• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About
  • Baseball ’19
  • Day Zero 3
  • Earl
  • My list
  • Photo Blogging Challenge

A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

kuwait

Holga Challenge – Your Town: Kuwait City, Kuwait

July 12, 2012

This is what your regular Kuwaiti suburb looks like. I pass by this street every day on my way to uni. I’d normally hate it, except for the fact that both of my grandparents’ houses are across this street. I could always make a stop there if I didn’t feel like going to class. They don’t mind!

Note: This is the fifth in a series of six stories that are being done by participants of the HooHaa Holga Challenge. The rest will run through Friday. See information for the rest at the bottom of this post.

By Nada AlMarshad

My love for medium format photography began when I purchased my Holga back in early 2009.

I didn’t know much about film photography back then, and getting a toy camera felt right at the time. I instantly fell in love with this camera the minute I held it in my hands, and grew to appreciate it even more since then.

Each Tuesday, our local supermarket has sales on the fruit and vegetables section. Finding a parking spot on a Monday morning is almost always impossible. According to mom, either you go very early in the morning, or don’t bother going at all.

All of my favorite photos that I have taken over the years had one thing in common — they were taken with a Holga! The nature of this camera gave me room to experiment with film and techniques without being afraid to ruin it.

I used to be an avid photographer, always trying different styles of photography until I found the ones that suited me best. That was until I started university in late 2009.

I enrolled in Kuwait University’s civil engineering program, a very demanding major that requires a lot of hard work and dedication (even sleepless nights at times!) School took most, if not all, of my time.

Two years went by and I felt like I wasn’t improving as a photographer. I started to lose interest in photography all together, until the end of 2011. I read a quote by Henri Cartier-Bresson (my hero!) and it stuck with me forever.

Sharq seafront promenade. A cool place to chill and read a book (but definitely not in the summer, unless you fancy a sunburn!) For some reason, I always find myself coming to this place whenever I get a new camera and want to shoot a test roll. I shot my first Holga film at location three years ago.

He said, “Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.”

It all made sense to me.

I made it my goal to challenge myself as a photographer this year, and take whatever opportunity presented to me to try something new, and just keep taking pictures. Naturally, this challenge was perfect to me. Another reason I decided to do this challenge is to re-discover the beauty of my own town, something that I desperately needed in the midst of the political chaos my country is going through.

I’m mostly used to taking photos when I’m abroad, since it’s easier to snap pictures of people when you’re a tourist. Carrying my Holga with me wherever I go and taking it out whenever I see something interesting and worth capturing was a challenge by itself, since people here are a tiny bit sensitive about having their pictures taken by a complete stranger, which I totally understand.

A very popular fishing spot. These kids were very camera shy at first, but after I talked to them, they didn’t mind me taking pictures. The building in the background is a huge fish market.

Another one of the difficulties was using 400ISO film. I usually work with either 100, 160, or 200 ISO film. Fast films (+400 ISO) will always result in overly-exposed frames, since it’s almost always sunny outside.

Now, back to my home town.

Kuwait City is the heart of this country. All together, Kuwait is roughly about the size of the state of New Jersey — 17,820 km to be precise.

Kuwait City occupies about 200 km of the area. That’s about 1.12% of the country, so you can imagine how tiny it is!

More fishing.

From the famous Kuwait Towers, to the Seif Palace, to theNational Museum, to the tallest sculpted tower in the world (Al Hamra Tower, that is), Kuwait City is home to most of the country’s landmarks.

What I love most about Kuwait City is the mix of the old and the new, which is greatly reflected in the architecture.

You have high-rise buildings at one side of the city, and the old souks at the other, and somehow the two blend so well together.

I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them, even though I know they won’t do this beautiful city any justice.

More images from Nada’s challenge are below:

The Kuwaiti parliament, or as they call it, Majlis AlUmmah (House of the Nation). I absolutely love the exterior of this building (not so much a fan of what’s going *inside* though). Anyway, the building was designed by the great Danish architect ?Jørn Utzon? sometime in the 70’s. (Same guy who did the Sydney House of Opera. Awesome, isn’t?)

