28 February 2011

Shelter From The Storm


Suddenly I turned around and 
she was standing there
With silver bracelets on her wrists
and flowers in her hair
She walked up to me so gracefully
and took my crown of thorns
"Come in" she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm"

Now there's a wall between us, 
something there's been lost
I took too much for granted, 
got my signals crossed
Just to think that it all began
 on a long-forgotten morn'
"Come in" she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm"


Salvation Mountain, near Niland, CA.
June 2009.


Thunder Road


Come take my hand
We're riding out tonight
To case the promised land


Arizona. June 2009.
Picture taken en route from 
Canyon de Chelly to Grand Canyon.



27 February 2011

The Boy With The Thorn In His Side


Germany. 35mm film; cropped.
Pictures taken in January 2009 
and December 2008, respectively.

Title taken from the song by The Smiths. If you're interested in what is commonly referred to as urban exploration, you'll have to  get used to thorns. To bruises, cuts, dust. To the eventuality of getting into trouble.
Another thing that fascinates me about urban exploration - themed photography is that it's not really about producing perfect photographs. I wouldn't usually take a picture of my own shadow. In this context however, the shadow looks cool.

One of my favourite urban explorers and photographers of abandoned places and urban decay, Björn Sahlberg, has taken some great pictures in Sweden. I'm planning to visit at least two of the places he's been to, a sulfite mill and an iron mine. Maybe I'm gonna add a military train depot to the list. Click here for another interesting photographic project by Sahlberg. This is his new website.

Speaking of which, the web designer and I will update my homepage soon.

On to a different topic... You know that I love to watch other artists at work. Here's a great short film about a calligrapher.

Have a nice day.

- Dom

25 February 2011

Take It To The Limit


Docklands, Hamburg, Germany.
January 2011. 35mm.

Click here to see the digital version taken on the same night. This time, I like the picture taken with the 5D Mark II more than the one taken on film.


So put me on a highway
And show me a sign
And take it to the limit
One more time

(The Eagles)


My friends and I have done some research in preparation of our road trip around France, but the list of places we would like to visit is rather short - it's been years since any of us has been to France - and on account of the next semester being a rather busy one for all of us, I would like to ask for your help.

If you have been to France and would like to recommend a beach, city, national park, restaurant, a scenic lavender field, or anything else that might come to your mind, we would very much appreciate your comment. Thank you very much!


Have a great weekend.


- Dom

On Raglan Road


Hamburg, Germany.
February 2011.
35mm film.

On a quiet street where old ghosts meet
I see her walking now
Away from me so hurriedly





Click here to watch a lovely stop motion clip. In addition, I've spent half an hour looking at the photographs on this blog, which is more time than I spent on most other blogs... so I'll recommend that one to you, too.

23 February 2011

Rain, Steam And Speed



There's a famous painting by William Turner that I've always wanted to pay homage to. To begin with, the perspective isn't the same. There won't be no steam-powered train rushing by. Nevertheless, I like the pictures below.


Hamburg, Germany.
February 2011.
35mm film.


Check out these awesome videos: #1 and #2


Have a great evening.


- Dom

Tomorrow Never Knows


Ringo. 
He'll be 11 years old in May.
35mm film.


Rocket To The Moon


Lake District, 2005.
Golden Gate Bridge, 2009.
35mm film.


Here hangs an open landscape
A wild and huge frontier
From a harsh and barren wasteland
Through the grave to the promised field

You came, you trapped, you charted
You laid the railroads and the schemes
And you tamed this land by enterprise
And by the power of your dreams

But you made this clan great
And you made this nation bloom
And you rose with your people
Through the new world
Like a rocket to the moon

(Runrig - Rocket To The Moon)

22 February 2011

You Better Start Swimming Or You'll Sink Like A Stone


The Alster Lake.
Hamburg, Germany.
February 2011.


