“Uf. This is harder than 120km …”

When I grow up, I wanna be like Edi. Edi runs long distance. With long I mean long; up to 100 miles and who knows may be even more. At the moment he is training for a race in June, 120km somewhere in Italy, a distance I can only dream about as the longest I will run this year is 42km. But may be, one day, when I grow up, I’ll run 120km as well. One day.

Anyway, I finally managed to get Edi in front of the camera. As he works in marketing, he normally works with pictures instead of being on it. When I explained him what I wanted, we took a shot: six seconds. It was than, after the first shot, that he admitted that running 120km is easier than posing for six seconds :).

In the end we had a two second exposure. Window light with reflector.

Like their colleagues, Michak, Mathilda and Magda came from Poland to support our firm. Monika informed me about them and as soon as I saw them in the hall, I asked them for a photo. After a small hesitation, they accepted.

Lighting was simple as usual: window light, my reflector and an exposure between two and five seconds.

I commute. The first week was mainly sunny, causing the images to have quite some contrast and with this setting the scene for the rest as the contrast really appeals to me.

Vesna changes her look on regular base. She would be a great subject for my ‘doubles’. Over the years that we worked together, she changed many times. Not only her look; she also took several different positions in the firm.

Window light, my reflector and 5 seconds.

Isabelle came from Germany to support our HR-department for two days. I needed to do something for her which of course I did. However, in return I asked for a portrait. Done deal.

Window light, reflector and two seconds only.

To commute. It is such a strange word, at least it sounds strange to me, but then, I am not a native English speaker. It means nothing else then to travel from your home to work and backwards.

I commute. Daily somewhere between 60-65 kilometers depends on the route I take. Always by car, around 1,5 hours at least per day. I don’t mind it, am used to it, and used my time to handle work by phone and to sort out things in my head.

For almost 15 years I drive the same route every day. One might think it is boring, but it is not. My view is different every day. The route is the same, but surroundings are not.

As of this week, for one month, I’ll photograph the view from my windshield. For obviously reasons, I’ll only do so when waiting for the red light (or other obstacles), so you’ll mainly get crossings. Basically, it will look like the photo below, but then sharp and without filters. 

For photographers: the camera I’ll use is my wannabe Xpan: the DP0q in monochrome mode, format set to 21:9. RAW images processed to TIFF and then finished (border and eventually vignetting) in NIK software. No photoshop as I don’t have this.

Last but not least: the dust spots on my photos are not from my sensor (at least I hope so) but from my windshield. I should wash my car.

I wrote about Rome before, as well as my fondness for the DP0q, so no need to linger. 

While walking around I enjoyed the music of two street musicians, and whilst playing, the sun made their instruments and their faces glow. Wonderful moment which lasted only very shortly. 

This was the best shot I got. Speed is not for this camera, nor is focusing and framing without a hood in sunlight.

The path tilted slightly downwards and the many stones made it a rough path. We told her to leave the bicycle up and to walk down, but she didn’t listen. While she drove down, she gained speed and lost control, and in one second she was lying on the floor. The bicycle on top of her and she started to cry, more out of shock than of pain. She didn’t realize what happened. She fell of her bicycle, for the very first time.

She came earlier to me and asked me for ‘key number 15’. I didn’t understand it, thought she was learning how to count, until her father told me he bought her a bicycle and need some gear to fix the side-wheels so she could go out and drive her new bicycle. For the very first time.

After lunch, we went for a drive, on her new bicycle. I had an easy job as I was photographing only. Her father had to run a lot, to ensure all would be fine.

In the end it was all fine, she fell only once. It is part of learning how to drive. For sure, she will fall still many times. It’s ok. What matter is that she had a great time. That the joy was so much bigger than her tears. What matters in the end, is the smile on your face.

We were sitting in a bar in Vienna, enjoying a moment of doing nothing. The weather was not clear: sometimes rain, sometimes dry. Being seated at the window, I decided to play a bit with my camera. I put it on a book, pre-focused and on manual, and just clicked on almost everybody passing by. 

I always enjoyed watching people while sitting on a terrace and or in a bar, I just never photographed them in this way and I must admit it was rather fun to do. Results are snapshots, but then, this is what I saw, I snapshot of a person passing by.

The diversity of people passing by was great. Fully covered  (either for their religion, either for the weather) to summer style, enjoying the first rays of sunlight on their body, cooling themselves down with ice-cream.

The image which keeps me wondering though, is the one below. What looks strange to me, is the drawing on his sweater. Is it factory made, or did some-one draw it? It looks like the latter. But then, what does it mean? For what stands the A? The arrows? Why does this guy wear it? Even when, factory made? 

So many questions. Unanswered. I guess I’ll never know the answers. People passing by. Often unnoticed, but sometimes we see. Sometimes we wonder.