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		<title>chrisroper.co.za</title>
		<description>Stupidity is its own reward</description>
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			<title><![CDATA[Man and temple, Lebanon.]]></title>
			<description><![CDATA[This is all about scale, of course. It's in Lebanon, and it's the Temple of Jupiter in Baalbek (know as Heliopolis, the City of the Sun, at the time of the building of the temple). The man insouciantly putting his foot up illustrates the futility of trying to impose your power on history. An Ozymandian moment, as well as a contrast between the deadness of the ruins and the liveliness of the human.
[Ozymandias: I met a traveller from an antique land / Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone /Stand in the desert.]]]></description>
			<link><![CDATA[http://chrisroper.co.za/wp-content/gallery/12-travel-pics-with-words/temple in lebanon.jpg]]></link>
			<media:content url='http://chrisroper.co.za/wp-content/gallery/12-travel-pics-with-words/temple in lebanon.jpg' medium='image' />
			<media:title><![CDATA[Man and temple, Lebanon.]]></media:title>
			<media:description><![CDATA[This is all about scale, of course. It's in Lebanon, and it's the Temple of Jupiter in Baalbek (know as Heliopolis, the City of the Sun, at the time of the building of the temple). The man insouciantly putting his foot up illustrates the futility of trying to impose your power on history. An Ozymandian moment, as well as a contrast between the deadness of the ruins and the liveliness of the human.
[Ozymandias: I met a traveller from an antique land / Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone /Stand in the desert.]]]></media:description>
			<media:thumbnail url='http://chrisroper.co.za/wp-content/gallery/12-travel-pics-with-words/thumbs/thumbs_temple in lebanon.jpg' width='100' height='75' />
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			<title><![CDATA[Man and square, Lisbon, Portugal.]]></title>
			<description><![CDATA[This is Commerce Square in Lisbon, at dusk. The obvious things I like are the lines of the building and square receding into the sunset, but I also like the contrast between inward-looking way the guy is checking his phone, and the supposed far-seeing way in which the conqueror on the horse, King José I, is looking out to new lands. And the Portuguese were one of the great colonising nations, of course. But this statue was erected in 1775 as part of the rebuilding of Lisbon after the earthquake of 1755, so the technological marvel of the mobile, being wielded by a modern Portuguese man, speaks to survival. (Except the guy is Robert from Johannesburg, but can we not let reality get in the way of 'art', just for once?)]]></description>
			<link><![CDATA[http://chrisroper.co.za/wp-content/gallery/12-travel-pics-with-words/robsquare.jpg]]></link>
			<media:content url='http://chrisroper.co.za/wp-content/gallery/12-travel-pics-with-words/robsquare.jpg' medium='image' />
			<media:title><![CDATA[Man and square, Lisbon, Portugal.]]></media:title>
			<media:description><![CDATA[This is Commerce Square in Lisbon, at dusk. The obvious things I like are the lines of the building and square receding into the sunset, but I also like the contrast between inward-looking way the guy is checking his phone, and the supposed far-seeing way in which the conqueror on the horse, King José I, is looking out to new lands. And the Portuguese were one of the great colonising nations, of course. But this statue was erected in 1775 as part of the rebuilding of Lisbon after the earthquake of 1755, so the technological marvel of the mobile, being wielded by a modern Portuguese man, speaks to survival. (Except the guy is Robert from Johannesburg, but can we not let reality get in the way of 'art', just for once?)]]></media:description>
			<media:thumbnail url='http://chrisroper.co.za/wp-content/gallery/12-travel-pics-with-words/thumbs/thumbs_robsquare.jpg' width='100' height='75' />
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			<title><![CDATA[Jacob Zuma's cousin, Nkandla, South Africa]]></title>
			<description><![CDATA[This man walking off into the distance claimed to be Jacob Zuma's cousin, and told us that the family was allowed to phone the President between 5 and 6 in the morning, or something like that (I can't remember the exact times). It was shot at Nkandla, where Zuma was born and worked as a goatherd as a boy. Amazing to think you can go from that to being president of a country. I like the impracticality of the white robe and blue cross in a dusty landscape. Kind of the way I think of religion in relation to modernity.]]></description>
			<link><![CDATA[http://chrisroper.co.za/wp-content/gallery/12-travel-pics-with-words/manA6.jpg]]></link>
			<media:content url='http://chrisroper.co.za/wp-content/gallery/12-travel-pics-with-words/manA6.jpg' medium='image' />
			<media:title><![CDATA[Jacob Zuma's cousin, Nkandla, South Africa]]></media:title>
