Outside the photograph

English translation

Rami arrived in the old city with a list on his phone of places he wanted to photograph. He had seen so many pictures that he felt he knew the route before walking it. He stood by the famous arch, waited until the space was clear of people, and took exactly the photograph he had imagined.

A few minutes later, he entered a side alley looking for another angle. There he found a woman opening her shop, a man lifting boxes of vegetables, and two children arguing over a ball. The place did not resemble the quiet pictures he remembered, but it felt more alive.

He bought bread from a small shop and asked the seller about the building opposite. The seller explained that it had been a school and that his mother had studied there before it became offices. The conversation moved on to changes in the neighbourhood and houses whose residents had left. Rami had not planned this conversation and took no photographs during it.

That evening, he chose photographs to send to his friends. The arch photograph was beautiful, but reminded him of little beyond a moment spent waiting. The bread and the seller’s conversation, however, remained vivid despite their absence from the screen. He did not stop taking photographs, but began questioning whether the best visit was the one that produced the loveliest images. Perhaps a deeper visit allows a place to change your story about it, instead of forcing it to match a story you brought with you.