Sulaimania, Iraq. April, 2010. There is no place in Suli that pulses with the spirit of the city more than the baazar. The streets are brimming with hawkers selling their pomegranates, Chinese knock-offs and nuts. Wrinkly, wise old men wobble to and fro in their Kurdish clothes of earth-tones baggy pants, enormous cumberbunds and salt and pepper head-wraps.
Strolling through the bazaar is never boring for me. There are endless nooks and crannies to unearth. I always run into something new if I wander aimlessly for a spell. This photo was taken near the bird bridge, where you can find dozens of caged white doves. And bunnies. Tiny baby bunnies. Just past this electronics shop is the money changers turf. Six or seven men on the street stand with HUGE wads of dough in their hands. 1000s of American dollars and 100,000s of thousands of Iraqi dinars, ready to be stripped from the wad. They’re efficient, honest and loaded.
I took this photo in the electronics section of the bazaar. I was walking past various shops with tripods and data-drives when I saw this desk with dozens of gutted cameras strewn all over. I made friendly with the repairman and he gestured that it was fine if I took a few photos. I love how the man’s hand is centered in the top bar of the photo. It adds a sense of humanity to the spare parts and, at least for me, it gets me thinking about how on earth this man could possibly repair any of this stuff.
