Esfahan, Iran. December 15 - 17, 2002

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Sheikh Lotfolla Mosque, Emam Khomeini Square, Esfahan
a5633_70.jpg		 The magnificent Emem Khomeini Square, Esfahan
a5483_33.jpg		 The magnificent Emem Khomeini Square, Esfahan
a5605_17.jpg		 Amalia and Wade pose in front of a column that looks very much like a ..., Emam Khomeini Square, Esfahan.
a5451_73.jpg		 The honeycomb shaped facade atop the entrance portal. Emam Mosque, Esfahan.
a5375_70.jpg		 Facade, Emam Mosque, Esfahan
a5381_200.jpg		 One of the minarets of the Emam Mosque, Esfahan. Notice the hand figure at the very top.
a5430_200.jpg		 Looking toward the inner courtyard from a hallway, Emam Mosque, Esfahan
a5392_24.jpg		 Facade, Emam Mosque, Esfahan
a5400_163.jpg		 Emam Mosque, Esfahan
a5402_70.jpg		 Emam Mosque, Esfahan
a5407_17.jpg		 Thanks to the huge effort by the Cultural Heritage Organization, the government body responsible for restoring and maintaining historic buildings, we get to see so many magnificent mosques and monuments today, all in very good shape.
a5433_94.jpg		 Another restoration Underway, Esfahan
a5640_81.jpg		 Tiles of different colors are cut into shape and glued together, a painstaking process.
a5413_35.jpg		 Ali Qapu Palace, Esfahan
a5468_70.jpg		 Ali Qapu Palace, Esfahan
a5470_70.jpg		 The plaster ceiling of the music room, Ali Qapu Palace, Esfahan
a5500_17.jpg		 Ceiling, Ali Qapu Palace, Esfahan
a5503_17.jpg		 The music room, Ali Qapu Palace, Esfahan
a5509_24.jpg		 Is this the Chehel Sotun Palace? I don't remember. Email me if you know the answer. Picture was taken from the terrace of the Ali Qapu Palace.
a5498_35.jpg		 We visited a miniature gallery in the labyrinth Bazar-e Bozorg. The artist did a demo on a piece of camel bone no bigger than his thumb. This is a profession that requires good eyesight and steady hands. Coffee junkies need not apply.
a5526_50.jpg		 The artist gave me the demo as a souvenir.
a5530_50.jpg		 It takes a skilled artist about a week to complete a piece like this one.
a5523_50.jpg		 Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque, Esfahan
a5546_24.jpg		 Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque, Esfahan
a5554_35.jpg		 The interior of Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque is beautifully decorated. All I could say was WOW!
a5552_17.jpg		 Wish I had a wider lens for this shot. My 17-30mm lens plus the 1.6 multiplier on my D60 gives me 27.2mm at the wide end, which is not enough to get the entire dome in the frame. Like most of the mosque we visited, the lighting inside is very poor, probably to preserve the beautiful tilework. An Iranian student kindly let me use his tripod for a couple of shots. Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque, Esfahan.
a5559_17.jpg		 Again, I wish I had a wider lens. Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque, Esfahan.
a5560_20.jpg		 The doorway of Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque, Esfahan.
a5562_26.jpg		 Bazar-e Bozorg, part of the Emam Khomeini Square complex.
a5564_22.jpg		 Most of the copper items you see here were made on-site. Bazar-e Bozorg.
a5567_50.jpg		 Huge tea pot?? Email me if you know what it is.
a5569_50.jpg		 Assorted household items. Bazar-e Bozorg.
a5581_50.jpg		 A huge plate, about 1.2 meters (or 4 feet for the metrically challenged) in diameter. Wade bought a smaller version of this plate for $5.
a5586_50.jpg		 A coppersmith in dress shoes puts the finishing touches on a... cooking pot? bath tub? Anyway, it looks very cool.
a5589_50.jpg		 Artsy items for sale.
a5522_50.jpg		 I think these are called Shisha in Arabic, but Wade calls them Hukka pipes, and that's we said when we ordered one (to smoke, not to take home) at a teahouse. People had no problem understanding us at all. They make a great present for all your pot-smoking, long-haired, hippie friends.
a5521_50.jpg		 Embroidery items with designs depicting Persepolis.
a5516_70.jpg		 At a carpet shop, the dealer spent 30 minutes explaining to us different knots (Farsi baf, Turki baf), density of knots, design, material, and dye process(chemical or natural). Now I can look at a roomfull of beautiful carpets and understand why they are all so damn expensive.
a5653_50.jpg		 Another carpet I can never afford to buy. This one is made of silk.
a5648_50.jpg		 I call it the magic carpet because the colors change under different lighting. Absolutely beautiful.
a5655_50.jpg		 Masjeed Jameh is the largest mosque complex in Iran. It consists of numerous structures built between the 11th and the 18th century. Wade got food poisoning that day and was resting at the hotel. Amalia and I took a bus to Masjeed Jameh (literally Mosque Friday).
a5681_24.jpg		 Two women exiting the prayer room. Masjeed Jameh, Esfahan.
a5685_85.jpg		 Room of Sultan Uljaitu (a 14th-century Shiite convert). The mihrab is decorated with dense inscriptions from Quran. It was so dark inside that I could barely see the details with my eyes. Flash is not allowed inside mosques, besides it's useless anyway because the subject is too far away. A 50mm lens comes in handy in situations like this. The picture was taken at ISO 400, f/1.8, 1/30sec hand held. Now try that with a point and shoot camera!
a5692_50.jpg		 Room of Sultan Uljaitu, Masjeed Jameh.
a5695_50.jpg		 This part of the mosque, I forgot the name, was built during the Mongol peoriod. Notice how the color and shape resembles the interior of a yurt. A women is just finishing up her prayer. Non-Muslims are rarely allowed in a working mosque. Dress conservatively and be nice, and you might just get lucky if the doorkeeper is in a good mood that day. I did ask permission before I took this shot. Flash is definitely a no-no when someone is praying.
a5697_50.jpg		 This dome, built during the Seljuk period (11th century), is the oldest part of the building. The structure seems to be made up of loose bricks stacked on top of each other and if you were to pull one brick out, the whole thing might just collapse. It has stood for over 900 years, so it must be sturdier than it looks.
a5711_50.jpg		 Fabric store that sells chadoree - material for chadors, among other things. Esfahan.
a5666_24.jpg		 Scarf shop. Esfahan
a5668_24.jpg		 People relaxing by the Zayandeh River on a sunny afternoon.
a5713_85.jpg		 Wade and I both brought our laptops with us. At the famous teahouse by the Si-o-Seh Bridge, we "worked hard" on Felix - code name for our current software project, under the influence of Hukka.
FelixInProgress.tif

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