Cairo Street Shots |
Jul 3rd 2009 |
We've skidded off the beaten track. Things are unfamiliar around here. It's all very peculiar, very fascinating - we're not far from Cairo's world-famous Khan el-Khalili market district. But we're far enough for my Egyptian guides and accomplices to be just as lost as I am. Things are out of control, the moment intensifies. I've been hoping for this. The coming of that elusive, 'higher' plane. The emergence of that bigger feeling. Wooomp. Swallow me whole. I love it in here. So wholesome and complete. Everyone's friendly, like family *snap! We're deep-sea divers 30 metres deep. Still, neutrally buoyant and shameless as we point our lenses at everything that moves and shines, passing by or stopping to interact *click!
Go to: Cairo Street Shots |
| Shamelessly pointing lenses at local passersby |
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Voyage to Aqaba and beyond |
Jun 19th 2009 |
| Wadi Rum, Jordan. Backdrop to historic figure and epic film 'Laurence of Arabia'. Several photographs stitched together to form a spectacular panorama. |
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Digital photography is convenient, they say. It's instant and saves you the money and hassle that comes with developing film. Fair enough. But modern fancy cameras such as the Leica M8 more or less expect you to shoot not JPEG - the format generally associated with carefree digital pointing and shooting - but RAW files. RAW means unprocessed sensor information - analogue light energy converted to digital binary code. No more no less. The promise is that extra drop of image quality, the price, however, increased geek time at the computer. What was previously performed automatically by the camera is now done manually by the photographer. Images are imported from memory chip to software, sorted and edited, exported from Raw to Jpeg, re-edited and finally, Internet willingly, uploaded file by file. Suddenly, digital becomes a real pain in the back - similar to when rocking through the Wadi Rum Desert on a saddle-less camel. Go to: Jordan for a sheer abundance of images. |
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Journey along the Nile (and back) |
Jun 14th 2009 |
| Still alive and clicking, most ferociously. It's so easy to hit that exposure button - like hunting for butterflies in butterfly heaven (or hell, depending on point of view). Creating the time to pin-point and process the good ones, cool down my scorched brain matter and put structure to the experience, however, currently feels like a daunting task - like building the pyramids all over again, using a toothpick and wet toilet paper. Go to: Journey along the Nile (and back) for 120 images from Abu Simbil, Luxor & Abydos. |
| Temple of Deir el-Bahari in Luxor, tomb of Egyptian pharaoh Hatschepsut. |
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| Mighty Horus statue at Temple of Deir el-Bahari in Luxor, Egypt. |
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Welcome to Egypt |
Jun 8th 2009 |
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Mhazzaa is my virtual friend. We've been following each other's photographic submissions on www.deviantart.com for the past two years now. Whenever he uploads a street shot from Cairo or comments on one of my portraits from Asia, I am notified and prompted to respond. Our exchange tends to be brief and incredibly witty [of course]. We prefer to say less than too much. We're slaves to the negative space that shapes our words and images. Mhazzaa is an ally of mine who, for all I know, exists only in cyberspace.
I can think of two perspectives on this emerging pseudo reality which we call Internet. The first circles around more sinister aspects such as abuse and ...
Go to: Welcome to Egypt for blog, street shots and camels. |
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Wacken The Book |
Apr 6th 2009 |
Last August we set up a studio tent at the famous "Wacken:Open Air" heavy metal festival in North Germany. The tent was located right in the center, not far from the main stages. It was blistering hot in there, like a sauna, and it was also very loud, like an amplifier - with death metal raging in from every angle. Imagine working in a gaming arcade, gambling casino or food court in a Bangkok super mall. Imagine the sound pollution. Imagine that times the unthinkable, with people defecating behind our tent - all one hundred thousand of us. By the end of those four days the rash on my forehead was almighty. We must have aged faster. It took me two weeks to recover.
