Today was the first day in months where I truly felt like I had explored a place. Where the day was mostly filled with spontaneous decisions to just get out and roam. Finding little areas to check out and briefly photograph. I finally felt like I could just let my legs take me wherever and it was almost an awakening experience! The weather was still a bit warm, a bit odd compared to the previous days. It has stopped being rainy and reached up to the 20s again, that dry warmth is still very much felt when you're not in the shade. So much so that there was no need for any jumpers, hoodies or the likes. Despite some Armenians wearing coats; they tend to feel the cold a bit sooner. Anything below 25 to them is almost a harsh winter.
After some coffee it was a walk to a nearby market. The market was riddled with people. A huge area sheltered and riddled with little indoor clothing shops and little tech shops. Some areas of industrial material on the outskirts. So many people were here, and it was the highest density of people I'd been around in forever. It felt good to feel so relaxed around people again. Though the warmth inside was almost unbearable. I wanted to photograph more in the area but I wasn't sure how people might react. Sometimes such areas can be a bit sensitive. I don't think my confidence has fully reached that level yet, though other areas of the market had me thinking of returning and photographing the area on 35mm film with the wider lens at some point. Today, however, I had the good old Soviet Helios 44-2. Not ideal for such enclosed areas. But as you can see from the cat picture: that bokeh!
Around the outskirts were residential areas with some unique buildings. Fun designs in the balconies again. I want to photograph these areas a bit more in the future but as I mentioned before I'm still not all that confident. The ground level is full of people roaming around that are definitely not used to people walking around their buildings taking photographs. I can tell the atmosphere isn't quite the best for such things. While there are tons of younger people sitting around or walking, it does tend to be the older folk who seem a bit more sensitive to such things. I do think there will be a time where I don't care so much, like before where I'd freely take a photograph and walk off, without thinking of what the people around me might have to say or think as I'm framing up an image.
Despite some of that confidence issue, it felt really refreshing to have that excitement of getting out again, where I felt like I was walking around a new place again and feeling like I was stepping around little elements of forgotten history. Noticing the little details of life around. I'd say it was one of the better Sundays I have had in a long time.
