Fern

Another self portrait, if you look closely.

Saxes

A concert of The Screenclub at the Stellwerk in Harburg in October.

You can run, but you can't hide

A friend in Rouen who was trying not to be photographed. With only partial success, obviously.

Shadow

It's some time ago since I posted the last self portrait and I'm not doing many of them anyway. But this one I really like. And please note that the light was exactly like this on that day - no dodging and burning or anything like that.

245

Another self portrait, if you look closely. Hamburg on February 1, 2010.

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

Presence

Talking about the presence of the photographer in the photo, here's one where not only the subject felt it but where it's clearly imprinted into the picture as well.

Lisbon, 1999, M4-P, Tri-X.

Self portrait with two hands

Another self portrait. Well, kind of.

Taken in Hamburg on January 30, 2010 with the M7 on old Neopan 1600 which was developed in HC-110. The lens was the 35mm Summicron.

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.

Marcus

And while we're at the subjects of celebrities and musicians, here's a portrait of Marcus Miller. I've been doing his website since the beginning of 1997 (the whole story can be found here) and when I was in L.A. in November during a business trip, Marcus and I met for lunch. I took this picture after he had driven me back to my hotel and before we said goodbye.

A bit later, some bootleggers in Japan actually used the photo - without my permission, of course - for the label of their "Slap Shot" CD.

That was the M4-P on Tri-X again.

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...

Lots of dead chickens

When I was in London in 1996, I also went to Brixton and there I found a market hall where I took lots of photos. One of the things I did there is something I don't do often - I asked people whether I could take portraits of them. The picture I eventually liked most is this one with the guy proudly showing off one of his chickens.

Incidentally, I promised to send him a print but managed to lose his address. On the off chance that somebody who reads this blog knows this man, please let me know how to reach him. I'd really like to send him the photo as promised and maybe he'll be pleasantly surprised to finally receive it almost 15 years later...

This is from the time where I really took lots of notes, so I know it was March 28, the shutter speed was 1/60, the aperture was f/5.6, the camera was the trusty Leica, the lens was the 35mm Summicron, and the film was Tri-X, developed by myself.