(Learning how to catch the light in a photo is just one of the many very important lessons a camera addict can learn from watching Tyra, another is the power to “smize.” Also, I bet you can’t count the number of times that word is mentioned in this clip.)
Anyway, I came in and learned that the other interns, Nasreen & Samee, were being taught how to make their own video blogs. I tagged along with them since I am supposed to be making one at the end of my internship as well. Orlando, the multimedia guy who just arrived in Doha a few days ago, was teaching us the basics of how to set things up. As a final test, we had to disassemble and reassemble the video equipment within a reasonable amount of time, which we failed at miserably. But onward and forward we went anyway, the next step was to go “outside” to actually start shooting the video. Now when they were talking about shooting “outside” I thought they meant the parking lot or the area right outside the building, so my initial thoughts were: “Ugh… It’s gonna be so humid out but dagnabbit, I’m a trooper and I’m going out there!” So out we walked, until I realized that Samee was walking up to his car, and at that point I felt compelled to clarify what the plan was. Apparently, they wanted to film on a location that had an Arabic vibe to it, so we were going to Cultural Village, which is some distance away from the AMOMA office. No one actually knew how to get there, but we were familiar with the general area and decided to just figure it out when we got there. After circling around for a bit, we found out that it was closed to the public so we headed on to the Pearl, since it was only a few minutes away from Cultural Village.
(The Pearl Qatar, although I find it much more reminiscent of an amoeba rather than a pearl, but I get how The Amoeba would be hard to work with in terms of marketing.)
As we were driving through the Pearl, I remarked how I have always found it hard to appreciate the perfection of everything in it: the grass is too green, the exterior of the buildings are too clean, the luxury is too obvious, I feel like it tries too hard. I appreciate the simple and rustic beauty of the old forts and souks and I find it fake when they try to put a body of water where there isn’t supposed to be one, or land where there’s supposed to be water. To me, nature looks best when it’s left alone, or if a design works with it rather than fights against it.
Orlando, though, said something that added perspective. He pointed out that the pyramids and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon probably stuck out from the traditional architecture, environment, and culture, just as much as these new developments now are. I can imagine if I had lived during that time I probably would be shaking my head at it too and thinking about how distracting it was from the natural beauty around it and why oh why couldn’t they just leave nature alone. And yet, if the Hanging Gardens were still around now, visiting them would probably be at the top of my bucket list.
(Picture from Wikipedia: A 16th-century hand-colored engraving of the "Hanging Gardens of Babylon" by Dutch artist Martin Heemskerck, with the Tower of Babel in the background.)
So I guess my point is not that I should reserve judgment for a few decades before I form an opinion, but that every moment can be an opportunity to learn something new. Last Wednesday, I learned how to set up a video and fiddle with zebra stripes and ND filters, and I learned a new perspective on looking at modern designs.
I also learned that filming with professional looking video equipment is much more likely to get the guards to ask if you have permission to shoot videos, after which we were very politely asked to leave the Education City Recreation Center. The Rec Center was our third failed location of the day, since we weren’t getting the background we wanted from The Pearl. We actually ended up filming inside the CMU-Q building (fourth time’s the charm!), which is about five minutes away from the AMOMA office after driving and walking around in very hot and humid weather all around Doha.
(from left: Nasreen, Samee, me, and random dude who I hope doesn’t object to his picture being put up here, even though it would be really hard to recognize him from this.)
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