But it makes me all the more pleased to announce that the book of heavy metal enthusiasts - a cool, liberated crowd of peace-loving individuals (you know, when you burn yourself out so much you become extraordinarily mellow) - is being published this year. You may view a sample at Wacken The Book as well as a teaser in insider design magazine DESigner's Digest at Wacken The Book Teaser (latest Flash Player required). Rock on! |
| Tatood on his brother's leg. |
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Personal Feature - GMB Akash |
Sep 18th 2008 |
By GMB Akash, who writes: "Due to Bangladesh's large population, inadequate seats on the trains and poverty, it is quite common to see a thick layer of people occupying the roof of a train. Frequent accidents, which occur when a free rider slips, are not enough to deter these stowaways of the railway."
GMB Akash |
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By GMB Akash, who writes: "Ships purchased on the basis of their light displacement tonnage (ldt) are demolished in ship breaking yards and sent to steel re-rolling mills for reuse as raw material for production of steel. Currently, the international ship demolition market is centered on the Indian subcontinent. While a large number of tankers find their way to scrap yards in Pakistan and Bangladesh,"
"The workers in Gaddani, Pakistan are mostly Pashtu people from the Northern Territories close to the Afgan border, they are seasonal workers, in their home they work as farmers, they are quite poor, they are what you would call fundamentalists in their Islamic believes, they veil and lock up their women, they are hard workers, they are tall and strong, they are soft spoken but proud."
GMB Akash |
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Also represented on Deviant Art (click), though off-line for the past 44 weeks, is a certain GMB Akash. Here's an esteemed individual who appears to have transcended the nonsense and taken the art of photography to a higher level - using it as a transparent medium to tell the story of a people he cares for deeply. Highly recommended reading and viewing experience. Enjoy!
Note: "Take me Home" by GMB Akash won a Daily Deviation on 19 Aug, 08 |
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The trials and glories of the emerging attention economy |
Sep 18th 2008 |
The other day I received news of a criticism regarding some of the photographs featured on my website. Now, there is no denying that the irritated criticizer (X) had some valid points, appearing to know a fair deal about photography and rangefinder photography in particular; perhaps more so than I do. So fair play to X. But the form and tone of the criticism - and the channel through which it reached me -, as well as some of the other points expressed and demonstrated, were a little off key, to say the least. That was when X lost credibility as you would think that a professional would have better things to do, and, in any case, better ways of expressing criticism; with a little more tact, for example. I wrote X off as an individual who wants to but cannot be taken seriously.
And that's not to deny a rather bruised ego on behalf of myself, and a consequent reluctance to continue updating bjorntoday; the criticism felt ill intentioned and I'm a sensitive wimp.
But then something truly bizarre happened - the reason I even bother posting this entry. There's this website called www.deviantart.com where I upload a pic from time to time, or look for inspiration. With more than 9.000.000 busy members, subscribers, beta testers and gallery directors covering all of the arts across the board - from painting to poetry to sculpture to photography; from beginner to expert -, deviantart (DA) is one of the world's largest (if not the largest) and most comprehensive art networking communities on the wild wild web. And so I was tickled to discover that one of my photographs (top pic: "Love the People") was featured yesterday. In other words, my photo was displayed back to back with a double-dozen other, genre-representing images on the starting page of deviantart, significantly increasing the amount of hits and attention directed to the accounts of a select few. Cool. I'm surprised, I'm humbled, I'm proud, I'm laughing. In short: It made my day. Is it worth tooting my own horn because of it? Well, not really.
But then - and this beats me - I got another feature today! (middle pic: Slipping into Emptiness) It's like, imagine having your video featured on the face of youtube twice in a row. The likelihood of this happening to anyone is minuscule. Again: nine million registered users. I believe it might even be out of line with DA's own policy which says something like "one daily deviation (feature) per user every 3 months"; and some respectable artists have been dedicated members for more than 5 years and are still dreaming of the day they are celebrated with the prestige. Consequently, there is no end to the positive feedback we today's daily deviants are in the midst of receiving. It's overwhelming. There's the occasional criticism, too, but it's all positive and encouraging. What a great way to make new connections and have a good time!