			<media:description><![CDATA[This man walking off into the distance claimed to be Jacob Zuma's cousin, and told us that the family was allowed to phone the President between 5 and 6 in the morning, or something like that (I can't remember the exact times). It was shot at Nkandla, where Zuma was born and worked as a goatherd as a boy. Amazing to think you can go from that to being president of a country. I like the impracticality of the white robe and blue cross in a dusty landscape. Kind of the way I think of religion in relation to modernity.]]></media:description>
			<media:thumbnail url='http://chrisroper.co.za/wp-content/gallery/12-travel-pics-with-words/thumbs/thumbs_manA6.jpg' width='100' height='75' />
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			<title><![CDATA[Dudes in Lisbon]]></title>
			<description><![CDATA[Super cool dudes running a shop in Lisbon that sells, well, supercool things. Stuff. Just the fact that they were selling it made it cool. But as soon as you point a camera at cool, unless it's effortless cool, cool gets a little awkward.]]></description>
			<link><![CDATA[http://chrisroper.co.za/wp-content/gallery/12-travel-pics-with-words/IMG_4932.jpg]]></link>
			<media:content url='http://chrisroper.co.za/wp-content/gallery/12-travel-pics-with-words/IMG_4932.jpg' medium='image' />
			<media:title><![CDATA[Dudes in Lisbon]]></media:title>
			<media:description><![CDATA[Super cool dudes running a shop in Lisbon that sells, well, supercool things. Stuff. Just the fact that they were selling it made it cool. But as soon as you point a camera at cool, unless it's effortless cool, cool gets a little awkward.]]></media:description>
			<media:thumbnail url='http://chrisroper.co.za/wp-content/gallery/12-travel-pics-with-words/thumbs/thumbs_IMG_4932.jpg' width='100' height='75' />
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			<title><![CDATA[Introspective woman and boat, Greece]]></title>
			<description><![CDATA[After sailing around Turkey for a week, this woman in Greece seemed to sum up what you feel like once you've adapted to a slow life of breezes and good food. The boat's there, and it looks like she's tethered to it, but the boat is just an excuse to kick back.]]></description>
			<link><![CDATA[http://chrisroper.co.za/wp-content/gallery/12-travel-pics-with-words/DSC00323.jpg]]></link>
			<media:content url='http://chrisroper.co.za/wp-content/gallery/12-travel-pics-with-words/DSC00323.jpg' medium='image' />
			<media:title><![CDATA[Introspective woman and boat, Greece]]></media:title>
			<media:description><![CDATA[After sailing around Turkey for a week, this woman in Greece seemed to sum up what you feel like once you've adapted to a slow life of breezes and good food. The boat's there, and it looks like she's tethered to it, but the boat is just an excuse to kick back.]]></media:description>
			<media:thumbnail url='http://chrisroper.co.za/wp-content/gallery/12-travel-pics-with-words/thumbs/thumbs_DSC00323.jpg' width='100' height='75' />
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			<title><![CDATA[Intent trio, Camps Bay, South Africa]]></title>
			<description><![CDATA[This shot is taken in exotic Camps Bay in Cape Town. It's a friend of mine, who works tirelessly in her spare time to raise money for a Home for Children in Khayelitsha. She (and her friends) have taken a tiny, 2-bedroomed house with 30 kids living in it, and transformed that into a big plot with separate buildings for boys and girls, and for kitchens and caregivers. The've done it all in 4 or 5 years of indefatigable work. Here she's telling a couple of the boys something, and I love how intent they all look. She's a South African hero. Mind you, the boys are heroes too. You have to be to survive being abandoned -in one case, on a piece of cardboard at the station when he was one day old.]]></description>
			<link><![CDATA[http://chrisroper.co.za/wp-content/gallery/12-travel-pics-with-words/TammyAndBoys.jpg]]></link>
			<media:content url='http://chrisroper.co.za/wp-content/gallery/12-travel-pics-with-words/TammyAndBoys.jpg' medium='image' />
			<media:title><![CDATA[Intent trio, Camps Bay, South Africa]]></media:title>
			<media:description><![CDATA[This shot is taken in exotic Camps Bay in Cape Town. It's a friend of mine, who works tirelessly in her spare time to raise money for a Home for Children in Khayelitsha. She (and her friends) have taken a tiny, 2-bedroomed house with 30 kids living in it, and transformed that into a big plot with separate buildings for boys and girls, and for kitchens and caregivers. The've done it all in 4 or 5 years of indefatigable work. Here she's telling a couple of the boys something, and I love how intent they all look. She's a South African hero. Mind you, the boys are heroes too. You have to be to survive being abandoned -in one case, on a piece of cardboard at the station when he was one day old.]]></media:description>
			<media:thumbnail url='http://chrisroper.co.za/wp-content/gallery/12-travel-pics-with-words/thumbs/thumbs_TammyAndBoys.jpg' width='100' height='75' />
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			<title><![CDATA[Bird and bridge, San Francisco, USA]]></title>
