Shoe Shop

Small shops in Jeddah make great use out of every inch of space. This is a tiny shoe shop that offers quite a selection of shoes to choose from. The men customers in white are wearing the traditional long white Saudi dress, called thobe. Underneath it is worn a lightweight pair of [...]

Waiting for Customers

These two men are sitting outside a small restaurant on a hot day waiting for customers. The restaurant offers take-out only of fresh large round flat bread, called tameez, and mashed beans, called fool. They also offer spiced sauces, similar to salsa, to go with the fool. The bread is baked over [...]

Saudi Headdress

The man in this photo is wearing the traditional Saudi headdress, called shemagh. It is a large square lightweight scarf in a red and white checkered pattern. It is usually folded in half to form a triangle and the long folded part is worn facing the front, so there are pointed ends on [...]

Prayer Time

I have such a hard time trying to capture photos like this because I am always speeding by in a car and they always come out blurred. I find it fascinating that at prayer time, which happens five times a day, the men all stop what they are doing and gather to pray together, [...]

Interesting Lights

We were stopped at a red light and I looked over and saw this restaurant with all these interesting looking lights. There were also several large screen TVs inside. I’m not sure if part of what is seen is reflections from mirrors or not, but it does seem to appear that way. [...]

Restaurant View

An evening shot of a Fresh Juice Bar & Restaurant, and again, all the workers and customers are men only. I haven’t been inside this place, but there might be a family section upstairs where women would not be visible. You can see on the far left the two large roasting skewers which [...]

Headless Mannequins

Store mannequins in Saudi Arabia do not have heads, and I’ve seen some mannequins without arms as well. I believe it has something to do with the religion and idolization. I wonder if the mannequins can be ordered headless/armless or if there is some huge warehouse somewhere with all these mannequin heads in [...]

Cool Arabic Sign

Jeddah really lights up at night like many cities. The sign in this photo is for a car rental business. I’m not sure what the Arabic writing (in blue, green and yellow) says but I really liked the different colors and the design.

Little Lamb Lot

This is a temporary lot set up to sell lambs for a religious holiday celebration, somewhat along the lines of fireworks lots for the 4th of July or Christmas tree lots in December. Ramadan is when all Muslims fast during the daylight hours for a month. When Ramadan ends, there is a celebration [...]

Mall Entertainment Area

This is a scene from a mall entertainment area. Most malls have a family friendly area where rides and games are available. Most children in KSA wear typical kid’s clothes worn around the world. Women at the mall are almost always dressed in the black abaya and most cover their hair. [...]