And so the ego is restored to a functional level. X is out of the picture and bjorntoday looking forward to giving this site a good ol' overhaul. Stay tuned. |
| An honour: Yesterday's Daily Deviation on www.deviantart.com. A cumulative encounter in Northern Laos. |
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| A surprise: Today's Daily Deviation on www.deviantart.com. The mesmerizing gaze of At Chan, 85, Cambodian. |
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| A first: Daily Deviation on Christmas Day, 2007. An anxious pet monkey in Luang Prabang, Laos. |
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Power to the People |
Jul 10th 2008 |
Before adventuring out to Asia I lived a quiet, provincial life in the sleepy foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains - in Orgiva, the rural capital of Las Alpujarras in southern Spain. I rented a cheap but sizable, 150-year-old apartment where I drew a lot and welcomed visitors. We had spare rooms, long, sunlit hallways, high ceilings and doors, and the roof terrace...
Go to: Power to the People for photographs and article on life in the slow lane and the impacts of a triple bypass. |
| Public presentation in town hall of Marc V.'s alternative urban bypass solution, 2008. Photo merge of 4 exposures. Click icon in bottom right of photograph to show full size (optional). |
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| The circumvention is coming! Two proposals: The GIASA solution destroys the natural reserve, ignores the urban parking problem and reduces local economic activity. The alternative follows the natural topography, provides parking and includes cultural, sports and leisure facilities |
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Angkor Revisited |
Jul 8th 2008 |
| Inside Ta Prohm. Print available |
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| The vegetable force and time |
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| The giant tree man silently performs a handstand on a ruin at Ta Prohm temple |
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| Restoration work at Ta Prohm temple |
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The one site I would recommend on Earth, next to southern Hamburg's Fischbecker Heide in early summer, goes by the name of Angkor: the "Angkor Archaeological Park" in Cambodia. This historical area spans approx. 220 square kilometers on which some 40 odd temples were built by mighty king Jayavarman II, self-declared "god-king" of the Khmer empire, dominant factor in Southeast Asia from the 9th to 15th century A.D.
My life can now be described in terms of "before" and "after" Angkor. The first time I went I couldn't even fire a single exposure. The pricey rangefinder together with all my creative ambitions felt pathetic against the beauty and intricacy displayed by the lofty Angkorian temples and trees. The energy that had gone into building - and which is now ruining - these religious sites is beyond awe-inspiring. During the first couple of days I simply staggered along with a mind unable to cope and a heart on the verge of exploding. The Angkor experience defies all words and imagery and I can only tip my hat to a certain P. Jennerat de Beerski from 1924, who simply said: "Go to Angkor, my friend..." |
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The Photo Gene |
May 30th 2008 |
Some people are photogenic, others are not. Some people can be stunningly beautiful while all the more stunningly not photogenic. Others can be less attractive or plain-looking in real life and plainly look all the more attractive in front of the camera. It's hard to tell what the outcome will be. The lens obviously plays a pivotal part in the formation of a glamour shot. A 75 mm lens is generally considered standard in portraiture as it delivers a flat, undistorted reproduction of the subject; hold a 28 mm up close and the face broadens, the nose blows out of proportion and all you'll hear from the ghostly skin-and-bones being framed is, "ieeek, I'm so fat!" And even a 50 mm lens mounted on the Leica M8 - effectively a 65 mm (1.3x crop factor) - won't guarantee an immaculate pin-up portrait due to ever-so subtle distortion values. It's a tightrope walk, and I for one have plummeted repeatedly. cont.
Go to: The Photo Gene for "Fight the School" pick-up shots taken with Leica M8 and 50 mm Summilux in available evening light in front of white background. |
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