why people photograph

well, if you could see my sofa. most of the time, i'm sitting on the right side of it and on the left, well, i pile up magazines, books, diaries, postcards, things that inspire me. they stay there until guests come round, when i clear it all up and it all begins all over again... in the mornings, i try to sit down with my coffee and read a little bit before i start work, sometimes i have books that keep me company for a good while. one of my inspiring reads recently is why people photograph by robert adams. it's a loose collection of essays written by adams for various publications on various topics. some of them gripped me more than others, but i love the way he speaks very plainly about being a photographer, there's no pretension or self-importance, it's all very honest and down-to-earth, sometimes suprisingly so. i really recommend it.

in his essay on teaching, adams refers to harry callahan, who not only left an amazing body of work as a photographer but also taught photography for many decades. i'll just have to share that quote with you:

"i really didn't have that much to teach. i didn't even believe in it. i felt so strongly that everybody had to find their own way. and nobody can teach you your own way . . . in terms of art, the only real answer that i know of is to do it. if you don't do it, you don't know what might happen."

p.s.: obviously, i don't want to put down teaching, i think it's one of the greatest things ever. but you know what i mean, right? 

first steps

finally got my act together and set up a flickr account. it will probably take a while until i get my head around it properly, but it's a start. (i may just start bugging you with questions...) would love to see you there! 

these pictures were taken on a market, on a hot summer's day in saint-martin-de-craux, not far from arles. i so miss the sun-drenched flavours of the south.

p.s.: thank you so much for all your feed-back so far on my camera question! some of you dropped me a comment, some of you sent me an email. thank you, thank you for your thoughts and ideas, this is such a big help. i'm still happy to hear what you are thinking, so leave me a comment if you like (i do read english, french, dutch and german, so any of these languages is fine ;))!

happy accidents

sometimes you just walk down a street and there it is. a happy accident. arles, summer 2009.

thank you all for stopping by, it means a lot. and thank you, jen - your blog's a constant inspiration.

happy weekend!

france: read the signs

i have to say: wednesday without corner view is somehow strange. don't you think?

so in lieu of our regular wednesday challenge, here are some more impressions from france. this time from arles. we went there to see the photo festival that takes place once a year. that evening though, we set off fairly late and arrived in arles at around five. too late really to start seeing the exhibitions, so we bought day tickets for the following day and wandered the streets, just taking in the light and atmosphere. here are some signs that caught my eye - such beautiful typography, wouldn't you agree? 

oh, and that last sign: go on, read it...

(too right, i'm off to buy some ice-cream now - see you later!)

france: the place

when we arrived in france, we had taken the nighttrain from venice (meaning we didn't get much sleep). quite an adventure, though. having picked up the car at nîmes station and driven down to arles, we did some quick food shopping on the market and finally arrived at the mas, where we would be be spending a whole week. such a beautiful place. the building from the 16th century had been restored by our host and her partner, a stone mason. we loved the room, the summer kitchen, the pergola, the pool, the sound of the crickets. wish i could go back this minute!

p.s.: i've just been looking into photo courses, i'd love to take one this autumn and there are some interesting classes. exciting!

p.p.s.: thanks for all your kind comments. i'm sorry i sounded so sad in my last post. feeling much better now. had a wonderful sunday.

venice & arles and a little giveaway

it's june already, how on earth did that happen? this also means though, that i'm on count-down for my first ever proper holiday (weekend breaks aside) since starting out as a freelancer a good four years ago. oh dear, how did that happen - four years without a proper holiday?! but there it is, and on july 1st, i shall be heading for the airport, bound for venice, oh yes! together with a friend, i'll visit the biennial, stay a few days and then take the train to arles, where we'll have rooms at a lovely mas in a village nearby and make the most of the summer in the south of france (as well as of the recontres de la photographie, the photo festival in arles). can't wait!

now, i'm loathe to admit it, but i've never been to venice before and only been once, briefly, to arles. and that's where you come in. i'd love to hear your special tips and suggestions for about anything on these two places - where to eat, drink, which corners (hidden or not) to visit, which books to pack (i'm thinking fiction here), anything. so if you have any ideas or happen to read something interesting - let me know in the comments and there'll be a little giveaway, too. on tuesday, i'll randomly pick the lucky winner of a little wallpaper city guide on venice. go ahead, tell all!

p. s. : after the holiday, there'll also be a giveaway in form of pictures i'm intending to take while i'm there. stay tuned!