Haider Ali Ph.D.

Me, Baghdad

London, UK

Mr. McCarthy was known for his furious temper and everyone was terrified of him. It did my reputation no harm at all to sit in the front row and take pictures with the AE1 and its loud shutter.

Our school only allowed tennis balls to be used for football.

.Red Square, Moscow, Russia.

St. Petersburg, Russia. Taken during a school trip.

Aboard the Aurora, on the Neva River, St. Petersburg

Aix-en-Provence. This was taken with my first SLR camera, the Canon AE-1.

Paul was assassinated in Russia in 2004. There is a wikipedia page about him:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Klebnikov

Econ B in the New Theatre (East Building). Since replaced by the Central Buildings.

From Wikipedia: Michio Morishima (森嶋 通夫, Morishima Michio, July 18, 1923 – July 13, 2004) was a Japanese heterodox economist and public intellectual who was the Sir John Hicks Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics from 1970 to 1988. He was also professor at Osaka University and member of the British Academy. In 1976 he won the Order of Culture (文化勲章, Bunka-kunshō).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michio_Morishima

Damascus, Syria

Beijing, China.

My cousin who seems to share various similarities with Chairman Mao.

Naqsh-e-Jahan Square, Isfahan.

This is me with the trusty Berghaus rucksack, which gave excellent service for 20 years. It is said that after Nadir Shah had looted treasures from the Mughals of Delhi he brought them to this building, Qaṣr-e Ḵoršid in north eastern Iran, in the town called Kalat-e-Naderi.

Isfahan, Iran.

Srirangapattana, India.

The Gumbaz at Srirangapattana is a Muslim mausoleum at the centre of a landscaped garden, holding the graves of Tippu Sultan (Western Side), his father Hyder Ali (Middle) and his mother Fakhr-Un-Nisa (Eastern Side). It was built by Tippu Sultan to house the graves of his parents. The British allowed Tippu to be buried here after his martyrdom in the Siege of Srirangapatna in 1799. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gumbaz,_Srirangapatna

Hyderabad, India.

Hyderabad, India

Bangalore, India.

England

Lahore, Pakistan.

Bukhara, Uzbekistan.

Singapore Zoo

Victoria Peak, Hong Kong

Qom, Iran

View from the Regent Hotel. Taken with a Nokia phone

Mashhad, Iran.

Naqsh-e-Rostam, Iran

Al-Husn, Talkalakh District, Syria.

In the Krak des Chevaliers moat, Syria.

Bosra, southern Syria.

A spindle (al Maghazil) in the necropolis to the south of Amrit, Syria.

with the mainland Chinese tourists.

Abbas and Maryam with two design favourites of mine. The Maclaren buggy was fairly cheap, under US$100, but was used by both kids and travelled around the world (a few times).

The second design favourite of mine is the building they are in, the HSBC HQ in Queens Road, Central, Hong Kong. It's a Norman Foster design and provides a sense of occasion that few other utilitarian buildings do.

Other Foster creations in this blog are Hong Kong airport and the Reichstag. I need to add the library at Cranfield where I first came across his work.

Bukit Timah nature reserve, Singapore.

Walking around on a bright day with a camera flash can look a bit weird. But it can pay off, as it filled in the natural light quite well here. ISO 800, f4.5, 1/400.

Cairo, Egypt.

Great pyramid at Giza. Sometimes you need to become familiar with the camel dung to get the right image. The lens was set at 20mm to get everything in.

Notre Dame, Paris, France.

Maryam’s namesake.

Damai beach, Kuching, Malaysia.

Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Baghdad, Iraq

National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece.

Many modern airports have ceilings that make them look like the interiors of warehouse style hardware stores. Check Lap Kok doesn't and I think in part it is due to its ceiling.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Warwick Castle, England.

York, England

Wakefield, England.

Experienced real darkness.

Castle Howard, England.

Shaanxi province, China.

Beijing, China.

Luxor, Egypt.

The words from T.S. Eliot’s poem East Coker come to mind when I look at this photo. “Still and still moving”. The water is still, but the trees are moving. Slow exposure to get that effect. ISO 100, f22, 2.5 seconds

78mm ISO 3200, f32, 1/500s

If I remember correctly the challenge here was that the balloon was moving and I was using a zoom lens. So a short exposure was necessary. At the same time the light was quite delicate hene the f32 which was compensated for by the ISO 3200.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Bronze head and claw of lion, 1st century BC - 1st century AD, Najran

Corner detail

Kuwait

Kuwait, 2017

Hong Kong

Isfahan, Iran

ISO 4000, f14, 1/100

Borehamwood, 2018

SIM Great Hall, Singapore

Somewhere above the Caucasus (2019)

Liverpool, Riverside, 2019

Hampstead Garden Suburb, London.

Seven years ago, I told Maryam that the several months of effort involved in gaining admission here would be worth the years she would spend in a small, cosy school that tops the league tables.

Engelberg, Switzerland

Florence , Italy ISO 2500, f4, 1/40s

Venice, Italy

Vienna, Austria

Tomb of John of Nepomuk, St. Vitus Cathedral, Czechia.

Berlin, 2023

Prophet’s mosque (s.a.w.), Medina, Saudi Arabia.

Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Manama, Bahrain.

Waiting for history to be made and fill the space

Oman. On the road between Muscat and the fort at Nizwa.

Muscat, Oman

Knowing the Arabic for ‘permission’ and pointing to the camera seemed to work.

Hoi An, Vietnam

ISO 3200, 100mm, f6.3, 1/100.

She had an interesting face and I asked if I could take a picture. I did not need to buy anything she was selling, so I paid her for the photo.

The Tam Quan Gate - Ba Mu Temple. ISO 100, f22, 13s

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Al-Rifa'i Mosque. ISO 20000, f22, 1/15s

Luxor, Egypt

ISO 800, 200mm, f22, 1/400

Luxor, Egypt.

I was looking forward to revisiting this temple. The colours and hieroglyphics are stunning.

Alexandria, Egypt

Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Apple iPhone 15, ISO 80, 26mm, f1.6, 1/60s.

Arab Open University evening tour and dinner. Bahrain.

Arsenal vs. Fulham. Watching the game through the screen.

Open University Graduation.

Singapore

University of Hong Kong, Bonham Road, Hong Kong.

I first taught in these rooms around 1996. They were very evocative then, with the message boards full of notices advertising literary events - all of this reinforcing the colonial feel of the building.

Yulong river, 2025

Yangshuo, China

Guangxi province, China.

Hilton Garden Inn Guilin Yangshuo, Xingping Town, Guilin, China.

Chongqing, China