1. Bezirk | Fotoeins Fotografie

25T56 Francesca Woodman at Vienna Albertina

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I arrived at the city in time, as a featured art exhibition was scheduled to end in less than a week. The first time I’d seen their work was in a gallery on Geary St. in San Francisco in 2011. The impact of having seen their images has long stayed with me. Almost 14 years later, I’m in Vienna’s Albertina for their 1st ever presentation of Francesca Woodman with over 100 of her photographs from the Verbund Collection.

Francesca Woodman (1958-1981) was an American-Italian artist who created an essential body of photographic work: expanding poetic ideas into the visual with the play of natural light and the use of external props (as if a stage-play); examining human beings’ relationships to the spaces we occupy; and asking questions about we view each other, particularly women. Her images provide a kind of electric charge, a sense of momentum and drive, and an overall energy that transitions frequently between the static and dynamic.

I’m a little sad she didn’t have a long life: what ideas, work, wisdom, and message could have come over the intervening years. I’m happy I found her work all those years ago, more so now that I’ve had some time to learn what she was trying to communicate and portray during those 9 special years of her life.

*Albertina: on display on the 2nd floor. The Francesca Woodman exhibition ends Sunday, July 6.*

*“From Polka Dots or Polka Dots”, from the Polka Dots series, 1976.*

*“House #3”, from the Abandoned House series, ca. 1975-1976.*

Untitled, 1979. What’s special about this pair of images: “The artist holds the skeleton of a large leaf in front of her naked back. The stalk and veins of the leaf allude to her spine and ribs, respectively, with a formal correspondence to the structure in the wall, which has been exposed by the peeling plaster layer. There’s a reference to the shape of the leaf as well as her dress’ fern-print pattern. The props are unrelated, but the artist has created a chain of references among leaf, wall, dress pattern, and her body.”

I received neither support nor compensation for this content. I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 2 July 2025. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.

25T55 My slice through Vienna’s inner city

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There’s no finer way to mark today’s Canada Day than to find the Canadian Embassy 🇨🇦 in the Austrian capital city. It’s all part of my walk through the Inner City, starting at U1/U4 Schwedenplatz and ending near U2/U3 Volkstheater.

Vienna’s historic city centre was inscribed onto the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2001, but its status was put onto the Danger list in 2017 with plans (threats?) for development.

It’s 501am and 801am in Vancouver and Toronto, respectively. But here in Vienna, I completed food shopping for the next few days. I’m about to have lunch, after which is some time in the inner city. “3” (Drei) is Austria’s third largest mobile carrier after A1 and Magenta Telekom. Naturally, all temperatures are in degrees Celsius.

*While the building has multiple tenants, the uppermost floor is occupied by the Government of Canada with its embassy (Botschaft).*

*The flag pole is attached to the wall with a metal plate in the shape of a maple leaf.*

*Summertime shop for Eis Greissler (Greissler’s Ice Cream).*

*At Stephansplatz, the northwest corner of St. Stephen’s Cathedral (near the cathedral model) has on its wall a small rectangular plaque whose text inscription is almost entirely faded.*

This plaque dates to 1945 when Soviet troops had moved into the city and checked building by building. The two words in Cyrillic are: квартал проверен (kvartal proveren), “Häuserblock geprüft”, building checked. There are at least 2 more Soviet inscription-plates like this appearing elsewhere in Vienna.

*Steiff: it’s not only about teddy bears* 🧸 *so how about Riddler bear, Bat-bear, and Elton John bear. At lower-left is a more modest-sized bear holding a little red heart* 🫶🏽

מוּזֵיאוֹן
*“Museum“, 2011 light installation by artist Brigitte Kowanz for the Jewish Museum Vienna.*

*Bräunerstrasse, west towards Josefsplatz.*

*“Henry: the art of living”, at Billa Corso Michaelerplatz.*

*“Island” platform for U-Bahn U3 (orange) station Volkstheater. This is also a junction station with the U2 line (purple).*

I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 1 July 2025. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.

24T69 One final full day in Vienna

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Travel day 69, and day 35 in Vienna: the final full day in the grand city for this crazy ride. Another hot humid day in the books further emphasized my wish to travel/visit “small and close.” I managed to return to some of my (new) favourite places, and to consciously see everything I possibly could in “one last light.”

After 3 consecutive summers and over 100 days in stay, Vienna is very much now a part of me, although I seriously doubt the reverse is true. The city’s reputation is justified: people here can be grumpy and “unfriendly,” but I’ve gotten to know a few people and I’ve seen many different beautiful charming sides to the city across all 23 districts. I’ve no regrets, but what’s bittersweet is I don’t know when I’m coming back.

*In Rathauspark: #Wienliebe / #ViennaLove.*

*Heldenplatz: at what is Archduke Carl looking in the distance?*

*He’s looking northwest at buildings now related to the Federal Chancellery. At left in the background is the Minoritenkirche.*

*Inside the church is a grand copy of “The Last Supper” which Napoleon tried but failed to deliver back to Paris.*

2nd time here this visit, once again for their weekday lunch specials. I read a copy of today’s “Kurier” print newspaper, completed a couple of postcards for Canada, and checked online my travel plans beyond Vienna. Eating at a cafe or restaurant is neither rapid nor rushed.

*One last look at this part of the Innenstadt.*

*One last look towards Leopoldstadt, from Schwedensbrücke.*

Discovered many years ago on a visit to Berlin, Buchhandlung Walther König (WK) is one of my favourite bookstores. With a location in Vienna’s MQ (Museums Quartier), the shop is full of books on art, architecture, design, arty and artful looks at Vienna, and, naturally, photography.

*Seen in the MQ. “Steadily grumpy, but content” is the way I feel about this past month in Vienna. Nods to the fine actor Danny Trejo.*

*One last look at Ringstrasse architecture, with late-day light on the Natural History Museum, from Volkstheater.*

I made all photos above with an iPhone15 on 15 Jul 2024. This post composed with Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.

24T63 Vienna: one two three

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I’m into my 5th and final week in Vienna. With the return of some summer heat and humidity, I start bright and early, but the pace is slower than usual to account for refreshment and cooling breaks. The title today reflects various dives into the city’s first three districts.

1. Innenstadt

“Bonbons”

2. Leopoldstadt

“No Sleep Till Leopoldstadt”, by Xan Padrón, 2024. Brooklyn x Leopoldstadt collaboration project

*“Wollte nie dass du gehst: sorry. Hab immer an uns geglaubt.” / I never wanted you to go: sorry. I always believed in us.” (unrelated graffiti)*

3. Landstrasse

“Morse Alphabet” neon sculpture by Brigitte Kowanz, for Österreichische Post, 2017.

*A to Z, in Morse code from top to bottom.*

I made all photos above with an iPhone15 on 9 Jul 2024. This post composed with Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.

24T62 Austria’s Parliament, from inside 🇦🇹

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Both city and country encourage citizen and visitor alike to visit the national Parliament building with free-of-charge building tours in German and English. I’m curious to see what’s inside the recently renovated building, originally designed by renowned Vienna architect Theophil Hansen in the neo-classical Greek style and inaugurated next to the Ringstraße in 1883.

There are displays not only about the construction of the building, but also about the road from monarchic imperial rule to an independent democratic republic, and the country’s entry into the European Union. Function and form play attractive visual clues in grand rooms and spaces, but ultimately, I’m drawn to the parliamentary library and its books: a strong reminder of what I want and need to read, in both languages.