Category Archives: Photography

Hamburg February 2024

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Arrived in relatively heavy rain so spent the afternoon in Deichtorhallen. One exhibition of works by Claudia Andujar, and one absolutely magnificent exhibition called Dix and the Present. I was thrilled to see an Anselm Kiefer there. Always awesome.

Cindy Sherman’s Anti-Fashion had also reached Hamburg on what seems to be a European Tour, but I had already seen that in Stuttgart. (Not a fan of Cindy Sherman but I have to admit that she is a great make-up and costume artist).

10 February walkabout in misty weather, starting with a definite maritime flair, and ending in a park with a skating rink.

11 February AM NABU Birdwatching walk: Gefiederte Wintergäste und Durchzügler am Öjendorfer See.

Still misty, and the walk did not really seem to be going anywhere, so I did my own thing for a while before returning. Quite a nice area. Saw many birds but did not really manage any good photos. Just one of Mr Bigfoot here:

11 February PM wine fair “Weinfrühling Hamburg” in Hamburg Chamber of Commerce. Supposedly. But I stayed for less than a minute. They had let in far too many people, and people were still arriving. Impossible to move, impossible to hear anything (I was supposed to meet up with a handful of people from InterNations Hamburg), and impossible to breathe – no air, and a temperature of about 30 C. A complete nightmare.

12 February Hagenbeck Tierpark and that abominable sculpture still outside.

A big zoo with NOTHING to eat or drink, not even a coffee slot machine.

Caspar David Friedrich at Hamburger Kunsthalle, pre-booked ticket for Tuesday, 13 February 10.00-13.00 hrs. Possibly with a small group of people from InterNations Hamburg. It gets good reviews, for example this one.

Unfortunately, here too, ticket sales count more than comfort, and it was much too crowded and the rooms were small. I felt like a sardine in a tin, and almost panicked. Also, a true superspreader of course. I had to elbow my way out and only saw a few paintings in passing, and only because I am taller than a lot of other people. I did wonder whether I was still suffering from post-Corona “stay-away-from-me” syndrome, but I have since read many newspaper articles criticising the Kunsthalle for letting in far too many people at a time, and that many, like me, gave up seeing the exhibition properly.

I hope the organisers of the CDF exhibition in Berlin later this year have learnt from this and do not make the same mistakes.

The day was saved by meeting up for lunch with an ex-colleague from the European Parliament in Luxembourg where we both worked in the late 1970s. Very enjoyable.

After lunch, it was drizzling occasionally but I did go for a quick, last walkabout:

For Hamburg in August 2024:

IACE DE annual meeting.

Walk via Holzmarkt to Sandperle.

Check out NABU’s birdwatching events and pick a lake to walk round.

This exhibition in Deichtorhallen.

And definitely this exhibition in Bucerius Kunstforum.

Recommended restaurant: Hotpot & Grill Restaurant Spicy.

Recommended Indian restaurant: Pabla Sweets.

Recommended fish restaurant: La Sepia.

Recommended ramen restaurant: YUME.

Recommended Korean restaurant: Seoul 1988, Karolinenviertel, Karolinenstr 1

More photo tours from the book “Hamburg Fotografieren”

Recommended Café: Café Himmlische Versuchung

Another recommended Café: Hadley’s, Beim Schlump 84A, 20144.

Traditional fish restaurant (traditional is not really my thing, but if they know how to cook fish, it is worth giving it a try: Fischereihafen Restaurant.

Hiking Alstertal, e.g. between S Bahn Ohlsdorf and SBahn Poppenbüttel.

Photography – series: Battle scars and other scars – literal and metaphorical

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ONGOING

Experimenting February/March 2024 – not sure it is working.

Randomly, from some walks in January/February 2024:

On the outskirts of Tiergarten, philosophising over the trees which are large but were only planted after the war, with a backdrop of a building complete with bullet or more likely shrapnel damage. And bullet/shrapnet damage on my local cemetery (Hallesches Tor). And my hideous neighbour, Victoriahöfe, or Victoria zu Berlin which some call it, which has been under renovation for about six years now, and whose facade is finally being brought back to former ugliness. Also see here how that renovation basically rendered my balcony unusable for most of the pandemic (!) right when it would have been nice to have that Corona-free space to step out onto and sit in.

Evening of 31 December 2023, and inspection of the damage morning of 1 January 2024:

Photography: Personal Favourites 2023 November

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Random photos from 30 November onwards ….

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… taken during, but unrelated to, my mad Christmas market marathon.

PS: There is no need to draw my attention to the fact that they are repetitive. I am, as always, just experimenting.

Homework for my current photography course

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Shortlist for submission class 5 – monochrome camera movement, a.k.a. ICM, I believe.

IN PROGRESS

Never have I had such a ridiculously long shortlist, and there is more to come. Eventually I shall have to choose about ten photos.

Random – mostly colour – photos from the last couple of weeks

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Photography: Personal favourites 2023 October

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Monochrome Photography Course

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Provided by StrudelmediaLive. Teacher: Kai McBride

Shortlist of photos for assignment week 3:

Shortlist of photos for assignment week 2:

Photography: Personal Favourites 2023 September

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Photography: Personal favourites 2023 August

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