Since the temperature can reach up to 52C during the summer, it’s very common to see ice cream vendors roaming the streets. (And if you happen to catch one, always go for Barrid Lulu! Best ice-cream .150 fils could buy)

One of the alleys of Souq AlMubarkeya. Kuwait’s oldest, and largest traditional market. You can find pretty much everything at reasonable price there if you are good at bargaining. Beside the shops, the souk includes a fish market, farmers markets for fresh fruits and vegetables, and a gold market. Interesting combination, I know. Also, if you happen to be a street photographer, this place is excellent for you.

Dalag Suhail, a restaurant in Souk AlMubarkeya, where they specialize in serving traditional dishes. It’s usually packed during the winter, when they serve the tea kettle on a coal plate.

Restaurants in Souq Almubarkeya.

The front of a Bisht* store. The sign on the left reads “Worn by the grandparents. Inherited by the grandchildren. Made from the finest wool.” (*Bisht: a traditional Arabic men’s cloak popular in Arabia and some Arab countries. Mainly worn for special occasions.)

Marina Mall, the second largest shopping mall in Kuwait. Between all the shopping malls in Kuwait City (not complaining since I’m a bit of a shopaholic), this, by far, id the quietest.

See  more of Nada on the web:

  • Blog
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • Shoot-Film (contributing writer)

HooHaa Holga Challenge:

  • Day 1: Totness, England
  • Day 2: Waco, Texas
  • Day 3: Geneva, Switzerland
  • Day 4: Seattle, Washington

Day six of the HooHaa Holga Challenge is Thursday, with P.J. and Delhi, N.Y.

Filed Under: blogging, Cameras, challenges, Guest Post, HooHaa Holga Challenge, My world, Photography Tagged With: film, film photography, holga, holga camera, holga challenge, holga film, hoohaa holga challenge, kuwait, kuwait city, kuwait city kuwait

7 Comments

Primary Sidebar

Welcome

Welcome to A 'lil HooHaa!

This is a personal website covering many topics! We host a monthly photo blogging challenge, and then every January hold a fun writing challenge.

Thank you for stopping by and hope this becomes a stop for you!

Connect

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Follow

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 873 other subscribers

Instagram

hoohaa29

Writer who loves images just as much as words! In search of perfectly poured pints of Guinness and great hot dogs. Find me on twitter @softball29.

I guess the April Fool's joke is on us, Mother Nat I guess the April Fool's joke is on us, Mother Nature? Oh .. ha ha ha.
.
I also guess this is why hitting back roads to work is good -- you can stop and take a photo and not worry about anybody coming (usually)! Main roads around here are fine for now, but it's definitely quite picturesque on the lawns/trees etc.
.
.
.
.
#snow #winterspring #springwinter #april #blackandwhite #photography #photooftheday #goawaywinter #love #instagood #picoftheday #bestoftheday #nature #backroad #road
This was pretty relaxing and fun. #lego #legos #ea This was pretty relaxing and fun. #lego #legos #easter #legoeasterbunny #legoeaster #relax #hobby #fun
It shouldn’t be so hard to find a trash can... # It shouldn’t be so hard to find a trash can... #litter #mask #masks #blackandwhite #streetphotography
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Twitter

P.J.Follow

P.J.
softball29P.J.@softball29·
11 Apr

I mean, if you hold a #Wrestlemania in an open stadium... eventually rain delays had to come, right? 🤣

Reply on Twitter 1381040433145466883Retweet on Twitter 1381040433145466883Like on Twitter 13810404331454668832Twitter 1381040433145466883
Retweet on TwitterP.J. Retweeted
RealKentMurphyKent@RealKentMurphy·
7 Apr

28 years ago The Sandlot was released and this iconic scene was brought into our lives.

Reply on Twitter 1379783846355427329Retweet on Twitter 13797838463554273292980Like on Twitter 137978384635542732912015Twitter 1379783846355427329
softball29P.J.@softball29·
2 Apr

New blog post: Photo Blogging Challenge (March 2021): Eight #photobloggingchallenge #pbc #challenge #blogging https://hoohaa.com/?p=15201

Reply on Twitter 1378065662346682371Retweet on Twitter 1378065662346682371Like on Twitter 1378065662346682371Twitter 1378065662346682371
Load More...

Archives

Categories

Calendar

April 2021
S M T W T F S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
252627282930  
« Mar    

Search The Site

Site Information

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

A 'lil HooHaa © 2021 · Created By Coded Creative

Copyright © 2021 · Ava Mae on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in