| CARVIEW |
Words and Pictures from the Middle East
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Book of the Month
Perhaps it was a decade of living under a dictatorship — and I am generously forgetting the Thatcher years here — that has developed into a fascination with dictators.What lures the mind into the filthy dark corners of history and failed humanity, who can say? But that’s where I seem to have found myself. As…
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Stalin’s Toilet
The first time I met Stalin was in an industrial estate outside Ulm in southern Germany. It was a grim day of drizzle and I was on a bicycle; his stone-grey eyes were peering over a hedge that separated the road from a car park. I continued on my way somewhat confused, but curiosity being…
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Book of the Month
Danube by Claudio Magris. Before embarking on my epic 4,000 km cycle ride across the length of Europe last year—one of the least ridiculous things I’ve done in recent years, by the way—I took the time to read several books that I hoped would enlighten my path (and not in a spiritual way, you understand).…
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The Photo I Shouldn’t Have Taken.
It was an instinctive photographer’s reaction, and almost immediately I regretted it. I didn’t look at the digital image on the LCD screen and knew I would probably delete it when I did. With some kind of subconscious auto-tuning, my eyes will flit, focus, and settle on whatever detail catches my innate artistic frame. I…
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A Tale of Two Presidents
Sitting on the comfy sofa of the Damascus Four Seasons, just behind the shiny grand piano, the lobby busy with the usual mix of spy novel clichés, white robes and cheap leather jackets, I had arrived much too early. A typical twinge of anxiety tickling my tummy, I had been here dozens of times, and…
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Mugged by Serbian Puppies
My neurotransmitters were in overdrive, endorphins swelling the already flooded pools of dopamine in my system. I was high as a kite; I was off my tits, hurtling along in a state of utter euphoria, and all because of the beaver. I actually yelled “beaver,” the excitement getting the better of me.I had wanted to…
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From the River Thames to the Golden Horn.
Dear Friends, A temporary post on some breaking news In the spirit of adventure and new challenges, at the beginning of September, I will embark on a foolhardy journey across Europe on a bicycle. Cycling is easy; I’ve heard it said it’s like riding a bike. I have ridden a bike before—quite a lot, actually—but…
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Just When I Thought I Was Out, They Pull Me Back In
City of Roses, the sign announced in French; it was the end of the line. I clambered over the tracks and walked through a busy street market selling second-hand clothes, the vendors shouting the prices, and a gaggle of women rummaging through the brightly coloured garments. The streets were broken, potholed, and dusty. I passed…
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Book of the Month
We do not really know what draws a human being out into the world. Is it curiosity? A hunger for experience? An addiction to wonderment?
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John Wreford Photographer 