The Countdown Begins

Just one week left until the 2010 World Cup kicks off in South Africa. I'll be heading to Johannesburg during part of the championships (yea!) to work with the journalists from Twenty Ten, who will be providing a uniquely African view of the event with multimedia productions, articles, radio broadcasts and lots of beautiful photography.

The above image is from a photo series by the South African photographer Simone Scholtz called Transformations, which captures the evolution of Black Stars fans from average Ghanaians to painted supporters ready to cheer their team on.

The Streets of Tokyo

[vimeo vimeo.com/7892412 w=500&h=400] This video by Vincente + Sara of the streets of Tokyo is serene, lovely and full of slow movement. It makes me want to visit again, to see again the small things hidden within the bustling city. But I actually debated whether to post this video because it's essentially a promotion for Zara, which was one big chaotic mess last time I was there. Here's to the hope that good advertising erases a blah experiences (via GOOD).

der:die:das:

der:die:das: is a new magazine out of Zurich "which examines items, objects and various 'things' from everyday life, trying to get to the bottom of their meaning to newly orchestrate them. Next to their meaning in everyday life the items will be put in an art- and design-discourse, in order to reveal the bizarre and the established all at once." "der:die:das: calls for the new in everyday life and the ordinary in the novel and assembles the various perceptions of different disciplines in art and design by various artists, designers and authors in one magazine. According to the alphabet the things will be selected, dissected and analysed." (via thepostfamily)

A Bit of Reading

Those of you who have been following my blog for awhile know that I like reading. I usually keep track of the books I read by season, but I haven't seem to posted a reading list since August last year. It was a busy fall/winter/spring and here are some of my favorites.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. A present from my older sister that was inspirational and caused me to do a lot of reflecting. Highly recommended.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. A mystery thriller that sucked me in from the first pages. A gift from a great friend and perfect for the wintertime.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. A historical mystery that scours the streets of post-war Barcelona. Absolutely beautiful.

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. I think this is a youth novel, but no matter. A story that immerses you in a one-of-a-kind adventure with four extraordinary kids.

An interview with Anne Schwalbe

The photographs of Anne Schwalbe are subtle observations of quiet scenes, capturing subjects that seem to transcend a specific time/place/situation. I imagine this gives a viewer the opportunity to connect with the image in a very personal way, to do something with the image in their own moment. Intrigued by her images, I was inspired to do a short interview and hear more about her background and her inspiration.

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Could you give a short history of yourself? Anne Schwalbe:  I grew up in Berlin. I developed my first black and white print in the 6th class. After school I wanted to do an apprenticeship at a photo shop, but nothing worked out. I decided to give up photography and study German Studies and Cultural Studies. That was not the right thing for me. During these studies I began to do photography at a little Lab for young people in Berlin. In 2003 I started to study photography at the Ostkreuz School for Photography with Ute Mahler and Werner Mahler in Berlin. Since then I work solely on photography.

The Sonic Blog described your work as 'typically German'. Do you think there is a 'typical German style'? How does your work fit into it? Anne Schwalbe:  I think there is a typical German style, but I never had the feeling that I really fit into it. Nevertheless, the Sonic Blog said that he feels that my photography is somehow typically German in a way he cannot label more clearly. I like this comment, especially that he can't describe my work.

What are some things/people/moods that inspire your work? Anne Schwalbe:  Emptiness, abstract things, monochrome paintings, sculptures, nature, silence, fun, to be in the middle of the nowhere together with people I like.

Nature is recurrent in your photos. Where does this interest come from? Anne Schwalbe:  I grew up in a town, but I really need to be in the nature. In a city there are too many cars, people, noise and not enough trees, silence and empty space.

I really like how you focus on the details and get really close; showing a lot by showing just a little. What is the motivation for this? Anne Schwalbe:  Thank you. It just developed. It was not my plan. I am interested in these things.

How do you think people experience your photography? Anne Schwalbe:  So many people, so many ways.

The Backstory

Several productions give a closer glimpse of the photographers who won World Press Photo awards this year and the stories behind their photos. Pietro Masturzo discusses his career in 'Talking about Photography' and video interviews present a firsthand account from the photographers. Highlights include Charles Ommanney, Eugene Richards, Kent Klich, Gareth Copley, Olivier Laban-Mattei and Malick Sibidé.

Photo by Pietro Masturzo

Die Stadt. Vom Werden und Vergehen

While in Berlin last weekend, I attended the opening of the exhibition Die Stadt. Vom Werden und Vergehen (The City. Becoming and Decaying) at C|O Berlin in partnership with Ostkreuz. The exhibition features photography by 18 Ostkreuz photographers who have 'embarked on a search for the essence of present-day urban realities'. It was a long-term project that covered 22 cities around the world, depicting urban growth and decay. The exhibition runs until 4 July. Above image: Pactrick B. Mitchell, Leland Hotel, Detroit, USA, 2009 by Dawin Meckel/Ostkreutz

Thirteen Words

...beautiful and without a 1 to 1 translation in English. 1. Waldeinsamkeit (German): the feeling of being alone in the woods

2. Ilunga (Tshiluba, Congo): a person who is ready to forgive any abuse for the first time, to tolerate it a second time, but never a third time

3. Taarradhin (Arabic): a way of resolving a problem without anyone losing face (not the same as our concept of a compromise – everyone wins)

4. Litost (Czech): a state of torment created by the sudden sight of one’s own misery

5. Esprit de l’escalier (French): a witty remark that occurs to you too late, literally on the way down the stairs…

6. Meraki (Greek): doing something with soul, creativity, or love

7. Yoko meshi (Japanese): literally ‘a meal eaten sideways’, referring to the peculiar stress induced by speaking a foreign language:

8. Duende (Spanish): a climactic show of spirit in a performance or work of art, which might be fulfilled in flamenco dancing, or bull-fighting, etc.

