Gone a Long Way Through History Photo

Photographer’s Note

The Grand Mosque of Damascus', also known as the Ummayad Mosque (Arabic: جامع بني أمية الكبير, transl. Ğām' Banī 'Umayyah al-Kabīr), is one of the largest and oldest mosques in the world. Located in one of the holiest sites in the old city of Damascus, it is of great architectural importance.

The mosque holds a shrine which is said to contain the head of John the Baptist (Yahya), honored as a prophet by Muslims and Christians alike. The head was supposedly found during the excavations for the building of the mosque. The mosque also holds an important Shi'ite shrine, containing the head of Hussein, grandchild of the Prophet. This shrine is located at the far (eastern) end of the courtyard from the main entrance, and is visited by many Shi'ite pilgrims, especially from Iraq. The tomb of Saladin stands in a small garden adjoining the north wall of the mosque.

In 2001 Pope John Paul II visited the mosque, primarily to visit the relics of John the Baptist. It was the first time a pope paid a visit to a mosque.

The spot where the mosque now stands was a temple of Hadad in the Aramaean era. The Aramaean presence was attested by the discovery of a basalt orthostat depicting a sphinx, excavated in the north-east corner of mosque. The site was later temple of Jupiter in the Roman era, then a Christian church dedicated to John the Baptist in the Byzantine era.

Initially, the Muslim conquest of Damascus in 636 did not affect the church, as the building was shared by Muslim and Christian worshipers. It remained a church although the Muslims built a mud brick structure against the southern wall so that they could pray. Under the Umayyad caliph Al-Walid I, however, the church was purchased from the Christians before being demolished. Between 706 and 715 the current mosque was built in its place. According to the legend, Al-Walid himself initiated the demolition by driving a golden spike into the church. At that point in time, Damascus was one of the most important cities in the Middle East and would later become the capital of the Umayyad caliphate.

isabela_sor, cemsultan, burGu, bostankorkulugu, patshoo, MarcT, delkoo, axiotea, grigand, osmarq, efi, Tezic, gokanlam, didemay, Gerrit, zeca, InasiaJones, riclopes, doubay, kdialyna, Vato_Law has marked this note useful

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isabela_sor (42054) 2008-06-11 10:19 [Comment]

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cemsultan (4604) 2008-06-11 10:36

Merhabalar
Gerçekten müthiş bir kare yakalamışsınız
Derinliği netliği figürü ve kompozisyonuyla enfes bir fotograf

Ellerinize sağlık
FATİH

burGu (4536) 2008-06-11 10:43

Var ya... Ben bu fotografa acayip vuruldum.
Caminin gercekten de muazzam, sadece buyuk olusuyla degil dekoruyla da. Camlarin renkleri ve sekilleri harika. Senin S&B gudulerini bile nakavt edecek kadar canli.
Bakis acin derinlik-yukseklik, uc boyutta ne kadar boyut varsa hepsini, hissettiriyor. Simdi oturup ben sana "Aferin cooooocugum" demek gibi bir saygisizlik yapmayacagim tabi, ama cidden cok begendim. Uzakta gozuken insanlar gercek boyut adina fikir verirken, onundeki figur fikri alt ust ederek super otesi bir etki yapiyor.
Cok sahane cooook....

bostankorkulugu (33518) 2008-06-11 10:47

aynı kompozisyon istanbulda çekilmiş olsa ne hissederdim bilmiyorum ama şamda olunca nasıl da otantik ve estetik buldum... ikiyüzlü müyüm neyim...

patshoo (944) 2008-06-11 11:09

Impressive and emotional journalist style,strong subject in foreground made suddenly interesting point,Next area was a background that you made extreme sharpness to open all detail against simplicity of woman dress,In my opinion contrast of COLOR was major role in this photo,Black dress subject and red background are classic matching,Well prepare story.Outstanding work,TFS.

Leonidas2008 (0) 2008-06-11 11:25

Ela Diesel mou!
I like the way you have taken this one. And I like the red carpets of course.
A lovely photo.
Allow me to say, that looking through your gallery, you have done a big improvement and a real master is born. And what I like at most, that you have your own style.
Cheers Dieselettocim
Arslanidas

MarcT (21097) 2008-06-11 11:32

Hi Deniz,
That's an excellent picture. Your old lady stands there like a statue in the middle of the place. Good details on the windows too. Excellent note.
BW
Marc

bantonbuju (48540) 2008-06-11 11:49

man you don't even know how i envy you that you were in THAT mosque... read lots about this pearl of architecture and this is one of my top-priorities (and i have some ways how to enter the place as a "non-believer"...)
if not an israeli stamp in my pass i'd have been there two weeks ago...:-)))
-------
as for the image - a classical beauty, a professional way of showing the mood of the islamic temple...
love it (as most of the indoor mosques-shots)...
bw, j.

barrufeto_77 (25715) 2008-06-11 11:57

Merhaba Denniz.

