Wandering through the Old Souk
Sirine E.
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Wandering through the old souk (outdoor marketplace) while visiting my family in Tunis this summer, I was struck by how old it felt. Standing outside of what used to be the house of the bey (Turkish governor), I was surrounded by French and Arabic signs, a relic of colonial history. It was a holiday—Eid el Kebir—so instead of being filled with the usual hustle and bustle, the souk was quiet, making the scene feel like it could have been from today or from 1950. I wanted to capture this timelessness and intermingling of the present and past. When I saw an old man strolling past, I knew it was the perfect shot. Elders are very important in Tunisian culture, and I wanted to emphasize their significance. I put my photograph in black and white to fully capture the calmness and the timelessness of the moment.
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Creativity is the ability to look beyond the surface and find beauty and meaning in the mundane, then capturing that in art as a means of sharing it with others. It is a skill one develops by being cognizant of small things and seeking out emotion in the ordinary.