Posts from the ‘Photography’ category
Links to photography blogs, information, sites
Above/featured: Crossing Cook Strait in winter mist and fog, catching first sight of New Zealand’s South Island – 14 July 2012 (450D).
Some time ago, the challenge was people’s take on cityscapes. The present challenge looks out to the water, and while lakes are nice, I like the opportunities afforded by the ocean or the sea. The word “seascape” is a noun whose definition is “a view of an expanse of sea.” I’m pleased to present the following “seescapes” with the allure of open waters in mind:
- Australia: HMAS Sydney I memorial, Sydney
- Australia: Port Arthur, Sydney
- Canada: Strait of Georgia, Salish Sea
- England: Dover Cliffs from English Channel
- Germany: Bodensee (Lake Constance)
- Germany: Wadden Sea mud flats
- Hong Kong: outlying islands in South China Sea
- Italy: Ligurian Sea from Cinque Terre
- New Zealand: Akaroa Harbour and the Pacific
- New Zealand: Milford Sound and the Pacific
- South Africa: where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet
- Sweden: Stockholm archipelago, Baltic Sea
- USA: Puget Sound, Salish Sea
Meere Seen – mehre Seen – mehr sehen1.
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Above/featured: Guided Bauhaus tour stopping momentarily in the Georgengarten.
How times have changed: I wouldn’t have given Dessau a second thought a time ago. But after speaking with representatives from Saxony-Anhalt and after spending a few days in the city, I’ve better understood the historical and cultural significance, and those who feel strongly about culture and history should give Dessau a chance.
Dessau is a German city of about 80-thousand people in the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt, and is known as the second capital of Bauhaus in the early 20th-century movement of modernism for design and architecture which has been given inscription as World Heritage Site.
If you’re in town to check out various Bauhaus sites, there’s a 2nd heritage setting over a vast green space. East of the Bauhaus Masters’ Houses are a set of Roman ruins marking the edge of Georgengarten (George Gardens); further in the park is the Schloss Georgium (Georgium Palace). Since 2000, both Georgengarten and Schloss Georgium are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site that’s shared with the neighbouring city of Wörlitz.
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Above/featured: it’s as if I just pointed out a famous meeting place to her right (left for the reader).
Prague’s Old Town Square is one of the most visited landmarks, dominated by the two tall spires of the Church of our Lady before Týn, Old Town Hall, and a prominent sculpture dedicated to Czech icon Jan Hus at the centre of the square.
At the southeast corner of the square is a building called (Dům) U Kamenného beránka or “At the Stone Lamb” at address StaromÄ›stské námesti 551/17 #. To the right of the building’s main entrance is a memorial plaque with an inscription in both Czech and English. The memorial plaque was created by Czech sculptor ZdenÄ•k Kolářský and unveiled in 1998. Looking closer, you’ll recognize Albert Einstein’s face and his famous physics equation stating mass-energy equivalence and written in cursive script: E = mc2.
Over a 16-month period from 1911 to 1912, Albert Einstein lived in Prague with his family and was full professor of theoretical physics at the German Charles-Ferdinand University. Einstein enjoyed hanging out at a number of cafes for conversations, exchanges, and music, and he was a frequent visitor to this building where Czech liberal and intellectual Berta Fanta operated a literary-philosophical salon or lounge. The salon saw visits by many intellectuals, both domestic and international. “Domestic” writers Franz Kafka and Max Brod would have come here for the discourse as well, but it turns out little is actually known about whether all three arranged to meet or would have met here at the same time.
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Above/featured: Jan Hus Monument, Old Town Square – 4 Jul 2008 (HL, 450D).
Most visitors to the Czech capital city of Prague will pass by and overlook the large sculpture near the middle of Old Town Square. The central figure in the monument is one of the most important historical figures for capital and country.
Although he may not be as well known outside of the European continent, Jan Hus is a massive historical figure within central Europe. Jan Hus was declared the greatest hero of the Czech nation in a 2015 survey by Czech Radio. In Konstanz on 6 July 1415, Jan Hus was sentenced to death on the charge of heresy. I’ve described locations in Konstanz during Hus’ final days.
In recognition of his attempts to reform the Catholic Church and to foster and encourage Bohemian identity, July 6 is commemorated annually as a national holiday in the Czech Republic: the holiday is known as “Den upálení Mistra Jana Husa,” which translates to “day of the burning of Jan Hus.”
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Above/featured: Facing north on Maximilianstrasse: Steigenberger Hotel Drei Mohren (left), Fuggerhäuser (orange) – HL, 12 Mar 2017.
Why Augsburg?
- Fugger family legacy
- Martin Luther and the Reformation legacy
- Water supply management, newly inscribed World Heritage Site
I had come to Augsburg to find and understand traces Martin Luther left behind in the city. What I learned was the extent of the lasting legacy provided by the Fugger family, and how the city has for centuries provided safe clean water to her citizens, and how that water management system has become world-renowned as a piece of cultural heritage, forming the basis of an application for recognition as a World Heritage Site.
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Fotoeins Fotografie 