While walking towards a relaxed coffee with a colleague on Friday, I spotted this graffiti in old Ljubljana. For some reason, my first association was Roma singer. Strangely enough, I could almost picture the Almodovar-like atmosphere (remember the shivering “Paloma” from Hable con ella?) and the sound of acoustic guitars in the back. But not her voice. Not even a hint, as if I’d walked into the guitar solo part of the performance.
Call me odd, but there was something even odder on Ljubljana’s vegetable market on Friday. Everybody and their mother was buying sour cabbage and sour turnip, people were standing in cues of twenty or thirty. Not a usual sight, I must say.
that Rudolf won’t make it this year. He was last seen like this in a small mountain cottage in Slovene Alps.
Marry holidays and may 008 bring out your creativity in whatever you do!
Since these days some of you are just waiting till the right moment to leave your office, here is a Pre-Christmas Tale by one of my favorite authors (Milorad Pavic) to keep you looking at the screen and continue to give the impression of a hard working employee :)
An unexpected gift arrived by mail on Saturday – the summer school book. Why am I sharing this with you? Well, because I did the cover photo plus layout. It’s so nice to produce something tangible for a change, to hold it in your hands… Was a bit afraid how it will turn out but it looks great. Actually, this is my second book cover, you can see Tamara feasting on the first one by clicking here.
So if any of you are in need of a book cover photo, let me know, perhaps this could be the “genre” that I will specialise in. I have at least one prospective client in mind, that is myself :))
at least one happy mom in Ljubljana. The sign, displayed on one of the drabbest facades in Ljubljana, says “My mother is the most beautiful of them all”. Had a quick stroll through the city this morning and ended up buying a wooden toy for Tamara before heading to faculty to watch over an exam. Didn’t have much luck with my errands though, and my suspicions are confirmed. It’s hard to be a homemade lens builder in Slovenia because its impossible to just walk into a store and buy a body cap for EOS. Not to mention that old cameras and lenses tend to be unreasonably priced, even at flea markets. Ah, well, will just have to ebay the stuff :)
Filed under: photography | Tags: anti-mainstream, homemade lens, photography
I have always been attracted to anti-mainstream things, alternative concepts and personal anti-system rebellions. I don’t really know how and why I developed this stand but I had this inclination probably since kindergarten. So it is small surprise that I came across this alternative photography universe yesterday – the world of home made lenses. And as we would say in Slovenia, my fingers immediately started itching. The guys are making shift, macro and fisheye lens substitutes from old enlarger or camera lenses and all sorts of other scraps. Not to mention that the photos some of these “machines” make are really something. You can check them out where else but on Flickr by clicking on this link. Or click on the links below to get some of my favorites: Shift lens; Fisheye lens; Macro lens; “regular lens”.
There are some advantages to living in small towns – I managed to renew my driving license in five minutes, plus with really friendly service. As I went to check something for Edirisa, I noticed that the guy in Room 11 handled a weird combination of tasks. The three areas he covers are registration of weapons, events and associations. Hmmm.
The odd looking pic is on how to achieve Holga effects without Holga when you are a bit bored by shooting through Tamara’s bottle cap. I actually quite like the dreamy effect though it’s actually not very easy to replicate, particularly with auto focus switched on. Here is one of the less failed attempts. I think I’ll still go for a proper Holga lens for EOS.
Well, the first snowflakes of the winter were a bit shy but there were enough of them to make a puffy coating on the ground that Tamara could inspect in puzzled amazement. But they were nothing compared to the lights we put on the window. This pic would really deserve a sound bite of her loud enthusiasm but… The little one is obviously enjoying the nationwide attention being paid to her upcoming birthday:) And while the first Christmas trees already sprung-up in the windows of surrounding apartment buildings, we still haven’t quite figured out where we are going to put ours so that Tamara won’t be able to pull it down. We’ll have to think fast.
Filed under: Holga, Things as they are | Tags: Dresden, Holga, pig, Slovenia, theft
…where do I live. Last night, while b-day Champaign was bubbling its way through my sleep and into my dreams, the major crime act of the night was committed by a guy who stole a truck with 107 pigs. When he was caught, he claimed that he stole the truck because he just wanted a ride home. I do wonder what you plan to do with a truck full of pigs, start a farm perhaps? Stock with meat for the rest of your life?
No comment, but you are more than welcome to post one :)
The image is a Holga pic from Dresden.
It is really remarkable how handwriting is gendered. I have been grading some partial exams and it struck me how, sheet after sheet, I could guess if it was from a female or male student. It felt a bit like in Milorad Pavic’s novels, where objects, tastes, stories etc. always have female and male parts. Or like in Iran where the doors of the old houses used to have two different door-knocks, one female and one male. This enabled the lady of the house to know the gender of the visitor by the sound of the knocking, so that she knew if she had to cover her head with scarf or not. I was told that the male knock was always on the left side of the two doors.
And don’t forget, you still have time to send your pics and win one of the three original grasswire photographs – scroll below for details on the give-away competition.