Excellent view of inside the mosque. The sharpness and the colours are...wowwwwwwwww!

Rgs, Oscar

axiotea (16061) 2008-06-11 12:16

Hello Deniz
The repetitive colored arches together with the columns and patterns of the floor are creating a nice graphical impact. I like the positionment of the woman wearing the traditional chador which gives a good contrast and the perpective.
Selamlar
Marilyn

vincz (19039) 2008-06-11 12:40

Wow... great one with this long oblique and the woman at the beginning. Lots of depth, great low POV. Very well done.

faubry (32281) 2008-06-11 13:03

bonsoir Deniz,i like this red warm color, beautiful light, i like woman presence paasing by;
have a good evening
francine

grigand (12616) 2008-06-11 14:29

Hi Deniz,
I know this place, I like a lot the your style, with black woman.
ciao
andrea

Scharan (13951) 2008-06-11 16:26

Olá Deniz

Uma foto rica em pormenores; me chama a atenção as cores dos vitrais; ótima composição
um trabalho de qualidade. Parabéns.
GA
Vera

Polonaise (5634) 2008-06-11 18:20

BANG !!!
A mosque and czarna madonna !!!
The pope and prophet couldn't do it...
A guy from Istanbul - did !

A tremendous pleasure for me to drop by to your site upon seeing such cutie...
Technicalia...?
Sure...
The DOF to great to separate the themes, but...
Hey ! The total impression doesn't suck at all...
Juxtaposition ?
Love it ( if only for violating the rules of a thumb).
Love it ( if only to show the world your middle finger).
Love it (and I don't know what else to come up with ?)

Salute, Deniz...

george

efi (4347) 2008-06-11 21:51

gndn deniz;
sıra sıra son derece şık sütunlar lambalar ve vitraylı pencereler derinlik kazandırırken sıranın başı siyahlı sapsade hanımda işin esasını vurgulamış.tfs.

delkoo (34220) 2008-06-12 1:20

hi deniz
Beautifully crafted,just at the right time when the woman passing by, i like the solemnities of this place as well as the red carpets on the flor.

didier

Tezic (16927) 2008-06-12 3:07

bu foto ve yorum bana "the hadjii see the other hadjii at damascus" vecizesini hatırlatsada rölyeflerdeki renkler, perspektif ve hanımın kadrajdaki pozisyonu çok hoşuma gitti....

tehanu_f (6874) 2008-06-12 5:21

Super fotograf. (Korkut'a kalpten katiliyorum.) Yine de o halilara kil oluyorum, isterse antika olsunlar, kirmizi olsunlar, vs olsunlar farketmez. Pencerelerin dizilisi de cok guzel. Kadrajini iyi ayarlamissin.
Bu arada gecen gun yolladigim sitede gercekten super fotograflar var, hic bakabildin mi?

bwiti (402) 2008-06-12 7:23

Impressionnante celle-ci !
Je croyais qu'il s'agissait d'une mosquée d'Istanbul, étrangement celles de Syrie semblent vraiment y ressembler. J'imagine que tu as pris cette photo discrètement, en tout cas félicitation car elle est très judicieusement cadrée. Il y a une certaine inquiétude qui s'en dégage, probablement liée à ce long tchador noir.
J'aime beaucoup...

gokanlam (6427) 2008-06-12 9:20

Deniz o ne güzel bir cami öyle! demek en büyük ve en eski camilerden biri, belli zaten.. halıların kırmızılğına ve camların renkliliğine vuruldum ben, kadını az daha kaçırıyormuşsun zamanlaman harika.. arkadaki insanlar, özellikle çocuklar ne kadar küçük gözüküyor bu kocaman camide.. eline, hızına sağlık arkadaşım.. bol tebrikler..
ReLa

amazon (10599) 2008-06-12 11:37

kadinin durusu,sutunlarin devamliligi ve kadrajdaki konumu ,cerceve ve vitraylarin rengi cok basarili...camiinin ihtisamini cok iyi yansitmissin,
ellerine saglik,
iffet

didemay (2431) 2008-06-12 12:19

Merhaba,
Muthisss bir kompozisyon...sanki el ile cizilmis ve saga yerlestirilmis bir kadin ayrica kucucuk bir araliktan yuz ifadesini gorebildigimiz bir kadin, renkli camlar, sol ustte avize, zemin. Elinize saglik.

