The Amish and Allergies

For some reason I find it hard to keep my blog updates coming regularly. I apologize for this!

Anyways, here is a hybrid media piece that I have been working on for quite a while. I shot the images for the German magazine Spiegel Wissen; for the allergy issue of this popular science publication...

The process was a bit demanding as the Amish generally don't like to be photographed, but had agreed to participate as they felt the issue at hand was worthy and as a favor to the doctor involved. Dr. Marc Holbreich helped us tremendously to get the access we needed... There was a "no posing" rule in place, but it turned out that most adults were actively avoiding the camera as soon as it was pointed at them... At least the kids were curious enough to allow me to get engaging material...

As I hadn't planned on creating a hybrid media piece right then and there was only a very limited amount of time on location I hadn't recorded any original audio... (Neither background soundscapes nor interviews!) So, I decided to compose a minimalist soundtrack and employ the wonderful talent of voice over artist (& poet & woodworker) Bryan Marx. Still it took me quite a while to move the elements around to make it a coherent and strong piece. The wonderful Saki Sato helped me fine tune my edit. Thank you to all involved!

Constant dropping wears away a stone

Back to present on of my most labor intensive and dearest hybrid media pieces yet... It started with an assignment to cover our sensei & dojo for a German magazine a while back... You can read about that here.

Now I had some great images of Imaizumi Sensei and our dojo. And I was getting more involved in the multi media aspect of things as well... So I tried to figure out what other ingredients the piece was still missing... I wanted a narrator who was somehow personally connected with the piece. After sensei declined I approached some of our more senior students until I ended up asking Warren Wynshaw for his input. It wasn't that he was low on my list, but I didn't want to bother him with what I felt "unimportant" stuff... Not that it was unimportant to me, but not necessarily important for other people... To my huge surprise he immediately agreed to participate and we ended up recording his voice over just a few weeks later...

The last obstacle was - as usual - in my mind. I started writing the soundtrack early on and there were only minor changes to it over time... One thing that bothered me was the "fake guitar" that I had used to create a measure of grit and earthiness... It was fine, but lacked the authenticity I was looking for... I approached two of my friends (Christian Wilkes and John F. Richards), who after a series of delays delivered their tracks to me within days of each other... So, I ended up with two distinctly different, but cool guitar tracks that I really liked... An embarrassment of riches... It took me quite a while to figure out what to do. Fellow aikidoist, jazz alto saxphonist and friend Richard Tabnik came to the rescue and suggested using both of them in different sections of the piece...

In the end it came together quite beautifully me thinks. And it comes to show that persistence does have its merits after all... I guess the trick is to figure out if there is a message with projects that get stuck... And what that message could be...

Slideshows! Not new, but new for me!

Last summer a friend suggested to play more with the combination of sound and images... Slideshows came to mind as I do not like videos that much... I mean for myself... I am a photographer after all... So, this is the first one of a series of personal slideshow projects on people that I find interesting... I feel that being able to match audio with the images gives the whole piece an added dimension...
It took me quite a while to get comfortable with this new media set up, so please forgive my lack of posts here!
I hope to post these pieces here now more regularly from now on!

I saw Daniel Robinson first when he conducted a fitness boot camp thingy in the gym where I work out... He was visually so perfect for the part of the bad drill instructor that I had to grin wildly... He was not amused! Running into each other in the neighborhood and the gym we started talking at some point... What a kind and generous soul he is! I was very happy when he agreed to take part in this piece about him, a true New York icon... Yes, indeed you can see him training outside pretty regularly... (when there is no snow that is!) ;)

You can get in touch with him via his email: Drmaxtrain@gmail.com

And back again...

It has been a year now since my dad has passed away... It was a time of hardly any personal photo projects for most of that year here... Just a few months ago though I started working on something exciting that helped me rekindle my passion for this medium again... It was not that I was no longer any good at my job, but I was just not feeling the fire that I used to feel for the art... Willing to push myself even without outside assignments further and further... Stay put until these new projects are ready for show!

Here is another image of this random series of found stuffed and abandoned animals that I seem to be coming across... This one seems to be quite defiant though... Fits my mood perfectly! I'm back again! ;)

Still hibernating, kind of...

After a death in the family and related issues I've just rekindled my more personal connection to photography... It's not that I didn't like it anymore... Or that I couldn't take any good pictures... But it just wasn't the outlet that I needed to deal with those issues... One of the first times this happened to me... I almost felt I was frozen to the core... Still outwardly highly functional though... Anyways: I'm at the tail end of a cold right now when the snow just turned to rain... Glad I managed to catch the image above earlier today... It's the view outside the bedroom here in Harlem... Wishing you all a good Valentine's Day if you celebrate...

Part #5 of catching up with the now...

We're almost there... I have one more folder in my stash and of course another week to catch up on after that... Let's just get to it then, shall we?!

The top image speaks strongly to me... The door had just closed and I was lucky to get such an expressive shot of the woman who had just entered the train... Not sure what is really going on with her, but I like the intensity of the emotion...

Full on...

Shortly after...



Stripes are usually not my kind of thing...

Sephora bag as fashion accessory... What a statement! :)

Sweet to see...

Undistracted...

Reflections galore...

Nicely dressed...

Great face...

Wondering, thinking?

One of my favorite set ups... People getting off the train... 

Checking things out...

Rushing...

Summer definitely has its good sides... 

Exiting with a sense of purpose...

Somehow wholesome...

Alert...

End of the day... Or at least this blog entry...

Part #4... Mastery or Luck?

Still using images from my recent stash... All over sudden I was much happier with the results I was getting... Did my skills improve or was I just more lucky? Hopefully a little of both... Check them out!

Not sure why I picked the top image today... For me it's a typical New York City moment... But why?
Mmh... I think it's his mood...

Far, far away...

This is just so beautiful... 

Closed...

Funky focus, but full of emotions...

That way?

Girl from before...

The mix of people make this city...

 Love when the writing in the image plays into what is happening...

Nerdy and determined...

Tough to read... But intense...

 There is happiness in the city after all!

Different worlds...

Pretty in lace...

Wow...

Not sure what is going on here emotionally...

Full of life...

Springing into (or being in) action... 

After a beat down...

Not super special, but still typical... Times Square impressions...