9. Guanxi (Mandarin): in traditional Chinese society, you would build up good guanxi by  giving gifts to people, taking them to dinner, or doing them a favour, but you can also use up your guanxi by asking for a favour to be repaid.

10. Pochemuchka (Russian): a person who asks a lot of questions

11. Tingo (Pascuense language of Easter Island): to borrow objects one by one from a neighbour’s house until there is nothing left

12. Radioukacz (Polish): a person who worked as a telegraphist for the resistance movements on the Soviet side of the Iron Curtain

13. Selathirupavar (Tamil): a word used to define a certain type of absence without official leave in face of duty

And one more to make 14:

The Samoan word for cowardice is peamoku - or unfinished tattoo.

(via constantwanderlust: thehermitage)

I Heart Oregon

I'm enjoying an afternoon of complete laziness and taking the chance to catch up on my favorite blogs. Bless Google Reader for not counting the number of unread posts after 1000 (just indicating '1000+'). I have seen a million things that I want to reblog, but this print from Amy Ruppel topped the chart. I have a small craving for the Oregon springtime, although I'm not likely to fly in again until late autumn. I will content myself here in Amsterdam with some trips to Berlin, escapades around Holland and a trip to South Africa in June. Sprinkled with several visits from my siblings, that should be sufficient (via unruly things).

Imagining America

Most Chinese were intensely curious about foreign life, and they liked to ask certain questions … People tended to have extreme views of the US, both positive and negative, and they became fixated on fantastic details that they had heard … In China, I came to think of the United States as essentially imaginary: it was always being created in people’s minds, and in that sense it was more personal for them than it was for me. The questions reflected Chinese interests, dreams, and fears—even when people discussed America, the conversation was partly about their home. … A Chinese person with options would never choose to live in a place like southwestern Colorado. The American appetite for loneliness impressed me, and there was something about this solitude that freed conversation. I learned there’s no reliable small talk in America; at any moment a conversation can become personal … Many Americans were great talkers but they didn’t like to listen … Leslie and I learned that the most effective way to kill our end of a conversation was to say that we were writers who had lived in China for more than a decade.

— Returning to America from a life in China, an article by Peter Hessler on returning to the US after living in China for 15 years (via the pandas)

The Jazz Loft Project

The Jazz Loft Project is an archive project profiled in a multimedia production from The New York Times. The production features photography and audio content from the archive of W. Eugene Smith, captured from the unique perspective of his loft building (via Micha).

From 1957 to 1965, the photographer W. Eugene Smith exposed 1,447 rolls of film to record the goings-on inside his loft building, as well as scenes from street life visible from his windows. He also made 4,000 hours of audio recordings that captured random conversations, phone calls, radio programs and, above all, many legendary musicians of the day, who came to the building to hang out, rehearse and jam.

Spring Cometh

All the blogs seem to be posting pictures of spring bursting in. So, here I am, leaping on the bandwagon. The above image is of the just-emerging flower buds in Cologne, taken during a weekend trip with my lovely sister. The image below taken during a Saturday afternoon walk through Amsterdam with Herr Pfeiffer. We walked one hour to get fresh bread. Yeah.

The inner world of Mastic villages

Mastihohoria (Mastic Villages) is a series of photographs by Stratis Vogiatzis dedicated to the villages of the Greek island of Chios.

The Inner World concerns inner spaces which Stratis photographed for almost three years. Stratis with this project has recorded and revealed the unaffected and transparent treasures of a genuine people’s culture which lost the battle of time and hide away from fear. He doesn’t enter the place for self- pleasure, neither does he have an ulterior motive. He goes in like a pilgrim entering a righteous and holy place of worship in order to be able to understand and feel. He strips himself of everything and puts himself into the other person’s place in order to see what the others would never see by themselves. In this way he leads us into the inner world of the homes whose decoration reflects the pain and loss as well as the inspiration of life.

Thus he leads us, in a selective and mystical way, inside the houses whose decoration reflects the souls of the people who live or used to live in them. There where the rooms and their ornamentation are not a showy deception or a deliberate covering up of the truth, but a humble staging of the need for moderation, of the burden of deprivation, as well as the playful enthusiasm for life which, together with faith and hope, have nurtured the people’s culture for whole centuries. The simple and essential things of this culture, those which we would probably come across in the findings of an ancient settlement. There where we recognize our true identity with a sense of awe and enthusiasm.

— Dimos Avdeliodis, Director

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRtLgH2wau8&hl=en_US&fs=1&]