It's August and by now most of the blossoms have pretty much bloomed their season off. That's why I can tell how satisfying it was to edit this collection of my visit at the Loki-Schmidt-Garden – the Botanical Garden of the University Hamburg, looking over and over again at the lushness, the aliveness of the rich greenery of late spring.
Read moreG20 Summit Hamburg – Demonstration in Pictures
Today was the main demonstration against this weekends G20 summit in Hamburg. And as I'm officially a citizen of Hamburg right now, I participated myself, of course.
Read moreInto the Botanical Garden // Planten un Blomen Hamburg
Winter is almost gone and all we talk about is the scents outside the house - it smells like spring!
Read moreSeptember Gift // Desktop Wallpaper Giveaway
The month September where I grew up will forever mean one thing - it’s school time once again, kids, set your alarm clocks to an early hour again, get new notebooks-rulers-cartridges in the office supply shop and be ready for some rainy afternoons filled with homework to do. It was a certain sweet but also depressing feeling of hopelessness at the same time. To get back to school and hang out with friends in the break times in the cafeteria was one good thing. But knowing that that’s actually the end of the long sunny summer days and it’s only gonna get worse and wet and dark, and the next summer is like an eternity far away if it’s there at all, made me pretty mental.
In short: those few days before September 1st - they were heavily confusing.In a way I’m actually happy the twelve school years are long over but I’ll always remember them in a sweet hate-love manner.
Bottom line is - we need a new vibe for September. And that is why I want to wrapt it up into one sheeny mantle of a cozy mood. I imagine him to feel lush emerald, calming, silently inspiring and soft, with its way more gentle sunlight and refreshing moisty breezes. I prepared a desktop wallpaper that reflects these sensations and reminds me everyday of what I want September to feel like.
Nonetheless - I want to share it with you as you can join my idea by simply enlarging and downloading this photo-graphic calendar wallpaper that I made (or downloading it over here). And if you set it to your desktop picture - please send me a screenshot to see how it looks like, because I’m very curious!
Enjoy the beginning of autumn and a gentle change of the seasons. And - go more to botanical gardens! It's overall calming and a beautiful place for photographic meditations.
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Photos made with Nikon D7000 + Sigma Art 35mm f1,4, in this botanical garden. Graphics made with Wacom Intuos on ArtRage Lite.
Focus!
There are so many things that I wanted to create and share on this blog since ages. So many - I don't even know where to start. I have a very impulsive mind and I rather suffer from the many ideas that come into my head than make and actual profit of it. All of them, the ideas, really want my attention and to get materialised one day, or rather just right now, and if they don't - some of them start nagging me till I cry, can you imagine? And then they get angry and pretty cruel! I tell them to stand in line and wait for their turn, and what most of them do is just roll their eyes, start taking long loud breaths to show how 'patient' they are, one starts tapping its foot to the ground, eventually start moaning. I get soft and when I turn to the most impatient one somewhere in the middle of the queue, kindly giving her a warm hug and offering to go to the front of the crowd, despite all the other ideas that are there in front of her already. And I kindly ask what can I do to make her existence come true, but what she does is getting all bitchy, stops talking to me at all and turns her eyes away.. Apparently, I've been neglecting her for so long and she's so heart broken now, it's too hard for her to talk to me anymore. Our relationship is ruined forever. With lots of patience I have to start guessing, offering her a cup of tea and somehow trick her into sharing her life-changing existential goal with me. Maybe she'll still give me her blessing and I can create something beautiful out of it.
And that's everyday. Multitasking, managing, dealing, staying patient yet vivid with all the ideas that pop into my mind and scream for attention. And I better recognise the best ones fast, and I better get on doing what they say, 'cause no matter how genius they are - they won't be standing there for ages waiting for their turn in line. They are very undisciplined, you know! They are like little babies, little untamed kiddos. But that's why they are amazing at the very same time. A creative idea, just like a kid full of phantasy, won't be sitting there, killing off all its energy, just to be able to play 'on its given time'. Ideas, like kids, grow if you give them the time and space to grow into something amazing. They might become your inspiration well, your best friends, an amazing part of your identity. Now, I don't know how this turned into some essay about how a child becomes your identity, but that's what it's all about right now. What I want to say is - be careful with ideas that pop into your head. Take a good first scan and decide on just a few which will stand in the queue to become realised. As shiny and sparkly some of them might look - they will have to be sent away in order for you to built just a few bigger stronger projects at a time. Some might eventually come back again, maybe even more developed and advanced by the time.
So stay focused.
The photo shoot is from July last year on a beach on Helgoland, one of the photo experiments which my friend Indre Winterrain helped me to work on. Born out of another idea which was luckily standing in line with a little bit of patience. Luckily, I didn't let her stand there in the never ending queue for too long.