I had to go to university early today to pick up a couple books at the library. The campus is close to the Alster Lake, and this morning the weather was much too beautiful to go home right away... so I decided to walk along the lakefront for a while. It's amazing how different the scenery looks at night

Click here for an article on the National Geographic website that made my day. I've read a few articles and seen a documentary about the underwater cave systems on the Yucatan Peninsula in the past. This article is so well-written that I felt the same excitement the divers must've felt. 

Wherever you may be, I hope you're enjoying a sunny day, too.

- Dom


20 February 2011

Transmission


Ham Common, Richmond. UK.
2006 / 2007.

Well I could call out when the going gets tough
The things that we've learnt are no longer enough
No language, just sound, that's all we need to know
To synchronise love to the beat of the show

(Joy Division - Transmission)




As time goes by, you forget a lot of stuff while some memories will stay with you forever. The places you loved the best will always look a certain way to you, hidden in the depths of your memory... captured inside some part of your brain for the rest of your life, the way not even a picture could do. 

The place above was a common sight to me; I often passed by Ham Common, looking out of the 65 bus going from Richmond to Kingston and vice versa. Me and my mates met up on Ham Common on weekends to play football (for Americans: "Me and my buddies met up on Ham Common on weekends to play soccer"). I also passed by Ham Common on my way to Murray's barbershop

Have a nice day.

- Dom

19 February 2011

Fortunate Son


The Alster Lake.
Hamburg, Germany.
February 2011.


The picture above is a long exposure. The colours are not fake, they're only slightly enhanced due to the longer exposure. That yellowish glow is no product of photoshop though. The source of this almost mystical glow is the Port of Hamburg, approximately 5 miles from where this picture was taken. 

Good news from the archaeology front! I'll be working in the field from the 14th of March - 8th of April. I don't know much about the excavation. All the information that has been revealed is that there's a megalithic grave and that we'll be a small team. The site is somewhere in the State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, which - along with more than 1,000 archaeological sites - has some of northern Germany's most beautiful landscapes. I visited M.-V. twice and of the Federal States of Germany that I've visited so far, it's my favourite. To see the pictures taken on my last trip, click on the following links: #1 / #2
One of my fellow students and friends grew up in M.-V.; she told me I'll get to see thousands of stars on cloudness nights because there's no light pollution... so I'm definitely looking forward to the weekends.
I'm so happy that I'll get to work hard soon. It's a very rewarding job - every time you find something, you get excited like a boy unwrapping his birthday presents. 




Have a great weekend!


- Dom

Trapped


Lüneburg, Germany.
February 2011.


Now I work down at the carwash
Where all it ever does is rain
Don't you feel like you're a rider
On a downbound train



I've taken another picture of the swimming pool in my mum's backyard in November. Instead of the autumn leaves, there's ice in the pool now. My mum's also got a pond full of koi fish. I often wonder how the fish must feel like, being trapped inside a frozen pond for three months.


Seems like I'm caught up
in your trap again
Seems like I'll be wearing
the same old chains

Well now I'm trapped
Oooh yeah
Trapped
Oooh yeah




16 February 2011

Land Of Confusion


Hamburg's main post office.
Hamburg, Germany. February 2011.



Blog post title taken from the song of the same name by Genesis. The video is just as brilliant as the song itself. I have this buddy with whom I could have endless discussions about whether Genesis sounded better with Peter Gabriel or Phil Collins. I'm definitely pro-Phil.


Have a nice evening.


- Dom

15 February 2011

This Hard Land



Somewhere out in the desert
near Winslow, Arizona.
June 2009.



Now even the rain it don't come round 
Don't come round here no more
And the only sound at night's the wind
Slammin' the back porch door

Yeah it stirs you up like it wants to blow you down
Twistin' and churnin' up the sand
Leavin' all them scarecrows lyin' facedown
In the dirt of this hard land

(Bruce Springsteen)


The American landscape, and whatever else has been left abandoned within this landscape (such as old cars, houses, and neon signs), has fascinated me for almost a decade now, and still continues to do so. 

