Singapore, Chinese Garden, the night of the mid-autumn moon or lantern festival. Agreat variety of different shaped lanterns decorate the garden, every one of them telling a different story: there are glowing dragons diving through the little lake; there are dwarf like figures with dragon heads; lanterns in the shape of fruits; a zoo of animal shaped lanterns; and of course the traditional ones. Whole families, from grandparent to the smallest baby, come here, strolling through the park, taking pictures of each other, sitting down for a small picknick, enjoying Chinese tea ceremonies. At one corner there are paper dragons on sticks for children to play the dragon dance, in pairs they jump with the dragon flying through the early evening, while others play music on drums and gongs. As the sun sets the horizon into a warm mood, I take a rest and buy one of the traditional mooncake. It is a fist sized little cake which carries the moon right in the center of it, surrounded by a sweet lotus seed paste: a whole egg yolk. Standing next to a lantern it glows right now in one very Chinese color: red.... (slideshow)
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Kyoto, early hours in a late summer. It is so easy to forget the monstrous and modern train station of Kyoto when standing in front of an old temple, looking into the big halls of tatami, on which monks sit in mediation. Birds in the trees sing their morning prayers. After some long minutes of silence a gong is heard, short and clear, yet subtle and gentle. The monks get up, and walk quickly but graciously in silence over to the next room, their white socks lower the sound of their steps on the dark brown-red wooden floor and at the same time increase the contrast as they glow in the early sun against the black robes. This visual impact is just like a tiny water which glitters and runs in its bed between the temple and the idyllic houses of which sliding doors stand open to exchange the tatami scent of the night with the freshness of the morning. Here, each moment of time takes over in its unique characteristics, different each second, and every blink of the eye reveals yet another composition of the surrounding, intangible, and in its own way: beautiful and harmonious. Stop. Contemplate. The brightness of the sun lightens up the eyelids of the closed eyes, letting them glow in the color of one own's blood.... (slideshow)
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tsujido beach, august, summer day, rushing ocean, jumping skateboards, chilled cans of beer: the narrow strip of black sanded beach is like some magnified tracks of a record, the reflections of the setting sun like sparks flying as the needle scratches over the surface, creating a very unique type of music. Darkness won t harm, the fires are lit, tables glow, and sparking-flowers arise on the horizon or are handheld popping into the blackblue sky; a white balloon travels through the picture like a surrealistic dali-esque detail; and while the dj keeps on spinning the disks, the skating ramp continues to make sounds of thunder, some lie down to sleep in spacy glowing domes, hanging around, or watch the dreams from the top of the roof. ...Black sand between my teeth.... (slideshow)
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new orleans, july, trying to capture the aura of this city which seems to be so imminent everywhere; the choice of motives falls on quiet little sceneries, not immediatly obvious to the eye, yet nutritiously directive as root for this swinging mood; the air virbrates of heat; somewhere a group of musicians plays some dixieland jazz; no matter where you go in this town, you're constantly able to hear it, the dust of the streets is carrying it with the wind... (slideshow)
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Kodak 1600 slide film pushed to 3200ASA
Kodak 1600 slide film pushed to 3200ASA
Kodak 1600 slide film pushed to 3200ASA
Kodak 1600 slide film pushed to 3200ASA
