10 Portraits from Jordan

Jordanians are some of the warmest people I have come across during my travels. Whether it was the taxi driver who welled up telling me about his kids who were at university in America or the young boy who gifted me a bunch of postcards just because I offered him half the sandwich that I was carrying during my visit to Petra; every person I met had something personal to share.

I did not mind getting lost in Amman at night or even losing my phone (which was amazingly returned to me later!) because the experiences I had during my time there would make up for everything else. Never in my craziest dreams had I imagined that I would spend 20 minutes of my life singing the title song of ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’ (a 1977 Bollywood movie featuring the legend Amitabh Bachhan!) with a cab driver while we were both trying to find the way to a cheap hostel in the heart of downtown Amman! (You may want to check out the video of the original song here… it will help you understand what an incredibly hilarious experience it must have been for me!)

I could go on and on about the experiences but I will limit this post to sharing the portraits that I managed to capture of the beautiful people I met in Jordan. The stories will follow in later posts!

At Petra, he gifted me a bunch of postcards and 5 minutes of his time.

The Bedouin woman who along with her friend shared cups of tea with me.

He didn’t speak a word. Offered me a smoke and we sat, absolutely silent, in the Siq for a few minutes soaking in the first rays of the morning sun streaming.

Yasmin only wanted sweets from us. She sat by the rocky steps leading to the Monastery as her mother swept the ground nearby. She broke into this smile when I gave her the slice of cake I was carrying.

The first man I photographed in Amman. Was standing by his stall in the downtown area. He was smiling all the while but put on this look when I asked him if I could take a photo.

He wanted me to buy some ‘original’ antique coins and wasn’t very happy when I refused.

A young Bedouin man from the Wadi Musa village. He knew a thing or two about fashion and how he wanted his portrait to be taken. They all loved to pose for the camera!

Hussain, my cab driver for a day in Amman. Ex-footballer and university coach, now an honest hard-working cab driver.

Zidane Al-Zalabieh, the owner of the Bedouin Meditation Camp in Wadi Rum. An amazing host and a very interesting man who has hundreds of stories to share.

I lost my phone a few hours before I was supposed to leave Jordan. He spent almost 3 hours helping me find the phone and getting it back to me. He only spoke Arabic and I don’t understand a word of the language, but we communicated just fine! 🙂