what is beauty

things are going to change around here.

i have been thinking for a long while about this question of beauty. and the question of art.

when i first started taking pictures some three or four years ago, everything i shot was very instinctive. i am a visual person. i feel drawn to light and shadows, contrast, shapes, colours. i frame certain things, and that i do in a particular way. a way that is informed by a certain aesthetic.

only this aesthetic has been changing rather radically in the past year.

i feel more and more at odds with my own photography. i'm looking at images and think: pretty, but i don't like it. or rather: that's not what i want at all. it may be beautiful, but it's got nothing at all to do with my vision.

more and more often i feel i'm not being true to myself in posting pretty pictures that are falling far behind what i'm really after. i've been debating this for a long time. i wondered whether i'm being precious. or deluding myself in thinking that i'm even able to do anything else than pretty pictures.

i also realise that many people might like pretty pictures far better than what i have in mind. that i might be on my own if i go through with this. i don't want to disappoint, i don't want to offend. but at the end of the day, i have to stick to what i believe in.

this is all tied in with the big questions about beauty, about art. it would be too easy to emulate the style of artists i admire, and it wouldn't be true. i've had very close ties with art book publishing, including art photography, for many years, and i've been an avid reader online, following many inspiring photographers' work over time. i could rattle off a list of names, i could analyse the kind of aesthetic that gets me. but what would it help? even in art photography, there are trends. morbid poses, stark lighting, melancholia, crudeness, vast landscapes, night shots, flash etc. etc. and what good would it do to mindlessly imitate.

i'm not saying ugly is the new pretty. but i guess i'm saying beauty is more profound than a beautiful surface. and that it is tied in, for me, with a certain depth that is fed by something beyond that particular picture i'm taking this moment.

the bottom line is, i have to find my own way. and it may be a bumpy road indeed. there may be stretches of silence. there may be work you'd find very odd. i don't even know myself.

you know, take care in high winds.

le bleu

care for some more summer on a monday morning?

that incredible blue of the mediterrean, the salty air, the glaring sun, the sound of the engine, and the "oh look, les cabanons!" when i first saw the little beach huts perched precariously on the rocks. like a bird's nest.

have a good week, all of you!

a summer's day

it was in august, we made an early start, driving down to the coast on bendy little roads and a fair bit of motorway. after searching around the old port for the boat shed, finally ringing the bell of a house in town, the only address we had - the private quarters of the captain, it turned out -, we were directed by a dignified lady in rollers to the end of the dock, where the boat was waiting. it was the summer, where, for the first time in my life, i rode in a convertible, and, for the first time in my life, i went to sea on a motor boat. a riva. it was one of the best days. in the evening, we sat by the pool, in the sun. then had an apéro. and later dinner.

winter walk (V)

you made me smile with your kind words, thank you!

there is one last set of the winter walk, then it's on to new things...

winter walk (IV)

it's sunday. i just put on some woolly socks that had sat on the radiator for a little while and were deliciously warm. yesterday, i cleared some of the dried plants and put in a couple of bulbs (months too late of course, but ever the optimist, i'm hoping they will make an appearance nevertheless). it starts to feel a little less wintry here, but that's most likely wishful thinking.

i'm looking for a good read (again). any ideas?

winter walk (III)

there is a wooden tower near my parents' house, to watch the birds of the nature reserve. my parents moved to the north sea when my dad retired.

on an another note: i recently noticed that the blogger word verification has become ridiculously difficult to decipher, perhaps in order to rule out people like myself, who are clearly not clever enough for it. since i've found that it frustrates me and keeps my from commenting, i have decided to switch it off on my own blog. took me a while to figure out that you can only disable it via the old blogger interface. ok then, enough techie talk.

have a wonderful weekend!

winter walk (II)

from the winter walk on the heath, by the sea. i'm feeling so restless recently. i have so many ideas, and not nearly enough time to pursue them. apart from pressing deadlines, there is work being done to the apartment (the last two days, pipes were replaced, which meant no running water or heating for the best part of the day, and lots of dust and dirt).

i feel like i am chasing some unicorn. unlikely, that i will suddenly have lots of spare time on my hands in the near future, so i will have to find other ways of pinching moments for photo taking, writing and other creative things. can you relate? what do you do?

winter walk (I)

a winter walk by the sea. it was a very cold day.

winter is very much here. this morning, we are having between minus ten and minus fourteen in berlin. the forecast is for 'warmer' weather (around zero) and snow. the thing is, i need the snow to go away so i can wear my new shoes. hm.

today, i've also got a little thing to mention that's been on my mind: my friends who are using tumblr and pinterest, when you tumblr or pin any of my images, would you be so kind as to put 'kristina' or 'no penny for them' as credit and link back to either my blog or my flickr. thanks so much for your help (and a big thank you to all who faithfully do so already, it's much appreciated)!

//

sometimes, it's all in the details.

back then

back in january, when marion was here, we had coffee at bonanza's. you've seen the polaroids - here is what my other camera snapped. at bonanza's, they do actually roast their own coffee in that huge machine, and they've set up a counter for the most beautiful chemex coffee makers. they will soon start brewing filter coffee in earnest.

(those of you who stop by here as well as at marion's, i realise you might feel like having a bit of a déjà-vu lately. i hope you don't mind. after all, that way you get at least two side of a stories, and that's something, no?)

i am super busy at the moment, hence the random appearances here. how are you doing?

more of mies

mr. less-is-more, the man with the cigar, he built some very nice houses indeed. i thought i'd show you a few more shots taken on that crisp and sunny winter's day. i'm glad i had both a colour and a black-and-white roll with me, they came out so very differently.

p.s.: i'm still pinning.