Mmmmmannequins!

Last night I took some more photographs to add to the Mannequin series. It's great that the shop windows change so frequently as I can come back to the same streets a couple of weeks later and have a new batch of images. Here are the pick of the bunch;

Spreepark

This photograph was shot from the outside of the now defunct entertainment park in Berlin. It has been closed since 2002 but remains a popular attraction to Berliners and traveller's due to the risk involved trespassing onto the grounds and trying to remain unseen from the patrolling security and their rotweilers. It is a huge area situated in one of the cities biggest parks and is full of overgrown grass, bushes and hedges which add to the mystique and eariness surrounding the area and it's past.

This year a film has been released, titled "Achterbahn" which documents the story of owner Norbert Witte and his family who fled to Peru with six of their park's attractions after the business went bust. Having lied to the German authorities and pretended to send the parts for repair, he then attempted to return to his homeland with his now "repaired" parts, one of which contained 180kg of cocaine. Witte and his son Marcel were arrested. Marcel is currently serving a 20 year prison sentence in Peru while his father returned to Berlin due to health problems.

The Tree

This is one of my more imaginative photographs. I can't decide on whether to call it "anatomy of a tree" or "tree mathematics" or "directions to the tree". I haven't yet figured out what the markings mean or how they should be interpreted. Aaaaaah well!

Hidden Beauty

These two images are part of an as of yet unfinished project of mine titled "Hidden Beauty". The aim of this project was to capture the surrounding areas of a touristic place or attraction by basically turning my back to the crowd. I feel that there is so much interesting things around these places that it's a shame that so many of us act just like sheep and follow everyone else.

From stories that I have heard, this is similar to what happens in the Louvre Museum in Paris. Everybody is like a good little tourist and enjoying all the artworks until they catch a glimpse of a large crowd gathered around the Mona Lisa. Naturally the majority of these people gravitate towards the "herd" and ignore the other brilliant paintings and sculptures that are unlucky enough to be left in the famous works shadow.

The first photograph was taken about two years ago at Glencar Waterfall, Co. Leitrim, Ireland.

The second image was taken directly across from Berlin's East Side Gallery which is the longest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall.

Architecture

I find it fun photographing buildings and structures. I get to play around with the angles and perspective and try to produce some extreme looking shots.

People

One aspect of my photography that I definitely need to improve and take more pictures of is people. I feel that at this moment I fail to capture the expression and emotions of the subject necessary to make the image interesting and have a meaning on a large enough scale to call myself a decent people photographer.

The following are the only images that I am happy with and willing to share. I think that these do have a certain meaning to them, be it a a simple look of satisfaction, two completely contrasting subjects, a kid almost day dreaming, a father son relationship, a person in a thinking state or just a hint of humour.

Simplicity

I like taking simple photographs where nothing much is happening in the image. It makes me focus more on the composition and colours which can only be a good things. Here is my favourite "wallpaperish" shots as I like to call them.

Lights At Night

Photographing lights at night is something that I've been getting more and more into lately. You can play around with the depth of field to create some bokeh, or just make the pic look "epic" by shooting at an extreme angle such as directly below. Theres endless possibilities and I hope to shoot more in the near future.

The top pic has been likened by someone as if it belongs in the film Tron. Personally it reminds me more of the scene in Close Encounters Of The Third Kind where the aliens make their first contact after the scientists use the massive musical piano multi-coloured thing to communicate with them.

First Online Publication

It's nothing to shout about, but post worthy nonetheless. I got this pic published on the Guardian website. Every week readers can send in their pics which have to suit the current theme. That week the theme was "Shelter". I didn't have anything suitable so decided to bullshit. This is the description which I attached:

"We should choose our shelter more carefully. What looks like good cover can sometimes turn out to be a welcoming spot for the imminent downpour"

Yes I am quite proud of my bullshitting skills. Here's the link if you're curious.

Water Water Water

Water! Oh I love thy. But just to photograph. Why? Well because I can't swim! Recently I have discovered the beauty of light hitting the water that sprinkles and splashes from various fountains. It can be very abstract and ummmmmm nice!

First Post!!!

For my first entry I shall post what I've been photographing most recently, shop windows. I've started to wander about at night here in Berlin along the main shopping areas and have found some really interesting stuff, namely mannequins! I have tried to photograph some of them in a way that conveys the loneliness and boredom that their rigid expressions make me feel (or something like that).