Photography as personal expression
Featured photo: NámÄ›stà Republiky (Republic Square), Prague, Czech Republic – 6 Nov 2016.
From thousands of photographs over the last year, I have more than enough to highlight numerous examples of travel and urban photography. The following “moments” are selected from Instagram: a second set of 16 for 2016.
What is “street photography”? How is street photography defined? Should it be defined? Who, if any, has the authority to define and maintain the definition? I presently subscribe to Eric Kim’s definition, but it’s important for people to photograph as they wish and desire. Whatever people think in terms of their streets is entirely up to them.
When I returned to my hometown for an extended period, I returned to the streets to became familiar with them again. Street names have remained unchanged for the most part, although many buildings have long since been demolished and replaced by something else. When I first picked up a camera, I rarely turned the lens onto people. It’s been a slow evolving process to shift my camera onto scenes with people. With that in mind, I’m fortunate to have some shots with people in decent scenes mixed with good timing.
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.
The first weekend begins Friday, August 9, 2013, in the German capital city of Berlin.
To the unmistakable sounds of low rumble hustle of traffic and the happy chirps and tweets of birds. That’s strange, because I’m asleep; aren’t I? It’s much better if I’m not, a warm and gentle possibility in the spotlight of my mind.
My eyes struggle to open, brilliant morning light streaming through the open balcony windows and past the billowing room-high drapes. I pad slowly to the source of the light, and part the drapes to see what’s outside. I’m on the 5th-floor apartment of an “Alt Bau” in the city’s Westend. The apartment’s windows face north which means plenty of summer morning light.
I open the bedroom door. She smiles at me, her gaze warm and alive as a summer breeze. “Good morning.”
From that August weekend, I’ve kept a single promise to let her know I’m thinking about her. I’ve sent a text-message every single weekend without fail. Except for one weekend about a year ago when I missed my schedule, and she promptly sent an e-mail asking – no, demanding to know – if things were all right, if I was all right. There’s busy and there’s her kind of busy, and I understand all of it. Her urgent message strikes something solid, commencing the melt for the first time in a very long time.
On December 9, 2015, she asks me to stop.
Above/featured: “Hennes”, mascot for 1. FC Köln (GO4KÖLN, Breitestr. 36). Photo, 16 Jun 2023 (X70).
“Gute Laune, Laute Stimme”: the “EffZeh” (F-C) experience has me hooked.
I’m among men and women, young and old, swimming in a sea of red and white, and surrounded by full-volume chanting. Not only is it a big deal to procure a “Stehplatz” (standing spot) for under €20, but to be present in the stadium’s standing-only terraces is a big thrill. The terraces are present in German football stadia but banned in England (for historical reasons). I’m convinced I’m going to memorize their famous fan anthem as quickly as possible.
Founded on 13 February 1948, the football (soccer) team 1. FC Köln plays out of the Müngersdorfer Stadion, known also as the sponsored Rhein-Energie-Stadion (Rhine Energy Stadium) in Cologne. The stadium’s maximum capacity is about fifty-thousand, and the football side regularly sells out their home matches. The team’s mascot is a billy goat (Geissbock) for its steadfast stubborn perseverance; the team’s nickname is The Billy Goats. I’m also convinced there’s another “Kölle” verbal pun. “Geist-bock” is a compound noun consisting of “Geist” for (team-, fan-) spirit, and “Bock” for the people’s stubborn steadfast support. Various generations of “Hennes”, the mascot goat, have appeared on the sideline for home matches, and the mascot is prominent in the team badge’s and familiar red-and-white home kit (jersey).
The English version of the Bundesliga website highlights the team, reminding us they were the first ever champions of the newly established Bundesliga for the 1963-1964 season.
Basic club info from Bundesliga (2018-2019), with updated FB link.
“1. FC Köln” mural at Ehrenfeld station – 14 Jan 2013 (450D).
“Zesamme Simmer Stark”: Hilton Cologne. Photo, 26 May 2016 (6D1).
1. FC Köln fanshop “Stadion”, at Köln Hbf (Cologne central station). Photo, 13 May 2022 (X70).
Fotoeins Fotografie 