The Petrol Pump Attendants

[Chris of Arabia]

A short (at the moment) series of petrol pump attendants I've met when fuelling up the car. These are all foreign workers in Saudi Arabia. The idea behind this it to give as many of these largely anonymous people an enduring face on flickr. They themselves may never see these, but the shots prove their presence in the world. I'll add more as I get them.

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

 

[Kazoo]

Really like this idea Chris, made me wonder if I always see the people that I come across day-to-day. The last shot has me wondering if he had to leave his family behind for work, and how often he gets to see them.

 

[SandShots]

cool pix.. would of been a good idea of catching them pumping gas on a big rigg.

 

[Chris of Arabia]

Really like this idea Chris, made me wonder if I always see the people that I come across day-to-day. The last shot has me wondering if he had to leave his family behind for work, and how often he gets to see them.

Most of the expat workers from the Indian sub-continent get to go home very infrequently. There are a couple of Indian programmers in my office who get a paid leave once a year (they have the benefit of being able to bring their wives with them though), others only get back to their homes once every 2 years, some are worse and only get home once every four years. The chances are that these guys are at the ****ty end of that particular stick. Their pay rates are scary beyond belief, yet it's worth their while compared with what's on offer in places like Bangladesh or Sri Lanka.

 

[Antarctican]

Nice series. The third is my fave...I like seeing the pump with the Arabic writing (and cheap price!) in the background, and the local currency in his hand.

 

[kundalini]

(they have the benefit of being able to bring their wives with them though)

Yet, one must question if this is actually a benefit.

 

[Chris of Arabia]

For the employee, probably, for the wife...

 

[Antarctican]

I'd missed your intro to this thread. Love the thought of giving these workers a 'face'/presence. Good on ya, Chris.

 

[Meysha]

Cool idea!
Love number 3. The composition is great.

I too found myself looking for the petrol price... hehe but I couldn't figure it out.

 

[Chris of Arabia]

#4, top left. I just paid 32 Riyals for 53.4 litres of fuel. About £4.26

 

[Chris of Arabia]

A couple more from my usual stop this evening...

#6

#7

52 Riyals worth this time - needle was on the stop

 

[Roger]

good idea and good shots....my fave is the guy with designer sunnies and the shamagh. I'm documenting the construction of a gas station next to my apartment....they knocked the old one down. With gas at 1.54 Euro it must be profitable to build new ones!

 

[Chris of Arabia]

Thanks for all the compliments. They were all done with a Panasonic FX33 P&S. It now lives in the space under the car CD player - easy access every time I fill up and rather less intimidating for the guys I'm getting shots of.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

Good idea, but the dead center composition kills it for me. IMO, theo nly one that tells the story is #3. Go wide and in the face.

 

[Line of Best Fit]

#3. It really stands out for me.

Wicked job.