Blur

Lisbon in 1999. This is a picture I had selected several times and then turned down again because it is blurred and wasn't properly exposed. Still, there must be something to it because I look at it over and over again. I've now finally decided that I like it.

M4-P, Tri-X.

Schumi

In Ottensen, January 2010.

M7, 35mm Summicron, Tri-X, HC-110.

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.

Another arrow, another parking garage

Picking up the arrow in parking garage motif, here's one from December 23 (my birthday), 2009 - taken at the Bahnhof Altona. The photo was cropped a bit.

The M4-P with the 35mm Summicron, Tri-X in Diafine.

Marching

Whenever I see this photo, I have connotations of marching feet in some 1984-like scenery - it certainly looks a bit menacing to me. But the unadorned reality is that I stood at this corner somewhere in downtown New York in 1998 and took several shots of the same place deliberately waiting for passersby to integrate into the image. I even ended up with more than one picture that I liked.

M4-P, Tri-X.

Somewhere in Berlin

The first photo in this blog that I worked on with more sophisticated means than dust removal and the tone curve controls in Lightroom. I obviously shot directly into the sun, and although the Neopan 400 (souped in Rodinal) I used was able to capture a lot of the dynamic range of the original scene, I had a hard time regenerating the mood that I "saw" when I took the picture. I eventually masked individual parts of the image and applied separate curves to them. Probably not a big deal for someone who works with the likes of Photoshop every day, but for me it was new and kind of a paradigm shift.

This discussion of tones might also be a good chance to finally mention Paulo Nozolino. I dropped the names of quite a few photographers so far, but neglected to name the one that - together with Klavdij Sluban - had the most impact on me lately. His book Far Cry is one of the finest I've ever seen, and almost every photo I know from him touched me deeply. A lot of what fascinates me about his pictures is in their tones. They are very dark, but at the same time they somehow glow. Hard to explain, you have to see it yourself - preferably in high-quality reproductions like those done by Steidl.

Number 200, by the way.

Train

View out of the window of an ICE from Berlin to Hamburg on March 3, 2010. Not only does this one fit into my series, I also really like it for some reason I can't quite explain.

Speaking of windows, when I was in Kassel, Alec Soth explained how he liked it when the presence of a photographer can be felt in a photo. And as one of the best and most famous examples for this he mentioned Robert Frank's view out of the hotel window. Obviously, I couldn't agree more.

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

Pavement

January 31, 2009 in Cambridge.

M4-P, BW400CN.

By the way, I already mentioned Geoff Dyer who wrote a whole book about the idea that photos tend to "reappear" over and over again. I read a book last night and came across André Kertész' Lost Cloud photo which I had probably seen before several times. But yesterday was the first time I realized that I had aped this photo more than half a century later.

Curves

View through the window of a snack bar in Hamburg on February 6, 2010.

M7, 35mm Summicron, Tri-X, HC-110.

Banana

October 7, 1995 in Midtown New York.

M4-P, 50mm Summicron, Tri-X.

Elbe

At the Elbe river on New Year's Eve 2009.

M4-P, 35mm Summicron, Tri-X, Diafine.

Temporarily out of service

Coney Island, 1998. M4-P, Tri-X.

Completely unrelated to this photo, I'd like to mention that I drove to Kassel last Saturday to attend the third International Photobook Festival there. I have to admit that I hadn't heard about this before, but I enjoyed it a lot. And I'm looking forward to a similar event held here in Hamburg for the first time next month.

Marathon

A young spectator at the children's edition of the Hamburg Marathon on April 24 this year. (My 9-year old daughter took part and easily finished the 4.2 kilometers which is something I'm not sure I could have done.)

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

Detail

From a poster at Bahnhof Altona in Hamburg.

Taken on April 6, 2010 with the M4-P and the 90mm Summicron. Tri-X in Rodinal.

High noon

Taken on April 22, 2010 in Hamburg near the bunker where PPS is located - a company (founded by F.C. Gundlach) many people interested in photography will know. And, no, it was not 12 o'clock.

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

And yet another dog

The last one from this day. For now.

The second cat

If I remember correctly, she was snoring...

The 14th dog

Continued from yesterday. This dog wasn't sleeping, but it looks tired.

The first cat

July 13, 1995 was a very hot day in Ollioules and around noon pretty much nobody was outside except for me and a couple of cats and dogs. I was the only one taking photos, though, while the animals where sleeping. I'll show some more in the next days, thus increasing the ratio even more.

Incidentally, this is the first cat on this blog which was so far dominated by dogs.

The Nikon with Tri-X.

Old cars

I bought an old car last month, so I thought this would be the right moment to show a photo of two old cars I shot at the beach of Tel Aviv in August 1995.

(This is obviously the end of the NYC theme week.)

FM2, Tri-X, Rodinal.

Umbrella

We witnessed a heavy rainstorm on March 13 and the next day the whole city was littered with broken umbrellas. Here's one of them, seen in Chelsea.

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

Roof

Upper East Side on March 15, 2010. This is one of my current favorites from the most recent NYC trip.

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

Lamp

In the basement of some gallery in Chelsea on March 14, 2010.

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