2010-02-28

Bratwurst

A winter day in Hamburg seen through the transparent tarp of a bratwurst joint. (Yes, I ate one. I didn't just take the photo.)

February 2010M7, 35mm Summicron, Tri-X, Rodinal.

2010-02-27

Plexiglas

A ship in Hamburg's harbor seen through a scratched plexiglas window on September 27, 2008.

Taken with the Ricoh at ISO 100, converted with Silver Efex Pro.

2010-02-26

Closed

A view into a shop window in our neighborhood in February 2010.

Taken with the M7 and the 35mm Summicron, Tri-X in Rodinal.

2010-02-25

More fish

Just to prove that Tsukiji isn't the only place where I photograph fish, here's one from Hanover, taken in March 1995. And, by the way, look at the prices and compare with today...

Shot with the Nikon on Ilford Delta 400 which was developed in ID-11.

2010-02-24

Shadows and light

Is this one too abstract? I don't think so. But I know that it came out pretty much the way I expected. It's the wall of the train station below Oslo's airport seen through a glass pane and I wanted to achieve exactly this "painterly" look.

The photo was taken a few minutes before I took this one with the same camera and film.

Also note that there's a nice Joni Mitchell album with the same title.

2010-02-23

Yawn!

A bored dog waiting in a shopping center in Hamburg in February 2010.

M7, 35mm Summicron, Tri-X, Rodinal.

2010-02-22

Sea wall

A boy walking on one of the sea walls of Akko on August 17, 1995. I like the geometrical clarity of this picture with its pronounced highlights and shadows - something that's clearly easier to achieve in the South.

Taken with the Nikon and Tri-X developed in Rodinal. This photo was scanned with a scanner that can't reach as far as the negative's border, so what you're seeing here is a border which was added digitally. The photo wasn't cropped, though.

2010-02-21

Grille

A backyard in Hamburg-Ottensen viewed through a snow-covered grille. I think I'm beginning to acquire a taste for pictures which are on the dark and mysterious side. Or maybe it's just the winter that doesn't seem to end.

Taken on February 4 this year with the M7 and the 35mm Summicron. Film was Tri-X in HC-110.

2010-02-20

Bag of fish

I couldn't resist to add another photo from the Tsukiji fish market. Again a picture that grew on me after I initially rejected it.

November 11, 2008 in Tokyo, with the M8.2 at ISO 320. The photo was slightly cropped and converted using TrueGrain. Then I added a border.

2010-02-19

What's this?

One of the good things that came out of this blog so far is that photographer Olaf Langmack from Berlin somehow discovered it and we're now having a very entertaining and inspiring discussion about various topics related to photography. Amongst other things, this reminded me that the blog is a means to examine my own development (no pun intended) and to retroactively look at what I've been shooting and why.

For example, is this something I would have photographed a few years ago? Likely not. And likewise, there are several old pictures here already that I wouldn't have selected had I done the blog a decade earlier.

What I'm still working on is to put this into words or to at least clarify it for myself. This one is an objet trouvé again, and I did shoot these more than a decade ago already, but - I think - in a different style.

Anyway, enough said for today. If you can figure out what I photographed here, send me an email or post a comment.

Hamburg, February 1, 2010 - M7, 35mm, Tri-X, Diafine, slightly cropped.

2010-02-18

The fog

NYC, October 5, 1995, M4-P, 50mm Summicron, Tri-X, HC-110. Not much else to say about this one, I'm afraid.

2010-02-11

Maybe

What I already said about billboards applies here as well. But in addition to that, this picture is also a play with words and a graphical comment on this being a photo of a photo as you can clearly see the halftone pattern of the poster.

Seen in Hamburg on February 1, 2010; taken with the M7 and the 35mm lens on Tri-X which was souped in Diafine. It was, BTW, a Tri-X (from the same source as the Neopan 1600 I recently mentioned) which still says "5063 TX" on the film strip - showing how old it is. (The new one says "400 TX" and was introduced in the beginning of the last decade.)

