Chewing gum

So don't do that!

Sleeper

A quick snapshot that I took with the FED 5 in Hanover on June 4, 1995. Tri-X in HC-110.

Window 95

Judging from my contact sheets, this must have been the first time I took a shot through a window from the outside.

Hanover in April 1995. The Nikon on Tri-X, HC-110.

Undercrossing

Near Hanover's main train station in September 1995.

The M4-P with the 50mm Summicron and HP5 in HC-110.

Boy meets horse

March 1995 in or near Hanover. The Nikon with Delta 400 in ID-11.

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.

Fair

Preparations for Hanover's Schützenfest in 1995.

Taken with the FED 5 using Tri-X.

Zappa's last drummer

Another one of the assignments I had back then. The job was to photograph Andreas Boettger for a student magazine. I always was (and still am) a big fan of Franz Zappa, and Mr. Boettger was at that time a member of Ensemble Modern and thus ended up playing percussion on three Zappa records. That's the closest I ever got to any member or ex-member of Zappa's bands except for a brief chat with Napoleon Murphy Brock three years ago.

The whole shooting took place in a dark and cramped rehearsal room, so I was happy that I came home with at least a few usable shots. Taken with the FM2 in Hanover on January 15, 1996 on Neopan 1600 developed in HC-110. My notes clearly say that the lens was a 24/2.8 although I'm very, very sure I never owned one. Seems I borrowed one although I don't remember it.

Update: Did I really say "very, very sure"? I just looked at some other old photos taken with the Nikon (from 1994 already) and they clearly look like they've been taken with a wide-angle lens. I'll have to eat my words...

Peccadillo

Did I already know René Burri's "Wilted Lotus Blossoms" when I took this photo? I hope not, 'cause otherwise this would look like a pretty pathetic attempt at it. Anyway, see the title. In German, I'd probably call it "Jugendsünde".

You might also notice the vertical stripes at the bottom of the picture which I think look like bromide drags. This must have been one of the first films I developed myself and it seems I made a mistake there...

Taken with the Nikon and the 50mm lens in January 1995 on Ilford Delta 100. The river is the Ihme in Hanover.

The couple

A very peaceful scene behind Hanover's main train station. This old couple stood there without moving for quite some time and - without talking - watched at something I couldn't see. I circled around them and took several shots trying out various ways to frame them and they didn't notice me. (Needless to say, I only took pictures from behind in order not to disturb them.)

May 1995, FM2, 50mm, Tri-X.

Lines

This one was taken in September 1995 at Hanover's main train station. I don't recall that particular day, but it is pretty obvious that I liked the interplay of the wooden planks on the right with the lines of the coat and the traces of rain drops on the poster. I still think the photo ain't too shabby.

Leica M4-P with 50mm Summicron on Ilford HP5 Plus.

A day at the races

Before I bought the M4-P, I briefly had a Russian FED 5 to see how a rangefinder feels. A girl I knew had to write an article about greyhound racing and asked me to accompany her and take some pictures for the article. In a bold move, I took the FED with me that I hadn't really tried before. I also used the Nikon, but this "action shot" was taken with the FED and eventually published in the magazine she was writing for.

By the way, note how irregular the negative border compared to the Nikon and Leica photos is...

That was on June 4, 1995 in Hanover, the film was Tri-X.

The Pretend Garden-Girl

This photo is of "historical" importance to me as it belongs to one of the few assignments I had in 1995/1996.  I was still at university working on my doctorate but at the same time I was seriously considering to work as a professional photographer and so I was happy to accept small jobs even if the payment was minuscule or non-existent. Here I was shooting a rehearsal of Mozart's La finta giardiniera at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hanover. I shot about half a dozen rolls of Fuji Neopan 1600 using my Leica and the Nikon. (Yes, I told you I had sold it, but luckily I had sold it to my girlfriend who was so nice to lend it back to me for this occasion.) One of the photos (not this one, though) was published in the Neue Presse newspaper some days later.

This particular photo was taken with the Nikon and a 135/2.8 Nikkor lens that I had bought used shortly before I got rid of the FM2.  The date was February 14, 1996.  The film was developed in HC-110.

Two dogs

This is not the first photo I ever took, but I think it's the first one I really liked and I still like it. Why, I can't really say, it's probably because of the interplay of lines and shadows and the perspective and the movement of the dog on the right.

Obviously, this wasn't a planned photo. If I remember correctly I was there (the photo was taken at the Maschsee in Hanover) with my girlfriend, probably sitting on a park bench, saw the dogs and took this snapshot. It was the only photo I took of this scene.

That was in February 1995 and the camera was a Nikon FM2 - my first camera and the only one I had at that time. The only lens I had (and thus the one I used) was a 50/1.8 Nikkor. Film was Ilford Delta 400 which I developed myself in ID-11. This was the 20th roll of film I had done since I started with photography about a year earlier.