In Transit

I’m writing this piece for The Compelling Image from the coffee shop of a hotel in Dubai.  It’s a sterile Muslim glance from the raw world of Afghanistan that I flew from late yesterday.  I’ve been on the road for just short of a month this trip, but in that time there’s been a wide range of separate, but related realities gone by (Photos L-R).  From the War on Terror that hostilely flares on a regular basis in the Korengal Valley of eastern Afghanistan’s Kunar Province, to the country’s own front on the war on drugs in the capital, the images have had a hard edge to them.  In the past week, there’s been some relief - political satire “Daly Show” style, shot on the set of “Alarm Bell”, a creation of Kabul’s privately owned Tolo TV.  My last day in-country was a real respite, spent following the action of a girl’s soccer tournament, played in the safety of the “Green Zone” and tapering summer heat of late afternoon.  In a few hours, I’ll be away from digital photography for a while, walking amid the big-time commercialism that is Terminal 1 at Dubai International Airport, en route to my favorite destination of them all – home.