My personal relationship with Thuja bushes is quite negative – I seem them as plants adequate for graveyards, and that is all the places I would think they are suitable for. In the last decades however they became really popular here to mark parcel borders or even to decorate front yards, gardens and facades. In the image above Thuja plants and garage doors form a harmonious ensemble. Leaves me thinking why.
© Carl Weese
Time is running: The Pt/Pd print sale on The Online Photographer will end on Friday midnight! There is still enough time to order one or more prints of three images from Carl Weese, one of them is “The Pike Drive-In” from his series of American Drive-In Movie Theaters.
The prints are offered as a Pt/Pd version or an inkjet print for exceptional prices. Just head over to “The Online Photographer” to see all the details.
The three images each stand on their own, and I had a hard time deciding which one to order. In the end the iconic character of “The Pike” won for me: Born 1960 in Germany, those Drive-Ins never had any real (speak manifest) importance for me. But their principle, connected so tightly with Auto-Mobility and big cars, the world of industrial glamour of the Hollywood studios, and now in Carl’s image that visible decay, painfully connected with the 9-11 caused ejaculatory prayer “God bless America”, in deadjusted, already weathering letters, for me form an exceptional complex image of the U.S. of today. And Carl offers them not only as up-to-date and probably extremely durable inkjet prints, but also as handmade Pt/Pd images. The latter keep alive a long photographic tradition, refined in excellent craftsmanship and probably withstanding all attempts to industrialize. For me this offer was a must.
The Honda car dealership here in Munich at the moment shows this poster. It seems that Eggleston’s image material (see the original here on the Washington Times website) was regarded insufficient for the intended purpose, so I guess a talented photoshop artist had to add blue sky and clouds as well as some warm tones to the grass under the tricycle.
Just thinking: Does Eggleston really know?
In spite of the temperatures starting to rise to summerly heights, in those streets where the trees get only part-time exposition to the sun, the spring colors are still delicate. Fine for a walk when commuting traffic already subsides and the last sunlight gives the white blossoms a golden glow. (Oh yes, and I have to plead guilty again. I added some saturation. Mea culpa.)
Photo of H. Kohl: ¢ Der Spiegel, 1986
What has salad to do with Chernobyl, and what the heck has Chernobyl to do with infinity?
For the records: April 26th is the sad anniversary of the atomic catastrophy of Chernobyl. The victims of Chernobyl have not been counted, the true number has never been published, and thanks to this precaution of an inhuman regime, the abusers of nuclear energy still can make profits without limits.
The reason for this catastrophy has not been stupidity, probably more hybris. But utmost stupidity was the reaction of our government(s), trying to soothe use with lies when the fallout was already contaminating country and people. Visible spearhead of their campaign was the wife of the then-chancellor, Hannelore Kohl: She got herself photographed with a salad fresh from the market, in order to demonstrate that everything was under control, vegetables from the fields and gardens were harmless and there was no reason to worry.
Yes, Einstein was right: while infinity of the universe is not yet proven, infinity of the stupidity of certain exponents of the leading castes substantiated 1986 in a salad.
Another kind of street photography, easier for me as the continous sneezing announces my activity to all potential human subject matter. The two different kinds of line interested me, and exploring the image in it, I tried b&w for a moment, but gave up again as the bluish tones of the shadows and the warm colors of the bright areas added more to the image than I could win by stronger abstraction.
Quite a while ago, Mike Johnston of “The Online Photographer” postulated a Tenset for all photography websites. I do well remember that there were also some critical voices regarding this idea, in the sense that this would just alleviate consumability of individual work and so on.
Having pondered on that proposal long enough, I finally decided in favour of it, not knowing however how difficult it could be to distill a set of 16 (for layout reasons) of all my images. Still I am not sure about the selection, but of course the Tenset is even more “work in progress” than other galleries – given that I am able to develop my vision and skill.
So here it is. Enjoy!
