posted by John Wreford at 5:35 AM
Saturday, March 10, 2007
About Me
- Name: John Wreford
- Location: Damascus, Syria
John Wreford is a freelance photographer currently living in Damascus Syria. The images on the Our Man in Damascus blog are a random selection of pictures taken on various commissions around Syria, I will leave the comments upto you.
Previous Posts
10 Comments:
It's a Rave Party...
I know you said you leave the comments for us, but what is that? just to know on what should I comment. is it a picture from your idea, where you gathered those men in the souq? or is it some kind of festival or some other cultural gathering in Syria, I would like to know, please...
Now I know what it is because I came across another site with your photos ... well done of course
hello well I am Syrian but I have not the slightest idea what this is..I suspect these people are Soufis in which case this is pretty muh a rave party..they are dancing to attain trance..good luck
cool thanks anonymous. I was joking of course in my first comment, but then when I found out that it is the soufis and your comment certainly sorts the rest out. ta
They are not Sufis, they are Shia pilgrims celebrating the fortieth day after Ashura.
ok, got that. Very interesting anyway. New topic for me to check out. learning learning learning!
are they syrian..some of them look more asian than typical syrians
anonymous at 12:20 PM was correct. They are Shiites and are celebrating the day of Ahura. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashurah
It mainly involves self-flaglation by some mean. In Iraq, it turns bloody (to oneself by knives or other objects). In Syria, it usually involves chest striking with their fists or using metal chains. Often, there is a significant number of Iranians who would travel on the day of Ashura to Syria for pilgrimage and to participate in the, ...well, i don't know, festivities i guess.
BTW, I love your pictures John.
OMG!
I left syria 5 years ago, never in my life would I think we would have such STRANGE things in the open, I totally respect freedom of belief, they can do what ever they feel obliged to do, but this.... is Disgusting.
Post a Comment
<< Home