my daughters were invited by a classmate for a birthday party in salzburg airport center’s burger king, and i did prefer not to stay. hence the title (which is an adaption of moscow art trio’s “instead of making children”, a worthy recommendation for you jazz fans out there), and my mood then was comparable to…
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iron aristolochia
done with the china series, carl weese’s blog example as well as paul butzi’s current statement motivated me (again) to record what i see. in this fire ladder a crafted blacksmith commissioned by an art-inclined houseowner have created a functional item with aesthetic value. in winter time, the iron leaves are there alone, whereas in…
having read the newspaper
probably. reason enough he would have with all those headlines on war, injustice, hunger, epidemies. you haven’t noticed? ah, they are not soo big today, nothing special, just the normal daily dose. this is a wooden statue in my hometown’s spa garden. often i’ve tried to make a picture out of it, and now again…
touchdown 2008
writing this in the last hour of 2008, there is not much left but wishing all of you a happy new year 2009. may there be peace around you and in your hearts.
buddhist temple, beijing
i have rarely wandered in a park so full of beauty, even in late autumn, where it lacks the sensation of blossoming flowers. the temples we had reached only late in the afternoon, but neither me nor my colleague wanted to give in, even after 5 hours of walk. only the sunset forced us to…
buddhist temple, beijing
that christmas hiatus was not planned (not to self: better write holiday posts in advance…), so ex post my best christmas wishes, alternatively seasons greetings to you all. there is a small number of china pictures left which i would like to share, starting with this view of the buddhist temple in the summer residence…
lotos stem calligraphy
found in the pond in the emperors summer residence. one of the empty, dried capsules of the lotos flower i picked up an brought as a material reminder of this place.
imperial patterns in nature
there are many aspects on which to judge a government ruling 100 years ago. the cultural revolution in china found resonance among the millions who suffered under a violent regime that in many ways abused human workforce just for the aggrandissement and luxury of the ruling class (and just a flash of thought: what will…
the perfect bridge
i’ve rarely seen such perfection in form as here, embedded in a perfect landscape, in the summer residence of the emperor in beijing. for me this is form brought back to the principle of absolute simplicity, stripped of all unnecessities, and in this way nearing perfection. noise, smog and dust of beijing, all was left…
towered bridge
the weather on this my last day in china was as good as it could get: moderate warm (for november) and a nice mist in the air that did avert that summer-like steel blue sky. it created an extremely fine balance with the red painted wood and the still mostly green leaves. the whole way…
three generations
as I was quite often ask to pose for a photo together with chinese people (i guess a european man with a ponytail is regarded as even more interesting than a “normal” foreigner) i pretty soon lost my shyness and asked people to allow me make a picture of them. this way the group portrait…
two bridges
the last day in beijing pampered us with blue sky and warm sunshine, ideal for a visit to the summer residence of the emperors. the place was busy with locals, and their exercising with the ribbons made up for a wonderful double arc with one of the most harmonious bridges i have ever seen. so…
window over beijing
40 taxi minutes away from the center of beijing, my hotel offered a great view over the suburb houses – 21st floor is a kind of vantage point. plus, i had a better impression of beijings smog – not that i did care too much for this. looking down was quite spectacular, photographing was more…
night transport, beijing
you remember the good ol’ film days? when we had tri-x and pushed it to 1600 to get verrrry grainy b&w results? and were proud of the available light photography we were able to do then? at that days i would never have thought of snapping with a standard zoom lens late at night in…
unbroken reverence
found on the wall of a kiosk in the more touristic areas. well, that’s probably capitalism: to sell whatever is requested. and here in my county at home, militaria and obscene relics of 1939-1945 also are requested and sell only too well. but the combination of heroic posters of the cultural revolution and the iuxtaposing…
rikshas are coming
the lonely planet guide told: “you don’t have to search for the rikshas to drive you through the hutongs, they will find you”, and so it was. outside the north end of the forbidden city, you could merely walk for 5m without being asked for a riksha tour. As it was off season, there were…
hutong courtyard
the cold grey weather we had, just above freezing, perfectly matches the blue-grey colors here, with the chillies a perfect complementary in color as well as characteristic. the chinese society undergoes a fast transition. this is strongly visible also inside the cities, where those who do not manage to be on the rising side live…
from imperial splendor into the poorer quarters
the exit gate of the forbidden city shone in such a fresh and strong red that it was almost painful in the eyes – and to the sensor, as the histogram showed. a friend later on told me that the preliminaries of the olympic games 2008 had included a real orgy in paint, even in…
imperial tea table
no words, in my eyes there is nothing to add to this harmonious arrangement
on photographers
the forbidden city of course was full of people photographing, themselves like the lady in the lead picture (which i found amazing in the iuxtaposition of a single figure against those incountable roofs), each other, the architecture, also me. a european man with a ponytail is so extraordinary that especially gals wanted me to pose…
roof details in the forbidden city
in the maze of the forbidden city, you always get carried on by the masses of tourists (local tourists in my case), but when you manage to reach a corner you can stay for a while and watch the delicate beauty for example of the roof tiles. in yesterday’s blog entry i already mentioned b.…
freezing in the forbidden city
it seems that the history of the chinese emperor’s regime is in an adapted way now repeating: legions from the working class are doing low paid jobs whilst a small number of highest class are enjoying boundless wealth. The abundant treasures of the forbidden city reminded me immediately of b. brecht’s poem “who built thebes…
stuck in the crowd or: the chairman is watching
leaving the hotel at 6:15 was not enough: there was already quite a crowd – 99% chinese – at tiananmen square, chatting in the cold morning air and all waiting for the flag to be brought by clockwork-like moving soldiers to the flag pole. and i was in the midst, all i could see were…
another visitor on the wall
having only 2.5 days for beijing on the way back from the world urban forum in nanjing, my colleague and i decided to go to the great wall immediately after arriving in beijing airport. a wise decision it was, because the next day not only the sky was grey but also the temperatures around freezing…
gloss and paint
beijing airport was impressive, to say the least. dimension-wise as well as in puncto tidiness, and at least from the latter those pictures should give an impression. in europe it is common wisdom that societies with a socialist background usually have an enormous amount of hidden unemployment by entertaining low paid support jobs that would…