains in solitary confinement. Like any prisoner, Palestine is walled off from the outside world, literally. She is land-locked, sea-locked, air-locked. The air she breathes is tightly regulated. She is alone, stripped of freedom but never of pride. One only has to walk in her fields and smell her earth to know she is still alive, heart pounding as strongly as ever, waiting for time to pass and history to fold another chapter. (Technical details below) Technical Details: Canon 5D MkII Carl Zeiss Distagon 2/35 ZE Carl Zeiss Makro-Planar 2/50 ZE

Ein Qiniya Field Notes II

On October 10, 2014 / Ein Qiniya Field Notes, Nature & Landscape / 4 Comments

This is the first part of an officially new series I’m calling “Ein Qiniya Field Notes,” comprised of my pictures of the Palestinian landscape from my walks in the fields around Ramallah and other parts of Palestine. In the past I’ve combined these types of images with my street photographs but it makes more sense to combine them under their own theme. In this post you’ll find recent photographs from the Ein Qiniya area around Ramallah taken at sunset on 3 different trips. The stone structures you’ll see in some of these images are called “Qasr” and they can be

Ein Qiniya Field Notes I

On July 5, 2014 / Ein Qiniya Field Notes, Nature & Landscape / 1 Comment

With so much turmoil and sadness surrounding us as Israel escalates its oppressive colonialist policies towards Palestinians, I decided to take a walk in the open fields of Ein Qiniya near Ramallah to re-acquaint myself with a small piece of ancient Palestine. The landscape I observed couldn’t have changed much in hundreds of years. I stood in awe. (Technical details below) Technical Details: Canon 5D MkII Various Carl Zeiss ZE lenses