Change is the only constant, so embrace it! / March 12, 2015 by Mohamed Boraie

A week ago, I was staring on the window from the yoga studio towards the street and the snow storm was coming down covering everything in white. The city was put on hold and everything almost stopped, even my flight to Florida to attend a friend's wedding was canceled under such weather conditions. I was not happy! Mainly due to the fact that growing up in Egypt, I have never seen snow till I was 22, so naturally I am not a big fan of such harsh winters.

Today, looking at the same window from the same place, it was sunny and lively outside with people jogging on the street in such beautiful weather. I could see the garden outside and the greenery escaping out from the remaining snow. I felt energized and happy again.

Change is the only constant, so embrace it and do let the harsh cold winters get to you! After every winter, there will be always a spring!

I have a confession to make. Yesterday, I used a Leica Camera (M-model) for the first time in my life and I fell in love!! I love the feel of a manual camera and the sharp design of the Leica!

I remembered the old days when I would walk with my cousin around Cairo and with our old film cameras ( so old that we sometimes have a light leaking into the film!! ) and I would take pictures of everything around the city. Cairo was our big and slightly safe playground!

Below are some of the images I took in DC using a Leica M Camera.

“Thinking should be done before and after, not during photographing.”- Henri Cartier-Bresson -

I stood there for couple of minutes waiting for my unplanned subject to pass so that in 1/250 of a second I can put all my thinking and subjects together in one frame.

The Setup:
This street (10thst NW in DC) is filled with brand name designer shops (Boss, Kate Spade, Salvatore Ferragamo...etc) and at the end there is a huge billboard with powerful portrait of a lady smiling while the reflection of Salvatore Ferragamo's sign from across the street is showing on the billboard. From the left, a younger lady start walking with her head fixated on her cell phone.

As a photographer, I had two options, the first would be to take the picture so that trash can would be separating my two main subjects. The second would be to wait for couple of seconds till the two subjects are on the same line.

I choose the first.

Thanks to Leica Store DC for organizing this awesome photo walk and allowing me to use the beautiful Leica Camera.

Mohamed Boraie