Drinking the Tigris: Old Glory II

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paintedland/2446656346/ I posted on this back in May, here's the latest from JR's Hughto's notes:

Last week I had the LAPD's Major Crimes Division: Anti-Terrorism Intelligence Section follow up with me about this. They stopped by and slipped a card under my door with a note saying "Please call [them] regarding an investigation." After I called, I found out I was the target of the investigation. They wanted to see my negatives, and while they agreed that nothing I had done was illegal, they did insist on coming over to my place before work to speak with me.

So, two agents came by and interviewed me for half an hour. They looked around my place, and I showed them the contact sheet - a roll with 4 pictures of the refinery, the others of innocuous things like my girlfriend and koreatown graf. After running out of nice ways to find out who I was, the agent filling out the forms asked, simply, "So, are you a Muslim?" I laughed out of shock and discomfort, and replied, "No."

They then stood, shook my hand, assured me again that I had done nothing illegal, and left. All told, they probably wasted a day and a half between the two of them on my case, when one well phrased google search could have led them here.

Dominican Republic

My trips usually beat the hell out of me then I go home ten pounds lighter and need to sleep for a month. The Dominican was a vacation. I was there for a week and I loved it. We stayed on the Northern Peninsula the whole week driving around with Fernando listening to local music, eating coconuts and seeing the sights. That place has been blessed with beauty. It's lush and the water is bright blue. http://www.flickr.com/photos/cykuck/2767546654/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cykuck/2775037466/

Drinking the Tigris: Petra

I got another R&R out of Baghdad this month. Woo hoo! I went home, but stopped in the Dominican Republic on the way. On my return to Baghdad, I flew back early and spent a couple days in Petra, which is in the South of Jordan. I'll get to the Dominican, but while it's fresh, a few words on Petra. Petra blew my socks off. What an incredible place. After a year of living in a pen in Baghdad through which I have no connection to the country except hearing the call to prayer on the car radio, it was great to get an impression of the Middle East and the heritage of the region that is authentic and first person. Petra is unlike anything I've ever seen because it's the combination of a manmade wonder and a natural wonder. Just the slot canyon that leads to the Treasury is stunning. The temples and caves beyond it speak to a society of enormous resource and organization that slowly vanished. The Bedouin people who live there now fascinated me. I have never had such an impression; that a person could belong completely to one specific landscape. The Bedouin gave me that impression. They've mingled into the rock and peaks with such natural ease it's hard for me to reconcile. How can a person have no fear of heights? I saw a man on a precipice hundreds of feet above a canyon floor poking his head around and yelling to his friends below. I can't imagine how he got up there without a rope. He was very casually looking for a lost goat. You'll see in the video below a Bedouin girl who thinks nothing of hanging her legs over the edge of a cliff. Incredible.

I hiked for two full days and wore myself down to nothing by the end. I got really excited and should have slowed down. By the second night I was sick. A little dehydrated and feverish, but it was worth it. It's one of the best travel experiences I've ever had. Here's a fun little video of the highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zm0No52RLvY&feature=player_embedded

Drinking the Tigris: Ed on the Bomb Shelter

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cykuck/2660130261/ I took this picture of my coworker Ed on the bomb shelter. He's a former Marine. He was an MSG. Those are the Marines that guard all the embassies worldwide. He met his wife at the embassy in China. He tells harrowing tales of his time in Mongolia shortly after their wedding. Six months in a concrete box apartment with nothing to do. Twelve-hour train rides to China to get a pizza. He also tells great stories about scuba diving, and in particular, one story about an underwater encounter with a giant clam at night. Most of all, he talks about his kids. He really misses his two sons.

Drinking the Tigris: Edward

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cykuck/2654350129/ This is Edward, a Ugandan guard working here in Baghdad. When I arrived last year I was surprised to see such a diverse mix of people. Why is a Ugandan checking my ID at the chow hall? I thought it would be all Americans with a sprinkling of Brits and other 'Coalition of the Willing' personnel. Because the war has been so privatized, a lot of the less critical security work is handled by the lowest bidder. Edward's company is American, based in Tennessee, but they hire out of Uganda because their soldiers are well trained and work for cheap. We've outsourced the war that far. It's incredibly strange. Everyday at lunch you can hear different people, Airmen, contractors, anybody that's been around a while yell, "Jambo jambo!" as they great the guards in Swahili on their way to and from the chow hall.

