Massawa has some stunning architecture left over from the Italians who ruled for many years. Thirty years ago it was the first town to be liberated from Ethiopia and so many of these beautiful buildings were shot to pieces. Eritrea is, according to the UN, the second poorest country in the world. The buildings may be fine examples of architecture from long ago but the local people do not have the money to renovate their homes. Once these buildings fall down, that’s it, they’ll be gone forever.
I spent one afternoon going for a wander. I think this may have been my first attempt at multi-bracketing my shots, which has allowed me to create these HDR (high dynamic range) images.
One of my faves has to be ‘Ex-Pat’, a Japanese-American whose pension was so paltry he moved to Eritrea because it was the only country he liked that he could afford to live in!
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Pakistan, although I consider myself to be an ‘international man’, a man of the world 🙂
Sorry, Zaf, I was getting confused with my threads and comments. Apologies. Anyway, I’ve always considered you to be an international man too! Massawa is fantastic though, it really is. One of my favourite places and the people are very gentle too. Well, the ones I met anyway.
I’d still like to visit, I love all these strange faroff places…
Where does your family originate from, Zaf?
The photos graphically show the deterioration of the buildings – how sad!