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

(Springsteen)

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

(Jimmy Cliff)

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

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

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