			<description><![CDATA[This isn't a great shot, but I do like the way the flight of the bird is contrasted with the rigid lines of the bridge and pier, and the line of blue that the bridge demarcates between the grey sea and top sky. This bridge is also quite close to the weird cranes that inspired George Lucas's designs for those gangly walking attack towers in one of the Star Wars movies. San Francisco, of course.]]></description>
			<link><![CDATA[http://chrisroper.co.za/wp-content/gallery/12-travel-pics-with-words/IMG_9435.jpg]]></link>
			<media:content url='http://chrisroper.co.za/wp-content/gallery/12-travel-pics-with-words/IMG_9435.jpg' medium='image' />
			<media:title><![CDATA[Bird and bridge, San Francisco, USA]]></media:title>
			<media:description><![CDATA[This isn't a great shot, but I do like the way the flight of the bird is contrasted with the rigid lines of the bridge and pier, and the line of blue that the bridge demarcates between the grey sea and top sky. This bridge is also quite close to the weird cranes that inspired George Lucas's designs for those gangly walking attack towers in one of the Star Wars movies. San Francisco, of course.]]></media:description>
			<media:thumbnail url='http://chrisroper.co.za/wp-content/gallery/12-travel-pics-with-words/thumbs/thumbs_IMG_9435.jpg' width='100' height='75' />
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			<title><![CDATA[Europeans in Washington, USA]]></title>
			<description><![CDATA[These people are from (L-R) Slovenia, Bulgaria, Croatia and Austria, and they were all investigative journalists. The Croatian told me he's been exposing corruption in government weekly for two years in his newspaper, and so far zero politicians have been punished. I like how doubtful and disbelieving they all look at the speech being given by our US State Dept host, and how the Slovenian is looking suspiciously at me. The US host, by the way, was telling them where to get good coffee.]]></description>
			<link><![CDATA[http://chrisroper.co.za/wp-content/gallery/12-travel-pics-with-words/IMG_8824.jpg]]></link>
			<media:content url='http://chrisroper.co.za/wp-content/gallery/12-travel-pics-with-words/IMG_8824.jpg' medium='image' />
			<media:title><![CDATA[Europeans in Washington, USA]]></media:title>
			<media:description><![CDATA[These people are from (L-R) Slovenia, Bulgaria, Croatia and Austria, and they were all investigative journalists. The Croatian told me he's been exposing corruption in government weekly for two years in his newspaper, and so far zero politicians have been punished. I like how doubtful and disbelieving they all look at the speech being given by our US State Dept host, and how the Slovenian is looking suspiciously at me. The US host, by the way, was telling them where to get good coffee.]]></media:description>
			<media:thumbnail url='http://chrisroper.co.za/wp-content/gallery/12-travel-pics-with-words/thumbs/thumbs_IMG_8824.jpg' width='100' height='75' />
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			<title><![CDATA[Washington Monument and red light]]></title>
			<description><![CDATA[I know, I know. An obvious shot, but I like the one note of red from the traffic light, that stops you and makes you think about the power of all that greyish white. And the Washington monument's age is nicely juxtaposed with the modernity of the red light.]]></description>
			<link><![CDATA[http://chrisroper.co.za/wp-content/gallery/12-travel-pics-with-words/IMG_8479.jpg]]></link>
			<media:content url='http://chrisroper.co.za/wp-content/gallery/12-travel-pics-with-words/IMG_8479.jpg' medium='image' />
			<media:title><![CDATA[Washington Monument and red light]]></media:title>
			<media:description><![CDATA[I know, I know. An obvious shot, but I like the one note of red from the traffic light, that stops you and makes you think about the power of all that greyish white. And the Washington monument's age is nicely juxtaposed with the modernity of the red light.]]></media:description>
			<media:thumbnail url='http://chrisroper.co.za/wp-content/gallery/12-travel-pics-with-words/thumbs/thumbs_IMG_8479.jpg' width='100' height='75' />
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			<title><![CDATA[Vultures feeding, Mpumalanga, South Africa]]></title>
			<description><![CDATA[These vultures are feeding on bones that've been thrown to them. They crunch them, and the leftover dust is used for fertiliser. I went in really close to highlight the confusion as they feed. Shot near Camp Jabulani, in Mpumalanga.]]></description>
			<link><![CDATA[http://chrisroper.co.za/wp-content/gallery/12-travel-pics-with-words/IMG_0652.jpg]]></link>
			<media:content url='http://chrisroper.co.za/wp-content/gallery/12-travel-pics-with-words/IMG_0652.jpg' medium='image' />
			<media:title><![CDATA[Vultures feeding, Mpumalanga, South Africa]]></media:title>
			<media:description><![CDATA[These vultures are feeding on bones that've been thrown to them. They crunch them, and the leftover dust is used for fertiliser. I went in really close to highlight the confusion as they feed. Shot near Camp Jabulani, in Mpumalanga.]]></media:description>
			<media:thumbnail url='http://chrisroper.co.za/wp-content/gallery/12-travel-pics-with-words/thumbs/thumbs_IMG_0652.jpg' width='100' height='75' />
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