A Westend street scenery. I probably can count myself lucky for not having been accused being a stalker, re-using that red parka as a welcome color element.
Next to the Resurrection Church, in an architectonic ensemble meanwhile under preservation order, is the last “Ledigenwohnheim” in Europe. It was built in 1926, visible by close inspection of the relief to the right, and was meant as a means to fight the increasing cheapest variant of lodging, where sleeping facilities where rented out only for hours a day. The citizens feared the immorality and growing numbers of illegitimate offsprings and tried to offered the poor workers room for reasonable price, but only single persons were admitted. Why a rooster was chosen as symbol for this “Ledigenheim” I can’t explain, especially as in this Lodgers Home women were off limits.
Built in the first decade of the 20th century, the “Church of Resurrection” in Munich showcases the “New Objectivity”, replacing Art Nouveau’s rich decoration with a really sober style where the material of the structure does not only serve a functional purpose but became visible facade and decoration, too.
Trying to find a balance between beauty and banality, furtheron trying to fight against deadly repetition, I fear I have lost and have to face defeat: I admit having used the saturation slider as nature’s colors were not satisfying my need for overwhelming warmth and tenderness.
And to add to this crime, I have succumbed to the sin of posting several images of the same subject, as I did not succeed in creating a single ‘right’ one that would include all aspects I wanted to capture.
But I am a repentless sinner, keeping to the great Martin Luther, who advised his followers: “sin courageously and believe even more courageously” (pecca fortiter, crede fortior). And who knows, maybe he would plant a Magnolia tree today.
The village of Anger is said to be the most beautiful on in Bavaria. Taking into account that this statement was made by King Ludwig I of Bavaria (Ludwig II was the slightly unhinged one, playing with fairy tale castles) and that the number of villages in Bavaria is quite big, this really means some excellency. Of course the king didn’t see the subvillage now spreading out over the northern slopes of Anger (and up to now I feared for the sanity of my lens and therefore avoided to photograph it), but landscape and situation can be still beautiful. Ok, still in its denotation as an adjective is incorrect again as the highway passes the village just some 100m away. Oh well, have a look at the church of Anger maybe here in this post. Worth a visit, in spite of all.
Any doubts that he has golden hands, Hugo the Boss? Well, all those gazillions of fashion addicts should have made them golden in the meantime… But the company still can develop: At the moment there’s only fashion, perfumes, spectacle frames and watches from this brand. And the real money is not made by producing something real, but by shifting irreal amounts of borrowed money in order to separate the real losses (keep them for the naives, the tax payers, the voters) and the real profits. The latter have to go into boni and donations for the big parties to keep the game goin’.
Me? You’ll find me probably more often than not on the ‘No Logo’ side of things. This I like better.
On the way back into 19th century, the central railway system of Germany now gets de-centralized and in the regions the railway public transport is handled by smaller, sometimes county based companies. This can have a positive side-effect like those brand new suburban cars, but also results in some weird occurences: Completely to the surprise of this local railway company, the “Berchtesgadener Land Bahn”, the alps were erected quasi overnight, and for monthes those new cars had to remain unused until a special permit to use them on mountain tracks could be obtained. Of course neither the railway company nor the central administration for railway security was responsible… But now the new system is working, the staff is friendly and competent, and whilst de-centralization and competetion didn’t result yet in lower prices (they should, isn’t it? That’s why de-centralisation and competition are introduced.), at least service didn’t downgrade 
Salzburg’s Train Station is undergoing modernisation at a grand scale. Up to now the platforms still had their delicate cast iron structures, subject of this post. As in Austria there are quite a number of succesfull examples of modern architecture, also of good old-new combinations, I am curious in a positive way about the outcomes of this transformation. But up to now all that’s visible is a great hole in the earth.
Oral tradition from Italy tells that once a week young boys in certain parts of Italy are made to stand on the kitchen table, while the female members of the family dance around the table and the boy, clapping their hands and shouting “Que Bello!”.
