i travel to photograph.

because one never knows what one will find, it’s always fascinating discovering new places.

such was the case with jaffa (yafo in hebrew), the oldest part of the tel aviv-yafo metropolis. quite simply it is an ancient port city on the mediterranean sea that dates back to biblical times thousands of years ago (shamefully, we did not visit it on our prior visit to israel some 23 odd years prior).

having caught up on some sleep from the jetlag a couple of days before, i was ready for this adventure to begin! we drove down from home base in northern tel aviv, fighting a decent amount of traffic to find a large, free parking lot by the waterfront. it was still relatively early in the day, just before lunch, so the light was not ideal: clear blue skies everywhere, scarcely a cloud anywhere in the sky… the plan was to grab a falafel for lunch, scope things out and hopefully have photographic scenes reveal themselves as we got acquainted with the area. as you can imagine, i was not disappointed… i took an instant liking to this part of the city. it was vibrant with plenty of people about: at the beach, on the port’s waterfront, in the ancient streets… and then there is the history!

falafel found and devoured, we next searched for a tourist information office to get some maps and information. that done, we decided to walk along yefet street, the main shopping district in jaffa, then continue on to the port’s waterfront so we could enter the cobblestoned corridors of the old city.

we spent a lovely, sun-filled afternoon walking around and when the light got better, i got my gear together and went back to a few places that had caught my eye.

these doors were found in an alley off of the aforementioned yefet street, removed from the hustle and bustle of the shops and restaurants further to the north.

these photographs can be found in the following gallery: doors, windows & arches