#somethingaround

[letsbalbalawi-blog]

Something Around: An abandoned gas station - part 1

In February 9, 2014, the Ministry of of Municipal and Rural Affairs issued a ministerial decision giving gas stations’s owners a period of two years to renovate their properties and adapt to standards. The other option was to assign one of given third-party companies to do that and operate those gas stations. In 2016, several old gas stations were closed and abandoned. Here is a story of one of them.

[letsbalbalawi-blog]

Something Around: An abandoned gas station - part 2

In February 9, 2014, the Ministry of of Municipal and Rural Affairs issued a ministerial decision giving gas stations’s owners a period of two years to renovate their properties and adapt to standards. The other option was to assign one of given third-party companies to do that and operate those gas stations. In 2016, several old gas stations were closed and abandoned. Here is a story of one of them.

[letsbalbalawi-blog]

Something Around: “My Vision” Photography exhibition

I went to Qatif to the group exhibition called “My Vision” in its second edition. I was impressed by the quality of works and the storytelling aspects of the different projects shown in the exhibition. There was also a talk done by Ali Al Sumayin, titled “a Journey within the Soul” in which he shared his personal experiance in photography shifting from Film to Digital and then going back to only Film photography. Ali stressed on the urgency to overlook the reasons we are photographing. He talked about the “photographer selfishness” that leaded him to care more about the process he enjoys in photography rather than the others aspects of it such as the sharing and copying others. I am happy to see a fine-art show full of stories from around the world by Saudi Arabian photographers. I did several interviews with the participants to put it in the next episode of Dhaw Podcast. The exhibition is open since April 14th at Social Development Center at Qatif. There will be more talks everyday until April 20.

[letsbalbalawi-blog]

Something Around: “DO YOU TRUST ME?”

I am honored to participate in the “DO YOU TRUST ME?” art exhibition, curated and designed by Shaikh Ebrahim Center and  the Goethe-Institut Gulf Region. It is pleasant to be part of the show with 12 talented artists who presented their projects questioning themselves about the credibility of photos, giving the audience the opportunity to do the same. The exhibition will be open at Bin Matar House until the 15th of May.

More photos are on the Instagram slideshows:

A post shared by Bader Awwad (@balbalawi) on Apr 10, 2017 at 4:26am PDT

A post shared by Bader Awwad (@balbalawi) on Apr 10, 2017 at 9:19am PDT

[letsbalbalawi-blog]

Something Around: the old building of North Khobar

I always find the north khobar fascinating; its daily activities, the outdoor shopping areas, and the old buildings scattered around the map. I started here with this very old famous building hopping that, in the near future, I add more to this series and go closer to the people around.

[letsbalbalawi-blog]

Something Around: A glimpse of Abha

In a business trip to Asir, at Abha in particular, and before heading back to the airport, I passed by AlFara’ and took some photos. This short trip showed me how generous Abha is in its beautiful scenes and weather as I was able to see its sun, clouds, rain, and fog, in just few hours.

Penetrating the heavy fog, I came across the mountainous villages of tribal territories famous of farming including “Al Yazeed” and “Assarhaniyah”.

Speaking about the area, the driver said “agriculture has changed here; the orange taste is not like before, even the other corps are not as they used to be, it’s because of people’s envy.”

“Perhaps it’s because the life style has changed, or the people are not interested anymore in farming as before, or it may be the effect of urbanization on soil and the area” I replied.

“No, nothing of those, it’s the Envy” He insisted.

Location: Abha, Asir Time: April, 2016