Some photos of central Dar-es-Salaam

These are some photos taken in inner city Dar-es-Salaam, as you can see a lot of it is under construction. I really like the way they put up scaffolding here, I couldn't help but take quite a few photos of it. I was also quite taken by some of the older architecture even though some buildings are crumbling and a bit decayed, they have a lot of character with very strong Indian and Arab influences. I tried to get some images that show the mix of architectural styles, colours and textures. I was thinking about a site I like - Patternity full of photographs of all kinds of different patterns in clothing, buildings, art work and design. They believe in seeing pattern everywhere from the mundane to the magnificent. I think inner city Dar has some great examples of this, I hope my photographs go some way to do them justice.


I also go some sneaky photos of a few of the mosques, you're not generally permitted to take pictures of them. I also covertly snapped some of the men cycling around with heavy loads of fruit carried in woven saddlebag baskets -  mangos, pineapples and coconuts. It looks like such hard work, particularly in the heat here but for me it has become so characteristic of this place.


Something I've noticed about these pictures is all the cars crowding the streets  - there really is a lot of heavy traffic here and it shows. Maybe it says more about my quick snapping since I don't want to linger too much and attract too much attention. Some people have shouted at me because they think they've been turned into a tourist attraction, it's not the case. I'd love to get some really good portraits, but I'm happy to not be too invasive and just photograph scenes of the town itself.