"It was as if nothing was wrong -- except nothing was quite right either..."

"... There were wedding parties and pool parties. I photographed film sets and parliament. It was as if nothing was wrong -- except nothing was quite right either. Then again, in war only the dead stop living and many people choose denial. For some inexplicable reason, it was harder to obtain permission to photograph the opera at the Al-Assad House for Culture and Arts than the military morgue -- and once I succeeded, I was scolded by the security guards for standing in what was supposedly the wrong place and then hounded for moving at their own instruction.There were also a spattering of bombings. The only point on which the government, the opposition, and the United Nations are in agreement is the existence of a "third force," a popular euphemism for al Qaeda. ..."