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!

Onward!!!

Well... Almost wrapping up the year...What a weird mix of events... But I'm still around and kicking... Something to be thankful for! I was researching photo equipment these quiet days between the years, then it struck me that most likely I wouldn't be getting super exciting images if I stayed at home any longer... So I made a quick trip outside and captured some of the weird colors while the snow was starting to fall...

The top image was chosen, because it represents the positive attitude that I'd like to hold on to for the new year... I created a black and white version of it as well, but it looked too timeless... Selected this one because it feels more Blade Runner like... 

The school's super must have meant well putting out the salt in a generous half circle...

Brown stone detail in Harlem... 

Still Harlem... One of the rooms looks different than the others... (One of those new, quite unattractive buildings...)

Subway theme! ;) I had a hard time fitting this into a square... Need to bring my wide angle more often!

Front side of cover motive...

Different detail of same statue...

Camera just pointed down... 

The BW version looked like a post card from a hundred years ago... Amazing how cameras pick up all those different colors of light...

Vocal exercises in the park at snow fall... (I think!)