Photographing the Shiite...

...pilgrims traveling to the city of Karbala to celebrate one of the holiest days in the Shiite calendar. In the middle of the summer is very hard as you can imagine. Besides all the danger of being recognized as a foreigner and thus kidnapped or shot, there is no point of taking photos in the middle of the day! The lights is very strong and harsh, burning the highlights and totally darkening the shadows. We went down to Abodisher area of Baghdad to find and talk to some pilgrims. Its basically two lane highway, one lane closed for the march. The pilgrims often travel great distances to get to Karbala. From Baghdad it takes them 2 days to get there. More from other cities further south.

Iraqi policeman directing traffic at an intersection and dances on the music coming from the cars. In the back, trucks with pilgrims going to Karbala.



Along the way, there are many stops in form of tents, where the pilgrims can take a break, eat, drink, or sleep. Its a dangerous journey, often targeted by suicide bombers. This year there were attacks daily. Usually its a car filled with explosives, motorcycles with bombs, even women with explosive strapped around their bodies.



After an hour on the ground, the sun went lower and the light became better. It was still hot as hell, and sweat was dripping from me, getting in my eyes while I was squinting trough the viewfinder. Last year I had the same problem, when sweat mixed with dust got in my eye and gave me an painful itch for several days. it was lot hotter last year. Although we are talking just a couple of degrees, you can actually feel the difference.



I use two cameras, one with 17-35 lens to it, and a 50 on the other. There is no changing lens once you are outside. The air is filled with sand that immediately gets on your sensor and cleaning is a nightmare. Sand storms are very frequent this year. Its like a fog, but different color. When the next one happens (any day now) I promise I'll get on high ground and take an areal shot of the area.

My next post will be about covering a bomb site. I also did a short embed with the US troops in Baghdad. I will post those images very soon.