Gerrit (35595) 2008-06-13 8:28

Hi Deniz,
beautiful picture, well composed and in great colours. Fine Job,
Regards, gerrit

zeca (20026) 2008-06-13 13:09

Its a nice perspective of view from down, Deniz. You managed the lights very well, exposing each detail with good quality and nice colours. The composition is the best point, with the lady very well positioned. Well done!
Regards,
Zeca

savask (1803) 2008-06-14 4:15

I know this was a difficult shot, with no good light conditions and angle, but the result is beautiful and artistic

AyseGurel (542) 2008-06-14 16:27

merhabalar
yanlis anlasilmasin ama "kara carsafli" her fotografa karsi sanirim cok on yargiliyim.
tenik guzel kompozisyon guzel ama baska birsey fotograflansa olmuyor mu..
neyse cok konustum:~0
selamlar
ayse

InasiaJones (20038) 2008-06-14 22:38

Hi Deniz,

Good to see so many new good shots in your gallery, after I've been away from the site for a while...

This one is very compelling and mysterious from an occidental point of view. The old woman bear her faith ostentatiously probably since she's alive and this mosque is her second home, her shelter. So the relation with her and the location feel so intimately related that I feel like an intruder watching your image, having a glimpse to a world unknown. This photo is almost a privilege to observe, to study, trying to understand the power of faith and indoctrination of human spirit.

I wouldn't feel at ease to photograph this woman inside her temple and I appreciate your guts because this is no commonplace.

Technically, it's excellent, for the point of view, the repetition of the colonnades, the light management and the perspective.

Somehow, I feel very special about this photo. Personally.

Cheers!

André

setenay (7604) 2008-06-15 5:02

Merhaba Deniz,
Mimarisi,ferahlığı,boyutları,antik roma sütunları, geniş ahşap kapıları,vitrayları ile gerçekten göz kamaştırıyor.Çekim ve netlik her zamanki gibi mükemmel,karşı ışığa rağmmen vitrayların desen ve renkleri çok güzel görünüyor. Kadrajdaki yeri ve bu mekanda hoşgörülesi kıyafeti ile hanımın varlığıda kompozisyonu zenginleştirmiş.Tebrikler eline sağlık
setenay

Silvio1953 (41533) 2008-06-15 11:28

Merhaba Deniz, wonderful composition with splendid architecture and woman in black dress in FG, great perspective, very well done, have a good Sunday, ciao Silvio

rbcy1974 (20742) 2008-06-15 17:58

Wow
THis is magical, reminds me a bit of your Sanlurfa photo.
Where you on the floor to take this photo? I must really explore other phototaking positions in order to get such results.
The diagonal lines are excellent here;
Regards
Daniel
PS for Istanbul, Lets checkout some original neighborhoods (read not so touristy) but maybe pick some good points of view for the blue hour.

riclopes (32969) 2008-06-17 2:18

Isolation of a good human element: along with light and shadow this is the type of photos I like. Sometimes, even better than a good close-up portrait. Because of the context surrounding the person that gives us a story. Good low POV for this believer and nice perspective behind - a big UFO is going after her... ;-) The hand and face shinnes in all this dark. Beautiful presentation, Deniz.
ric

doubay (5023) 2008-06-17 4:02

She looks as if she knew what a pervert minded guy you are and therefore wanted to make off quickly

One more excellent interior shot from that head banging place.

PS: I have the impression that all mosques have the same carpets. Is this correct?

Bluejeans (32053) 2008-06-18 0:37

Ola Deniz,
Que foto de grande beleza esta senhora em primeiro plano ficou fantástica com as suas vestes de preto , gostei do ângulo de visão em diagonal deu bastante profundidade a foto , boas cores , bom controle de luz, parabéns!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

Glint (3040) 2008-06-18 23:03

hello Deniz,
Interesting posting. I like the colours, light and patterns. There is an interesting juxtaposition between these details and the black "blank screen" of the figure of the woman. Fortunately your handling of light means that we can see her face. This means that she is not a non person.
Bev

kdialyna (3068) 2008-06-19 10:54

What I like more is the placement of woman in the front right part of frame and not behind and left as the rules require.
I find it very creative while simultaneously it creates to me the curiosity for what she sees, something which would be not in effect if you had put her in the background of the picture.
Of course the very good, vivid colors and the sharpening, add a lot to the composition.
Kostas

Vato_Law (11660) 2008-07-13 12:18

Hello Deniz,
A good document you have here cleraly showing notonly the beauty and unique architecture of the mosque but also how life flows at those stops and how they keep their traditions on a world that doesn't its evolution.
I like the carefull way this woman holds her clothes tight next to her neck and the way she passes next to you without leaving you a single piece of a look, just like if you weren't there.
Cheers.
Paulo