There are two photographers of classic Americana who stand out - American-born Stephen Shore and English-born Richard Heeps need no introduction. Their books Uncommon Places and Man's Ruin (the former by Shore and the latter by Heeps, respectively) are stunning collections of photographs of landscapes, vintage cars, and people dressed in 1950s and 1960s fashion. However, there's a third photographer; his photographs are not quite as iconic as those of Shore and Heeps - they do look like stills from a road movie though. And that's certainly a good thing. His name is Scott Pommier

I had intended to build another portfolio of American photographs this summer, but I don't think that's gonna happen. Me and my buddy had a great route planned with more than 70 places we were going to visit, but due to both financing and scheduling problems, we had to put those plans on hold. I'm definitely going on that trip within the next three years, though.


Have a great week.


- Dom

13 February 2011

King Without A Crown


Taken at the same place as this picture.

Click on the following links to see two brilliant photographs from the world of cycling... #1 and #2. For stunning long exposures of beautiful landscapes in Turkey, click here. If you enjoy pictures of animals as much as I do, you might like this series of images.

I watch a lot of movies and short films, and yesterday I came across a series of videos following relatively unknown musicians while they're working their day jobs. My favourite video was the one of the pizza delivery guy. 


Title taken from the song of the same name by Matisyahu.

Good night.


- Dom

11 February 2011

One Day


Hamburg, Germany.
The "Mundsburg" apartment buildings; picture taken from the top of a multi-storey car park. 
30 seconds at F/10 and ISO1600.
February 2011.


Due to the weather (snow from December to mid-January, and heavy rain from mid-January until a couple days ago), I haven't been able to ride my bike as often as I would've liked to. 

The last few nights have been good though. I enjoy riding at night. It's peaceful and quiet, and there's not many cars on the streets. Since my bike doesn't have any lights - which is probably illegal in Germany (almost everything is illegal in Germany!) - I've got a headlamp, which is much better than a fixed light. 

From our apartment, I usually ride through the streets for about an hour before I reach a huge 13-storey car park. Since there's no hills or mountains in Hamburg, the ramps are as close as I can get to Col du Tourmalet

I'm gonna have my bike resprayed some time this year (thanks to Ian from Windy Wandering for his advice). I'm thinking about British Racing Green for the frame, which I will contrast with red tape for the handlebar.


Recent inspirations have been tattooed girls, strange videos sent to me by friends, absolutely stunning pictures, and of course music - such as the song whose title I used for this blog post.

Have a nice weekend!


- Dom

09 February 2011

Everything Louder Than Everything Else


Manhattan, NY.
August 2007.
Medium format film; cross-processed 
(click here for information)


I uploaded these photographs a couple months ago, but deleted them by mistake. I haven't taken many medium format pictures since 2007, and the ones above are some of my favourites.

The weather is good today. Provided that it won't rain tonight, I'll shoot some long exposures.

Have a nice day.

- Dom

Life Is Just A Highway


Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
July 2007.
Medium format.


And if life is just a highway
Then the soul is just a car

(Meat Loaf)


Meat Loaf's show at Wembley Arena a couple years ago was one of the best concerts I've ever been to. 


03 February 2011

Town Called Malice


Ham Christian Centre.
UK. 2007.
Medium format film.




01 February 2011

Going Underground


The Elbe Tunnel.
Hamburg, Germany.
2009.
Click here for another photograph.


Blog post title taken from this song by The Jam, one of the greatest British bands of the 1970s and 1980s.

Hopefully, I'll be able to upload some new photographs soon. Tomorrow, a fellow photographer, Julia, is going to visit me.
On Friday, one of my classmates from London is coming over to Hamburg. The last time I saw Rachel was a year ago. When you live in different cities and countries, you don't see each other very often... you find out who your real friends are, too.

I hope you've had a great start into the new month.

- Dom