Edward was very anxious about being photographed. He asked me over and over again, "What's this for?" The shot is behind the chow hall after his shift ended. He turned his head in the middle of the exposure, checking to see if his boss had caught him. I tried to explain that I wanted to take his picture, just because, but I walked away feeling like I'd asked for way too much. He could have lost his job or been seriously reprimanded had the wrong person noticed. People have been fired for less.

Drinking the Tigirs: Big D, a KBR driver

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cykuck/2652858758/ Truckers, honkies, bubbas, Georgians, Texans, Croatians, Serbs; KBR is a big mix. It's true that at the top, these companies are corrupt money stealing machines, but the character of the company's employees is completely different. Most of the Americans who work for KBR are working class people from Texas and the South. Big D was a long haul trucker before he came to Iraq. When he started with KBR, he drove an 18 wheeler running convoys from Baghdad to Kuwait. A year and a half ago he scored a job with us. Now he drives people around in the armored suburban sitting behind him. I'm not sure why he's got an armored vehicle, he never has to go outside the wire any more.

His politics and his rebel flag sunglasses aside, Big D is a lovable guy. He sometimes reminds me of the Lion from the Wizard of Oz actually. Except the Lion didn't have a bald eagle tattooed on his forearm and a gold flake painted Peter Built truck with 9/11 murals on three sides. Badass!

Drinking the Tigris: Full Access???

I've been interested in taking pictures outside our compound for a while but assumed because of the security environment it would be impossible. A couple weeks ago I talked with an Air Force officer, and fifteen minutes later I had a letter that gave me authorization to take pictures of anything and everything excluding two sensitive areas. I couldn't believe it. The sergeant that issued the letter talked about how they want transparency and people back in the States to know what's happening here. Given the new obsession with security back in the U.S. and all the stories about people being busted for taking pictures of buildings and train stations, I think it might be more open here? What the hell is going on with us? These are a couple shots from a test roll. Hope to crank out some daytime stuff soon, pictures I could never take in the States. http://www.flickr.com/photos/cykuck/2543835291/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cykuck/2845752591/

Drinking the Tigris: Old Glory

I was perusing flickr the other day and came across my buddy JR's latest photos. http://www.flickr.com/photos/paintedland/2446656346/

This one caught me off guard. From his notes:

"This is the massive face of the BP Hydrogen Refinery in Long Beach. It faces the 405 freeway; several thousand people see it every day on their way to and from work. It's a pretty provocative image made more so with each passing day. While I was shooting the plant, well within my rights, a security guard zipped up in his company truck and demanded I stop taking photos. He asked me to return to my car where I would meet him. By blowing through a red light, he beat me back to my car, which he had blocked in with his truck (it was the only car in a vacant lot on a Sunday afternoon). He wouldn't allow me to leave until I had given him my name, phone number, street address, place of business, and "reason" for being there. He claimed that "since 9/11, you can't shoot anything you want," and that I would need to check with the local police in order to find out what I was allowed to shoot. Unfortunately, this kind of misinformation about photographers' rights in the post 9/11 America is becoming more and more common. I eventually gave up trying to explain my rights as he seemed more intent on filling out his paperwork and keeping his job. It was a sad experience - his written english was very poor, and I ended up having to write the report for him. It's a hollow feeling to be forced to help someone take away your liberties; America in microcosm."

New Holga Shots

Holgas are the Russian tractor of the photography world. Its a 15 dollar plastic camera with a plastic lens that takes medium format film. They leak light, have no adjustments for aperture, focus or shutter speed and the viewfinder is completely inaccurate. But they can take some great pictures. After shooting nothing but digitals for years now, its fun to shoot real film and wait for the results. The shot in the Charles De Gaulle airport is hands down the most popular picture I've ever taken. It's getting me more love and affection on flickr than I've ever gotten. Almost didn't take it cause I was afraid of airport security. http://www.flickr.com/photos/cykuck/2385954338/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cykuck/2385118573/

Drinking the TIgris: Light Stencils

These are in camera effects, no photoshop. Been trying to figure out how to do exposures with a stencil and light. So instead of using a can of paint, you can use an LED or a flash to graffiti an object or place. Its challenging. I think to really do it well I need a second camera. Getting there. Marine John Jones

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cykuck/2176655085/