Goodness, I LOVE photographing!!!
You know, at times it is tedious. You need an Image of the Day, and you try, and it won’t come. And then, almost by chance, or maybe out of experience, something comes, and finally you see what you haven’t seen while trying, and then it is good.
And then there are the times when nothing bothers you, when you don’t use a camera but are the camera, the times when all flows freely, when you find not only what you’re looking for, no, a whole cosmos of images rotates around you …
… and once in a while, when you’re really lucky, you’ll even find a reason to let Morrissey have the Song of the Day. Can it get any better?
Sigma 20/1.8 at f8 and 1/20s, handheld.
Morrissey, former singer of the immortal 1980s band The Smiths, Morrissey, one of my heroes, Morrissey, who had vanished for years, Morrissey, who had come back with “You are the Quarry”, an album that was so fantastic, it made you weep with joy, Morrissey sings “You Know I Couldn’t Last”, the Song of the Day.
No sound samples for Brits and Americans, but the Germans have them. Again, I don’t know why, this is completely beyond me.
There are 5 comments
Bill (2007-08-07)
hniryisl
I am really enjoying this image.
For me it's all about contradictions. All that ornate woodwork seems out of place here. It belongs, not in a grungy little hallway, but in a grand home all polished and shiny. And that in-your-face splash of yellow against the subdued dirty-white woodwork is also a contradiction. Then there's that litttle patch of colour around the door knob which adds anothe focal point. So much too look at. I could really get lost in there.
Great post.
Ted Byrne (2007-08-08)
I'm planning to visit Rome and Florence in October but we've been warned about muggers and pick pockets. In fact it's a warning that covers much of Europe. And I've noted that your captures and those of many others commonly find that grafitti defaces the pride of so many places, even residences. In fact I'm told to never wear my wallet in my back pocket as is common here in the US, but maybe to even buy a pocketed belt to be warn under my clothes!!
None of these things are normal in this country. Oh there are neigborhoods in many cities where one must be very cautious, but people rarely feel like prey for robbers in broad daylight in well travelled spots.
You so ordinarily find that graffs are part of your compositional statements that I wonder if you have theories. I too have done graffs, but they are found in obscure places and they are so unusual that they become the subject of my pictures as opposed to ornaments.
What do you think is happening here? Should we be concerned for our safety in Rome? Friends recently returned from London to tell tales of having been mugged, others from Madrid had their purses picked. Is it our naive trust in our public safety that results from the confidence we have on our streets and in our homes a contributing cause?
I look at the slashed "lost" on this wall contrasted against the faded grandeur of the doors and wonder... wonder... wonder... Other firends come back from Rome with pictures of beggars on every corner. It seems odd. I know that many in Europe find America to be an insensitive place and we are so often lectured about our decadence and bad manners... yet in the homes of Western civilization throughout Europe there seem to be many signs of rents in the social safety net. How concerned should we be?
Thomas (2007-08-10)
I almost follow Bill - however, for me the graffiti (and maybe the fainted remnants of a sign on the door) look out of place. Otherwise, a nice homely entrance to a human den... Inviting colors, a well-worn look - provokes kind of cozy feelings for me.
@Ted: If your questions were serious: I wouldn't be overly worried. It seems a global thing, that pocket thiefs and such are massing in places were tourists usually go when doing sightseeing Also in the US I suppose, I don't think it's a European phenomenon.
So, yes, I would take a reasonable amount of care, especially in Italy - But otherwise, just enjoy the city and photographing it.
andreas (2007-08-12)
Ted,
Really, how concerned should you be? How concerned are you on the streets of New York City? People here in Europe are constantly warned about high crime rates in NYC and other big cities in the US.
I think two phenomenons apply. Media report crime and never the absence of crime. This is a well known amplification effect, and it alters not only our perception of reality, but unfortunately reality itself. An example is the completely warped image of asylum seekers from Africa. The Austrian boulevard press portraits them as drug dealers and criminals, the extreme political right plays on that instrument, both exert pressure on the government to make life for asylum seekers as inconvenient as possible, the government, like all governments always concerned about pleasing the masses, does so, denies the asylum seekers the right to work and forces many into illegal activities. And any actual incident of crime turns the spiral further. It's depressing, especially when it could be so easy to welcome those people, but instead they are made the objects of petty pseudo-politics, of substitute acts that help our politicians avoid doing their job and tackling the real problems.
The second phenomenon is, that I as a photographer am not very trustworthy as a source of information. I have a preference for the old and the weathered, the wounded and the neglected. Shiny new surfaces, neat and tidy places, they don't interest me half as much as the shabby corners. There is an organic quality in decay, something random and living, that makes it interesting to look into the details, that many times even creates the details in the first place. Graffiti are part of that.
Are graffiti more common in Austria than in the US? Or is the question if they are more common in Vienna, Austria than in Lancaster, Pennsylvania? Wikipedia claims a population of 55,351 for Lancaster, versus 1.7 million (2.2 million within the metropolitan area) for Vienna. I think you live in a wonderful, peaceful place and there are similar small cities like that in Austria, where you hardly see graffiti at all.
And Rome? Florence? Well, for Italian circumstances, Florence always reminds me of Switzerland. It's rich and tidy. Rome is a completely different beast. It is a bustling metropolis breathing life, and that is what makes it so incredibly interesting. Well, among more than 2000 years of architecture probably 🙂
There is certainly crime in Rome, but in the five times I've been there, a week each time, I have not seen anything. Well, that's not true. Once in a bus from Termini down to the Piazza Venezia, someone fidgeted around with my Rucksack. It must have been the most incompetent pickpocket in the world. I gave him a grave look, he gave me an embarrassed shrug, and that was it.
No, I feel safe in Italy. I still would not wear my wallet in my back pocket, but I don't do it anywhere. It's too much of an invitation. On the other hand, my father does, and he has never been robbed either, but I would rather play safe.
Andreas
pnfphotography (2007-08-07)
I always find your images interesting and you for sure have your own style making everyday things really shine in a light that I may not have seen them. This is no exception...very nice and it sounds like you feel better finally.
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