Warm-up

Why is it that I just can't get started (nearly) every time I am on self-assignment and it is only the first of a couple of shooting occasions? Happened again today when I and my camera mingled with several thousand of uniformed people who - while provoking each other - made a strange tour round Hamburg. Those in black uniforms trying to reach the city hall where the Asem-summit took place, those in green uniforms trying to prevent this (and succeeding in it).



I did not at all get into shooting mood. Seems as if today's wanderings merely served as a warm-up for the coming weeks (for me and the rest of the crowd). I will miss some of the G8 peak days though - got one of those assignments to do where the pay in some miraculous way creates instant shooting mood...

You cannot plan for this...

Encouraging words by Magnum photographer David Alan Harvey (found via apadnews). Sounds a lot like self improvement talk - I still like it:

... give yourself the "assignment" or the "grant" that you would dream someone would give you....find a personal project and do it without regard for later "sales"...the best kind of "commercial success" or "artistic success" will come to you only if you work in this way.....it will come in ways that you cannot imagine....you cannot plan for this....you must go with your gut....only in this way will anyone, editor or publisher or gallerist, ever see who you really are...what you really DO...
this will be absolutely 100 percent not easy....this will be absolutely 100 percent worth it...

Ok, so I'll just keep going and everything will fall into place... eventually... soon... tomorrow... (does impatience fit into the scheme?)

Dear festeros alcoyanos,

by clicking on the picture below you can see impressions of last year's fiesta (just published in Merian magazine of May ´07). Hope you have already recovered from this year's battles and are eagerly preparing for next year's row...
Thanks again
Dagmar

Food for the mind's eye

On his no-photo blog Unphotographable Michael David Murphy posts verbal depictions of decisive moments which he missed because he forgot to bring his camera or was not brave or attentive enough to click the shutter. Short prose which stimulates your ability to visualize (which might already have been be wearied from looking at too many actual photographs...).

I for my part leave a lot of decisive moments or sights unphotographed cause I rarely carry a camera when not in shooting mode (or mood). Yesterday I had one around my neck when I saw that guy pregnant with his two dogs. Not taking that picture would not have made any difference for me though.

At night

Due to a nocturnal bout of cowardice (and after reading some disquieting info about copyright issues) I change the title of this blog to "Left-Eyed Right-Handed"...