Fotoeins Fotografie

Alone twice for the price of one

These photographs are a set of personal observations outlining places I’ve been and places where I want to be. The people appearing in these photographs are essentially proxies in my exploration of isolation and urbanity, and the universal concept of home. Over many years, I’ve wrestled against many demons, and in the present age of social media, the race to the most “looks, clicks, and likes” isn’t providing a healthy solution. Ultimately, what I dream is that a destination will offer some finality for the simple requirements of understanding and acceptance.

Detachment and atypicality have always been personal benchmarks carrying me from one location to the next. The privilege of living in Europe and South America have provided a palette of colour and flavour variations throughout my time as research scientist. Rationality and creativity always competed for supremacy, until I realized they could feasibly share the same stage. When I traveled around the world for a full year after leaving science behind, I hadn’t stopped running from research, from my birth-city, or from the person I had become. While running suggests an escape from something, running also implies there’s some endgame which is how writing and photography have helped shape my ongoing journey.

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My Cologne: there’s a lighthouse that never goes out

Above/featured: Mural of the Helios structure, Köln Ehrenfeld, 9 Jan 2013 (450D).

Why is there a lighthouse located in the middle of the city? That makes no sense!

Did the Rhine river once flow here? Is that why there’s a lighthouse?

Is the structure some kind of forgotten remnant of the past?

Maybe that’s not a lighthouse, but rather a beacon that lets people know about a fire somewhere in the neighbourhood.

These are some of the questions and statements posed by Cologne residents when asked if they know anything about the lighthouse in their midst.

Located in the Ehrenfeld¹ borough of Cologne is a red brick 44-metre (144-foot) high lighthouse. But why is there a lighthouse at all in the “middle” of Cologne? The Rhine river flows through the city, but the river is hardly visible from the lighthouse at a distance of about 3 kilometres (2 miles). The structure is not an actual operating lighthouse; it’s a symbol of early 20th-century enterprise from what was once one of the most important companies in Europe and marking the location of a big factory that once manufactured electrical equipment including maritime lights.

Founded in 1882, Helios² established their presence in the town of Ehrenfeld before the latter was incorporated into the greater city of Cologne in 1888. The company once boasted a staff complement of over 2000 people, with products sold in Germany and Europe ranging from electrical generators and transformers, light bulbs, light fixtures in public spaces, and electrical streetcars. Helios also built light towers for the North and Baltic Sea coastlines, including ones at Roter Sand (Weser river estuary), Borkum and Wangerooge (East Frisian Islands), and Sylt. The onsite lighthouse in Ehrenfeld was constructed as a testing facility and never used as a navigational aid or marker. The company overextended its financial reach until Berlin’s AEG³ purchased Helios in 1905. Manufacturing operations in Ehrenfeld ceased in 1930, bringing a final end to Helios’ business presence in Cologne.

The present-day buildings which remain are used as office- and art-space. As historical landmark, the “Helios Leuchtturm” remains as part of the urban heritage in Ehrenfeld and Cologne. If the people in both borough and city have any final say in the matter, the lighthouse will never have to go out.⁴

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Wochenmarkt, Saturday farmers market, Neuenheimer Markt, Markplatz, Neuenheim, Heidelberg, Germany, fotoeins.com

My Heidelberg: Saturday farmers’ market in Neuenheim

In Heidelberg, the farmers’ markets are held regularly throughout the week at a number of locations throughout the city and region. One of six Saturday markets takes place across the Neckar river in Neuenheim. Most visitors in town will visit the Saturday market in Heidelberg’s Marktplatz, which leaves the other five Saturday markets pretty much “clear and free” to residents. And as I arrive at the market square in Neuenheim, it’s clear I’m in the minority, literally and figuratively. This is not criticism and it’s not a negative, as I used to come here occasionally when I lived here. I say as much to the various vendors, when I buy a cup of coffee, some cherry tomatoes, a piece of cake, and three empanadas.

Fresh fruit and vegetables, grown locally and imported from around Europe. Fresh bread and baked goods from a regional bakery. Fresh herbs, grown locally; fresh flowers, grown locally. Honey harvested from bees at a regional apiary. “Empanadas Argentinas”, by a woman from Córdoba who’s lived in Germany for over ten years. And there are fresh cuts of meat, tubs of olives, and glorious varieties of cheese from around Europe.

It’s time to stop eating and leave, when the vendors begin to pack. Another market, another day.

When I leave Heidelberg, no small measure of wistful longing remains; these are my streets, and this is one of my markets.

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Ballet BC, Program 3, BalletBC30three, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, BC, Canada, fotoeins.com

Ballet BC season 30: Program 3 preview (2016)

I’ve learned over time to recognize key moments when special things are happening. I’ve been fortunate to arrive at situations where I’m swimming large and I’m intersecting spatial timelines with other people who’re immensely blessed with talent, who’ve trained long and hard, and who’ve shone brilliantly under the spotlight. Within that convergence, I see what it’s like, that shimmer of a blinding spark, a clear glimpse into a universe of creative expression. The rigours and precision of classic ballet are combined with the hypnotic rhythms of contemporary dance: something new is created, boundaries are pushed, and people’s eyes are opened to a brand new world under a different light.

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Northeast corner of old Roman fort, Regensburg, photo by Dr. Bernd Gross, Wiki CC3

Regensburg: remnants of Castra Regina on the Danube Limes

Above: former wall at the northeast corner of the Roman fort Castra Regina. Photo by Dr. Bernd Gross (image no. 7, Wiki CC3).

Regensburg is situated in central Bavaria, and is 1 and 1.5 hours from Nürnberg (Nuremberg) and München (Munich), respectively, with the train. While meandering through the Regensburg’s Old Town, it’s easy to forget most of this area was once occupied by a Roman fortress about 1800 years ago.

In 179 AD/CE, the Roman Empire established the fortress “Castra Regina”, or “fortress by the river Regen”, where the Regen enters the Danube river. The Danube became in effect a part of the Roman Empire’s northern frontier (“Danube Limes”). Emperor Marcus Aurelius recognized the need for extra security in the northern imperial province of Raetia where the Danube’s course reached its northernmost point. To ward off incursions by northern Germanic tribes, up to six thousand soldiers from the Third Italic Legion were stationed at the fortress.

At peak operation, the fortress encompassed an area 540 metres by 450 metres (24 hectares, or 60 acres) with a wall up to 10 metres (33 feet) high made of large sandstone blocks, 18 towers, 4 double-tower gates, and a wide trench. Within the grounds were barracks, headquarters building (principia), commanding officer’s own residence (praetorium), a military hospital (valetudinarium), granary (horrea), workshops, and stables. Civilians and support tradesmen built a settlement to the west of the fort. By the 5th-century, constant raids and migrations forced the Romans to abandon the area. A civilian settlement eventually grew over the fortress which is today’s Altstadt (Old Town)¹.

The free-of-charge open-air museum includes restored remnants of the old Roman fortress complete with information displays in both English and German. The primary information location is at the parking garage at Dachauplatz (which is closed at night); the other three locations are accessible outdoors at any time.

The Porta Praetoria is one of multiple constituents in the tri-nation (AT DE SK) inscription for “Frontiers of the Roman Empire: Danube Limes” as UNESCO World Heritage Site (new, as of July 2021).

The map below shows the location of the Castra Regina encampment and locations of the “document Legionslagermauer” in the city’s Old Town. Click on the “arrow-window” icon at the upper-left corner of the map for additional details.

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