Portraits – Josh Meister Photo: My Life

Middle East: UAE

Posted on August 21, 2015October 4, 2016 by joshmeisterphoto

Back in December, on Christmas day, my wife comes running into the room shouting that there is some crazy deal for Etihad Airways – we can go to the UAE for only $155 each roundtrip. At first I wasn’t sure I wanted to travel to the Middle East, but Shari, with her persuasive ways, convinced me. She purchased the tickets, and next thing you know, it’s May, and we’re on a flight to the UAE. There is a lot to do and plenty to see. It is amazing that a once nomadic people had settled down in the desert and built such amazing cities. We stayed in Abu Dhabi a couple of days, but spent the majority of our time in Dubai.

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque – There are mosques on almost every corner (much like where I live in Atlanta with a church on every corner!), but this one blows the rest away. The Grand Masque is beautiful. There is no expense spared, and it’s being cleaned non-stop.

Vendor at the Textile Souk.

Dude taking a break in the Textile Souk.

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Window display – loving the patterns.

Some of the goods at the fish market.
A vendor showing off his product at the fish market.

Some locals doing the shopping on the weekend. Which is Friday and Saturday by the way!

Trying to cool off a little in the shade.

A vegetable vendor.

Dune Bashing. This was probably one of my favorite activites.

A few friendly camels.

I really enjoyed encountering and documenting the hard workers and the culture that really makes up who the locals are. This was one of those trips were it was so much fun to just walk the streets and see the people, check out the markets, and witness a different world.

Europe: Lisbon, Portugal

Posted on December 17, 2014 by joshmeisterphoto

To start off the trip to the Iberian Peninsula, a.k.a. The Spain Trip, we headed to Portugal. Our First stop was Lisbon. What an amazing city! This is a must see if you go to Europe. I think I like Portugal better than Spain. I will just have to go back again to find out for sure.

This is the beautiful view of Lisbon during sunset from the Castelo de Sao Jorge.

This is a Republican National Guard (GNR) of Portugal standing watch in front of Comando Geral. They all looked tough and cold but are surprisingly nice.

This monument that looks like it is something straight out of a sci fi movie is to commemorate the soldiers who died in the Portuguese Colonial War also known as the “Overseas War”. I happened to walk by right as they were doing the changing of the guards.

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A soldier standing watch in front of the monument for the Portuguese Colonial War.

There are old street cars all over Lisbon in the old city. They twist and turn up and down all the narrow streets. I highly recommend riding one if you ever find yourself in Lisbon.

Tourists zipping around the streets of Lisbon in their little mini three wheelers.

There are street musicians and artists all over Lisbon. They range in all skill levels. It is such a common thing, sometimes it seemed like no one even notices them.

One of the many back alleyways you can get lost in. There was grafitti all over the place. My buddy Phil sits to give his feet a rest. He didn’t even notice “The Warriors” tag over his head until after the fact. I love how it seemed so perfectly placed over him.

Throughout the day there were locals just hanging out their windows and doors watching the daily hustle.

This is Pena National Palace. It was built by King Ferdinand in the mid 19th century. He constructed the palace on top of an old monastery from the mid 15th century. It is definitely a place worth checking out.

This is the Castle of the Moors which was constructed during the 8th to 9th century, during the period of Muslim Iberia. It overlooks the lands around Lisbon.

Portugal is incredible. The people are all super friendly and willing to help out a tourist. I will definitely be going back.

Africa: Tangier, Morocco

Posted on December 15, 2014September 15, 2016 by joshmeisterphoto

My wife Shari, my buddy Phil, and I took a trip across southern Spain towards the end of October. We decided that since we were so close to Africa we had to take a detour to check it out. We hoped on a large ferry which quickly jetted us across the Alboran Sea to a little city in Africa called Tangier. Tangier is located in Morocco near the most northwestern point of mainland Africa. This is right where the Atlantic Ocean and the Alboran Sea collide at the Strait of Gibraltar. Since we only had a quick 24 hours to check out the city I hired a private tour guide (Said Tours) to run us around Tangier. We had less than one day to meet the people and learn as much about the city and the culture as we possibly could in such a short time. On this trip I took my new Fuji X-T1 and put it to good use moving at full speed around the city. We had a blast and definitely rocked the Kasbah! I definitely need to go back and see more of Morocco.

A local sits and watches the morning traffic as he drinks his coffee.

The local snake charmer of Tangier.

A woman who lives in the Kasbah waits with her water jugs. There is no running water in the houses so the locals go to the well to fill up.

Not too far outside of Tangier is the lighthouse at Cap Spartel which is the most northwestern point of mainland Africa. This is where the Atlantic Ocean and the Alboran Sea meet.

Just down the beach these two handsome gentlemen give tourist the ride of their lives on their camels who would rather lay on the cliffs looking out at the ocean than pick my big butt up.