Stuff boys dream of

Men are simple beings. So simple, that reading our minds is no big thing, everybody can do it. I mean, look at these two guys, just have look at their face and you know what they are dreaming of.

The one on the right is admiring the simple yet beautiful lines of the bike. And a beauty she is, there is no doubt. Sleek, compact, oozing power, no matter where you look. He sees himself grab the handlebar, and almost feels the vibrtions ofthe bike shaking his body as he unleashes its raw power.

The other one? He’s probably imagining how he and his girlfriend ride the bike on alpine roads, how she hugs him from behind, how she clings to him, how he feels her soft …. hold on, there is no back seat!

So you see, it’s easy to get boys dreaming and read their minds.

I on the other side, I am a grown man, calm, relaxeds, one could even say I’m wise. There is no way I would get carried away by just a piece of rubber and metal. I am ….

Hold on, did you see that bike over there? God, let me sit on it, just for a moment, I’ll be right back!

I’ll get that guy in front of me, just wait! After the next bend you’ll eat my duuuuuust!

Stairway

Haven’t we all taken a shot like this? Specially if we like black and white photography. Stairways shot from above provide lines, structure and … boredom. Lets face it.

Anyway, lately I decided to take my Monochrom more often for a walk. After all you only take photos if you also have a camera with you . Yes, I know, we all have a cellphone and therefore alway have a camera with us but lets face it…. I prefere shooting with a “real” camera. Don’t get me wrong, you can take great pictures with a phone, but when taking pictures, it just doesn’t feel the same.

But let me get back to the shot here. The stairway is at my office and I had the Zeiss 50mm f1.5 lens on my monochrom and was just fooling around, taking random shot to get back into the practice of rangefinder photography and manual exposure when this gentleman entered the stairway and did me the favor of braking the boredom of the lines.

Not a great shot, but at least an interesting one.

Enjoy your weekend folks!

At the bazar

Ah the bazar…

It reminds us of the tales of 1001 nights, a place where you can find wonders like Aladdin’s lamp or a flying carpet, if you only know where to look and are not afraid to barter. People from all over the world, all these colors, the smells – let’s face it, a bazar is simply a wonder of the orient.

Our guide told us that they always take their guest to the bazar twice, once on the first day of the journey and once on the last, as most people are simply overwhelmed with all the impressions. And so we did one visit to have a look, enjoy the sensation and a second one two weeks later for shopping.

Speaking of shopping, the bazar is essentially organized like a mall. You enter at the section with cloths, then comes the shoe section, then everything for the baby, further in the carpenters and then the blacksmith. I guess the biggest difference to a mall is, that there is no air condition 🙂

The moment when Anita discovered that this woman was selling pigments for making colors.
Once they were done doing business, there were two very happy women 🙂

The clothing department. The place to get your t-shit, skirt, scarfs and things you didn’t know you had been looking for

He was having a coffee with his friends and kindly ask to take a picture of him.
Who am I to refuse?
(Just a shame I can’t send him the picture as i have no clue who he is…

The Blacksmiths – finally a department for us men 🙂 It was quite amazing to watch them. Just a few strokes with the hammer… it would have taken me ages to do the same work!

Delivery Service. Yes your shopping gets home delivery… if you have time 🙂
Photo by Toni Schnydrig

Early morning

Early in the morning, when the world is still quiet and the commuters are just getting up, the train station slowly awakes.

A few travellers hustle through it, on the way to the early morning train that will get them to the airport while the shops slowly start to open their doors.

It’s a quiet, peaceful rare moment.

Be a tourist

It’s weird how we take things for granted. They just have been here all the time, as long as we remember and we walk by without paying attention. We so easily forget, that for somebody else, what we treat as normal and bland might well be a ting of beauty, maybe even borderline miraculous.

It is now holiday season and yesterday I took the motorbike and drove into the alps. And it was there, descending from the Susten Pass, where I met this couple. Simply standing there, admiring the view for what seemed to be an eternity. They didn’t talk, they just stood there, without talking. The car next to them had a Netherlands license plate and I smiled remembering that the highest “mountain” there is about 100 feet or so.

I tried to imagine how it must be for them, standing there, looking at mountains higher than everything they probably ever imagined. I admit, I put the camera down for a minute as well, it was quite an intense experiment.

You know, we all should look at our every day world with a tourist’s eye now and then. We really should. As Louis Armstrong said, it really is a wonderful world after all.

Forgetting the world around you

Ah, the power of love. We’ve all been there. Gazing into our lover’s face, eyes, loosing ourself in it and forgetting everything around us.

Even the loud protest march in the background with its whistles, drums and megaphones.

And listening to the baby who is screaming on top of her lungs right behind me while I write this entry, I so wish I would be the guy in the picture. Maybe that would help 🙂

Lets play ball!

Sometimes I can be such a mean bastard.

So, on one of the first nice summer days I decided to do a hike in the mountains. Just to get away from the crowd, noise and heat of the city (Note: I don’t complain about the heat. Oh no, never. Not after this lousy Spring).

A really nice hike up a steep little mountain where I stopped to have lunch. Shortly after, this couple with their Golden Retriever showed up spoiling the meditational mood of just me, the mountain and mother nature. And the little devil on my left shoulder started to whisper in my ear, reminding me of a ball I had in my back pack and how much fun it would be if I…

Go buddy, fetch the ball!

Footnote: No dogs were harmed taking this picture 😉

Street Photographers

Did you know that there are (at least) two types of street photographers?

There is the one who is very upfront, bang in your face, Erik Kim / Bruce Gilden type of street photographer. Always on the hunt, never hiding he (or she) is taking your photo. Like our friend in this scene.

And then there is the other one, more relaxed type, with a little camera and tourist disguise, the one you never notice as he is taking shots from the hip. As you can see here, the up front type of street photographer needs to have quick reflexes and needs to be quick on his feet, while his buddy stays relaxed, being in peace with himself and the world.

And then there is of course yours truly, who chuckles silently as he takes his shots of the scene 😉

Beauty queen

Some say that there is a strong connection between a dog and it’s owner, a connection that even extends to the looks and character. Remember Winston Churchill and his bulldog? Well you know, this really holds true! A while back I was sitting in a coffee shop, watching this lady and her dog. To have the dog stay on the cold hard stone floor was of course out of question, after all it probably was part of her family. And so it, or should we rather say she, got her own seat, showing off as her owner was chatting with her friend.

She had a very self confident “I know I am pretty” attitude, her hair looking as if she just paid visit to her hair dresser and the nails trimmed to a very nice shape and polished to perfection. Not to mention her outfit, which suited her just perfectly, the cleavage leading the eye to her perfect neck. Oh yes, she knew she was looking good, adding value to the shop with her mere presence and she loved every bit of attention she got.

I’m of course talking of the dog, but you knew that, didn’t you 🙂

Serenade

Ahh Summer…

Imagine a beautiful day in the city, warm evening light, lovers walking along the streets, holding hands or sharing an embrace. Life is just good. From a distance, you hear a guitar, the sound catching your attention and you decide to find the player. Up a stair your way goes, passing a narrow alley until you reach the little place overlooking the city.

And there he is, sitting next to his love, singing for her, for her alone and each note, each word makes her heart flutter. It doesn’t really matter, what he is singing, the fact he is singing for her and for her only is all that matters to her. And you smile.