This story flashed up in the back of my mind when I saw this mannequin in the shop window, where pseudo traditional costumes are advertised for bavarian and wanna-be bavarian geeks.
Found in Salzburg’s Train Station. Van Gogh’s image “The Mailman Roulin” is the icon for the exhibition “Summit of Modernity” in the Museum of Modern Art.
The weather is as it has to be expected in April: Rapidly changing from really hot in the sun to rainfall, and in the morning the rain can even be mixed with snowflakes. The early blossoms have to face all this, and the beautiful Forsythia will probably wither soon and change their proud yellow against a dying brown.
The museum of Winterthur, Switzerland, has closed its premises for renovation and lent its collection to the Salzburg Museum of Modern Art for exhibition. What made the visit even more enjoyable, was the fact that photographing was not prohibited, as it is so often in museums. I have to admit that this makes me somewhat angry, as we tax payers have provided the ressources to erect or maintain those buildings and often also to collect the exhibited pieces of art. And I do remember my angry feelings when in the Bilbao Guggenheim I was forced to seal my p&s camera in an opaque plastic bag after having shelled out quite some bucks as entrance fee.
But not so in Salzburg, where the presentation offered some possibilities to see and photograph artwork in new perspectives. And were it not for the exhibition, the architecture of the museum alone would be worth a visit. Unspectacular from the outside, the staircases and funnels create exciting interior situations.
Wordless Thursday today. Excuse and Enjoy.
This is one of the personal rewards of photography for me: Standing in exact the same place I had been thousands of time before, commuting from work, and opening the eyes – discovering something new, something that triggers a cell way back in the innards of the brain. Reacting with the camera, quick, as the bus is already at the stop. Reviewing, making thoughtful connections to a topic on the inner todo list. Editing and making an image out of a snapshot. What else is needed but to wait for the print from the lab?
The weather was undecided, and so is the season just 100 altitude meters above our hometown: The grass is definitely taking up colors, the buds of the trees are developing, yet not bursting and the sun was warmer, but not yet strong. All in all very pleasant, seducing to play with subtle forms and colors.
Bibble5′s Provia film curve supported the impression I wanted to transport here.
Wikipedia: Holy Grave of Höglwörth
Maybe I should make a story wallowing in self-pity, coming two days late for the Holy Grave of the Höglwörth abbey church. The specialty of this Holy Grave is, that it is only shown every third year, and is only shown on Good Friday and Holy Saturday in it’s full beauty . But then, I have to admit, I am not so fond of these overly vivid decorations, reminding me more of a contemporary indian bus driver cockpit then a typical christian church.
Enough digressing. The Holy Grave takes up the whole space of the Presbyterium of this rococo church, showing the grave of Holy Christ with the women mourning, while over this scenery in the deepest layer, the resurrected Christ in a bright vignette shows the triumph over death. The coloured glass balloons in the last image (white glass filled with couloured water) bundle the light when spotlighted and create an effect of glowing balls. A rotating “sun wheel” and a small fountain provide additional effect.
But I still do like the quiet version better. The grapes are too sour? Well …
Easter Sunday was almost as wet as expected, and so eggs and kids had to be kept in the flat. To be honest, I didn’t mind, because after mass at 05:00 my inclination for activties was pretty low.
One more addition to my collection of leaves that could not complete their fall to the ground. My subconscious associated Leonhard Cohen’s “Suzanne” with it, but in spite of re-reading the lyrics I could not find the chain of arguments.
The other leaves you can find here in in this small gallery.
A Happy Easter to all, together with my deepest wishes for peace.
Taken during today’s Good Friday stroll. We all have deserved the holidays, a kind of exhaustion is visible even in the kids. But sun and warm weather should be good recovery media.
The rain today even got interspersed with snowflakes, and so it was everything else but springtime feeling. The coffee tables outside took a break, and so I will do.
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