Flower shop in Santa Barbara, 2001

Mini Autobiography

The beginning:
I came after two other "woo roo jacks" (excited kids) into this world and somehow survived all the booby traps in shape of needles etc, in my bed. I was told that my nanny "Nane Piri e" (the old granny) could not take her eyes off me! Not because I was very handsome but because my older brother would play too many trick on me.� I bet it was more of a torture for her.

Tricks did not end there; when I was 4-5 years old my brother would trick me to trade my little mini-car toys with a gum or a candy. A fare sounding trade, except, it was not too long after finishing the candy that I would recognize I don't have the toy anymore or the candy! And according to the Mom's Supreme Court: "A trade is a trade; thou shall make up your mind before it is final".

As for my sister, it is enough to say that her room was totally off limits for me until she left home!

So the treasury of my brother got more prosperous with his and my toys forcing me to relying on Nature for amusement and made friend with ants and pigeons! I loved hot summer afternoons when parents were asleep and I could snick out to the garden and play with ants, send them to sail on a matchbox on our small pool or make them fight!

So I survived a couple of more years to go to school, where I had to fast forward my first and second grade because of the revolution in Iran. (That my have something to do with my underprivileged Farsi!) Since the age of 11 my friends and classmate kept telling me "You were not born for here, where the heck are you from?!" After finishing high school, and about 3 years of military service, I left the country of "gol o bol bol" (flower and nightingale) to find my fate, and to venture my destiny I went on a journey that continues to this day.

Stay tuned for some more stories...

My nostalgia

This spot brings me a nostalgic moment, but not in a dark way.
I was so captivated by … everything… there in Venice that every few steps Chakameh had to tell me “look out, don’t fall in the canals.
To deal with my own nostalgia I post this.
A.
Venice 2004.

Ferris Whell

You are looking off from top of Vienna's Giant Ferris whell.
2004

Me and Photography....

I fell in love with photography when my dad brought two Canon cameras from his trip to the US. in 1983. A Canon AL1 and an AE1.Since then I have had two AE1s and one more AL1 which they all died of common chronic Electronic shortage syndrome and shutter luck-up…
My last 35mm camera was/is a Minolta I7000 that I own to this day. It is a great camera but I don’t get to use it as often! Can’t handle the weight!
Recently I use a small Sony 5.1Mp rangefinder.
During years of traveling and taking snapshots I have accumulated some interesting shots that I am going to share with you in this site.
Enjoy.

Innsbruk

Innsbruk, Austria

Central Coast

Nothing special, just a little rainbow as it happens frequently here in central coast.

This cat was called "Pishi" !!!

No wonder!

Sanctuary

Monarch butterfly sanctuary

Carpinteria...

Feb 2006, Carpinteria CA.

Few days...

After few days of delay, I present you with Salzburg!

Tahoe in B&W

Lake Tahoe CA.
2003

Courtyard

A Venetian courtyard 2004-5

La Boheme...

First I need to thank "My CAT" for linking my Blog in her site :0)
She has very nice poems in her own site, that enticed me to tell you about one of my favorite songs by Charles Aznavour today.
If you have an opportunity, look him up and listen to his fantastic voice. He has numerous albums from 50s to 2000 full of romantic and nostalgic masterpieces of French music. I would call him Frank Sinatra of France or even more...
Here are the lyrics of a song by Aznavour called, LA BOHÈME.
Enjoy,



LA BOHÈME,(Charles Aznavour / Jacques Plante)

Je vous parle d’un temps
Que les moins de vingt ans
Ne peuvent pas connaître
Montmartre en ce temps-là
Accrochait ces lilas
Jusque sous nos fenêtres
Et si l'humble garni
Qui nous servait de nid
Ne payait pas de mine
C’est là qu’on s’est connu
Moi qui criait famine
Et toi qui posais nue

La bohème (2x)
Ca voulait dire on est heureux
La bohème (2x)
Nous ne mangions qu’un jour sur deux

Dans les cafés voisins
Nous étions quelques-uns
Qui attendions la gloire
Et bien que miséreux
Avec le ventre creux
Nous ne cessions d’y croire
Et quand quelque bistro
Contre un bon repas chaud
Nous prenait une toile
Nous récitions des vers
Groupés autour du poêle
En oubliant l’hiver

La bohème (2x)
Ca voulait dire tu es jolie
La bohème (2x)
Et nous avions tous du génie

Souvent il m’arrivait
Devant mon chevalet
De passer des nuits blanches
Retouchant le dessin
De la ligne d’un sein
Du galbe d’une hanche
Et ce n’est qu’au matin
Qu’on s’assayait enfin
Devant un café crème
Epuisés mais ravis
Fallait-il que l'on s'aime
Et qu'on aime la vie

La bohème (2x)
Ca voulait dire on a vingt ans
La bohème (2x)
Et nous vivions de l'air du temps

Quand au hasard des jours
Je m'en vais faire un tour
A mon acienne adresse
Je ne reconnais plus
Ni les murs, ni les rues
Qui ont vu ma jeunesse
En haut d'un escalier
Je cherche l'atelier
Dont plus rien ne subsiste
Dans son nouveau décor
Montmartre semble triste
Et les lilas sont morts

La bohème (2x)
On était jeunes, on était fous
La bohème (2x)
Ca ne veut dire plus rien du tout

Blue Sky

Viennese Blue sky, expresses my moods.

!

It is unsettling to see how fragile peace of mind is!

Mother Nature colors...

This is one of my favorites. You see exactly what I and everybody else saw on that evening at the Santa Barbara Wharf. Taken with a 50mm/1.8 lens, no filters, untainted and simple. The way Mother Nature expressed it.
Enjoy.
A

Charm

...
Original photo is in colors but since I am a B&W fan I converted it using my Macs “iphoto”, no other manipulation.
It has lost of charm… Enjoy.
Vienna, Austria 2004

Hearst

To reminisce driving on the Pacific Coast Hwy and a weekend in San Simeon.

Hearst Castle, "Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument",
Central Coast CA.

Boston.

CAT and I were talking about Boston today.
Reminded me of my last trip there in Winter of 1994.
This is to my wife, who loves that City.