Incidentally, I recently learned that Kodak just discontinued TXP in 120 and 220. It doesn't affect me personally as I only shoot TX in 35mm which still seems to sell well, but I hope it's not a bad sign...

I'll be out of town for a few days, so there probably won't be any new photos for about a week.

2010-02-10

Part 6

This view out of a window is from an old farmhouse in Tuscany on one of the few rainy days (or maybe it was the only one) we had there in September 2001.

I still remember vividly that I sat on this patio in the night of 9/11 trying to figure out what exactly had happened (with my laptop attached to a cell phone) and all major news websites being unresponsive and overloaded while the countryside around was completely dark and silent. It was a bit spooky and felt like the end of the world.

M4-P, Tri-X.

2010-02-09

Self portrait with chicken soup and sugar


Every now and then, there are situations where the photographer - either his shadow or his reflection - becomes a part of his own photo. If you're not explicitly taking a self portrait, this is usually something you want to avoid, but sometimes you grudgingly accept it if it's the only way to get the shot. Or you can play with it like Erwitt (who else?) did. Or you can make a whole art form out of it like Lee Friedlander.

Compared to what artists like Erwitt and Friedlander did, this self portrait is probably simply a failure, but I still find it kind of funny. It was taken on January 30, 2010 in Hamburg with the M7 and the 35mm Summicron. Film was Neopan 1600 which I developed in HC-110.

2010-02-08

Holland Park

A Tube station in London (where else?) on March 28, 1996. This one belongs to the not too abstract category.

The old Leica with the 35mm lens and Tri-X souped in Rodinal.

2010-02-07

Footprints

Snow in front of the ugly Frappant building in Hamburg which has been in the news a lot recently.

Following my own "tradition" of naming postings after Jazz songs, today's title is of course a reminiscence to Wayne Shorter's composition which was made famous by Miles Davis using it on Miles Smiles.

Taken on January 30, 2010 with the M7 and the 35mm Summicron. Neopan 1600 in HC-110.

2010-02-06

10,000 meters above the sea

Does this photo qualify for the "out of the window" series? It captures a view out of an airplane while we were over the Atlantic. One thing's for sure - these airplane windows have to endure a lot more than your typical window. I think it was pretty cold outside.

Taken with the Ricoh on December 7, 2008. I tried several ways of framing this view in different lighting situations and eventually settled on this one.

2010-02-05

Paint, light, shadows, chair legs

The floor of my wife's studio in the winterly morning sun of this year's January 30.

I recently received a bunch of "expired" rolls of film almost for free and amongst them was some Neopan 1600, so that was what I was using here, developed in HC-110. M7, 35mm Summicron.

2010-02-04

Right here

A billboard again, although a pretty abused one this time.

Shot in 1998 in New York with the M4-P on Tri-X.

2010-02-03

Knees


I don't remember exactly, but I think I took this one while waiting in a store (in Rome in November 1997) where my then-girlfriend wanted to buy clothes. It's another example of a photo I had forgotten for a long time. And in this case it's probably because the picture works best if seen as a large enough print. It certainly didn't reveal itself on the contact sheet and even the image dimensions of this blog don't really do justice to it.

M4-P, Tri-X.

2010-02-02

Display dummies

Life can certainly be easier if you're famous. If you are for example Miles Davis (without question one of the greatest Jazz musicians of all times), people will be interested in your ball pen scribblings and they'll end up in galleries. And if you are Heinz Schubert (a pretty good German actor), people will be interested in your photographs of display dummies and they'll end up in a book and even at the documenta.

I personally don't think that Schubert's photos are very good, but I like the idea of photographing display dummies and I do it myself a lot. (And I already did it before I knew he did.) I'll explain why I like it on another day.

Taken with the M8.2 (at ISO 160) in Genoa on July 5, 2009. The photo was slightly cropped.

2010-02-01

Drapes

Ten seconds after I pressed the shutter, the woman living in this very little flat (you already see her head behind the door) came out and asked me what I was doing. I tried to explain that I just liked the combination of the curtain and the light behind the window, but she seemed suspicious. At least she didn't object to me shooting the photo.

Taken in Hamburg on November 26, 2008 with the Ricoh.