Unrest Sunglasses
Composite im Studio. Nächstes Mal: erst Brille putzen…
Slokker-Serie
Das schöne Orange der Slokker-Sonnenbrille passt hervorragend zum blauen Anzug — ist aber auch zum Holzhacken stilistisch ganz sicher die richtige Wahl.
Endlich Frühling!
Set: Linh Duong
Foto: Jan Söhlke
Konzept: Jan Söhlke & Linh Duong
Easter Trip to Weimar
It has been a while since I last rubbed elbows with Goethe, Schiller and the likes in this neat little town — close to a quarter of a century to be precise. In total everybody in the family loved the experience, the only place we found somewhat disappointing was the Bauhaus-Museum.
Happy Easter
Frohe Ostern allerseits!
Zwei rohe Eier: eins mit eins ohne Schale. Mit Schale in natürlichem Licht, ohne im Studio mit einem Aufbau von Gary Perweiler.
Familienportrait
Ein Familienportrait aus Sonnenbrillen in einem vollkommen verregneten Frühling.
Baume et Mercier Watch
My wife’s Baume et Mercier wrist watch before and after cleaning up the many scratches and replacing the bitten out chunks. Incredible what becomes visible in a close up.
One light setup, focus stacking 200+ picures for a 15 image composite following a tutorial by Max Bridge.
Marcel Kawentel
Schlagzeuger Marcel Kawentel. Beruflich auch Kawentel der Drehbuchautoren Kawentel & Lombeck. Mit Dank an Sohn Luis, der assistierte.
Fast enough
“If everything seems under control, you’re not going fast enough” (M. Andretti).
Der nächste Sprung endete vorm Baum und ich war – einmal mehr – froh, dass Heike dabei war.
Fuel your Engine
Rocket fuel concept with background image by NASA via https://unsplash.com/photos/dCgbRAQmTQA
Naschwerk-Schokolade
Obwohl es zwei Tage vor heilig Abend war und somit die engste Zeit des Jahres, nahm Maître Chocolatier Markus Podzimek vom Naschwerk sich spontan Zeit, mir die besten Stücke herauszusuchen. “Boom!” wurde sogar eigens in die Produktion geschoben. – Vielen Dank!
Beate Weiß Keramik, Siegen
Besuch im Siegener Keramikstudio von Beate Weiß (http://www.weiss-keramik.de/).
Lilian Weiken
Deutsche Meisterin und Weltmeisterin im Ju Jutsu aus Siegen. Weltklasse-Athletin und -Mensch.
Walnussbaum
Das Geschenk eines Eichhörnchens wuchs zu nah am Haus und der Baum musste weg.
Linh Duong Blumenkunst: Adventsausstellung
Dokumentation der jährlichen Adventsausstellung bei Linh Duong Blumenkunst in Siegen.
Der Schiffhobel meines Großvaters
Making of:
Pour Shot
Behind the scenes:
Cai Dao
Chinesisches Küchenmesser des vietnamesischen Herstellers Dao Vua, der die Messer aus alten LKW-Federn fertigt. Trotz der Ähnlichkeit mit einem Fleischerbeil ein sehr filigranes Werkzeug.
Markus Boßlet, Restaurant Bar
Mit vielem Dank an Markus Boßlet, Küchenchef und Inhabe des Restaurant Bar in Siegen, der sich so großzügig Zeit nahm und Jakobsmuscheln “Ras El Hanout” und ein herbstliches Calamari-Risotto für mich kochte.
Adventsausstellung Linh Duong Blumenkunst
Einladung zur Adventsausstellung von Linh Duong in Siegen. Photographie, Gestaltung und Druck der Postkarten.
Kaffeerösterei Pagnia
Zu Besuch in der Siegener Kaffeerösterei Pagnia.
Geigenbaumeister Clas Reimers
Zu Gast in der Geigenbauwerkstatt des Siegener Geigenbaumeisters Clas Reimers.
Trauma (the book)
Today I received TRAUMA, a beautiful and very personal gift from Austrian painter Christian Bazant-Hegemark, for which I am deeply grateful. The volume spans fifteen years and tells the story of searching for a visual language dealing with trauma.
I was surprised how many of the paintings and drawings I still knew from my time in Vienna, some of which even appear in portraits I took in 2013.
Dachstein Retreat
Im Herbst 2014 hatten Julia und ich das große Glück, am Dachstein ein Retreat mit Coach und Trainer Hans-Peter Beingrübl von Pushkar Nature verbringen zu können. Sein großes Wissen und seine reiche Erfahrung ruht in seiner allgemeinen Entspanntheit, so dass sich in einem wirklich angenehmen Rahmen ein paar erstaunliche Dinge in Gang setzten.
Nach einer Nacht im Freien ohne Zelt und einer von Apfelstrudel und Freundlichkeit geprägten Nacht auf der Gjaid bei Isi, Hannes und Indra, einer Tour fast auf den Gjaidstein, viel Nebel, einem weiten Blick vom Zwölferkogel und vor der Kulisse des wunderschönen Dachsteingipfels reiften weitreichende Entscheidungen. Und als wir wieder hervorkamen aus dem Gebirgsnebel stand am Ende der Satz »Ich kündige!«.
Jördis Tielsch: Virtueller Hut im Lÿz
Am Samstag, 28. April 2020 spielte Jördis Tielsch gemeinsam mit Peter Schneider ein Benefizkonzert im Kulturhaus Lÿz.
Möglich wurde die Veranstaltung trotz Corona dank des virtuellen Hutes – einer Initiative, die zusammen mit dem Kulturbüro des Kreises Siegen-Wittgenstein lokale Künstler und Kulturschaffende unterstützt und in Zeiten des Kontaktverbots heimische Kultur in die Siegerländer Wohnzimmer bringt.
Possible Worlds
In a possible world I would live in the old family farm by the forest. I’d have a wood fired oven, plenty of vegetables and fruit from the garden and more space in- and outside the house than I could possibly fill. I would eat my home baked bread for breakfast in the old chicken yard while enjoying the most stunning view over the Weser-valley.
I’d also have had an idea why I would and could live in the sticks, I’d have had another idea that would fill ex-barn and ex-stable with something sensible – preferably something sensible and income-generating so it would provide me with yet another idea on how to pay for maintenance of the gigantic roof.
Flagged
This summer I noticed how the private environment in which the colours of a national flag are flown is usually unmatched by the pride it is meant to display. Hence, I started taking pictures of citizens who nail their colours to the flag post.
Telephone Boxes
For several years now I have been taking pictures of a dying breed: telephone boxes. I managed to upload a few yesterday.
While some of the boxes have been upgraded to a non-box shape with huge screen and WiFi, many are in a sad state and some even stripped of their primary function. The variety of shapes and types of boxes and telephones even in a single country is astonishing and even the gutted ones continue to serve as advertising space, rain shelters, smoking rooms and toilets for dogs and humans alike.
La Pinède
Toilets, Camping »La Pinède, Calvi (Corsica), May 2017
Brother and Sister
Brother and sister, Calvi (Corsica), May 2017
Schepen voor de Kust
Old masters by new ones: in September 2014, artist Donovan Spaanstra recreated Willem van de Velde’s Schepen voor de Kust in Amsterdam Noord’s Ghostface Killahstraat.
KUNSTFORUM Publication
KUNSTFORUM International 230 (2014), p 127.
A short while after my last portrait session with Marianne Vlaschits, KUNSTFORUM International did an interview with her and two fellow artists and she asked if it was ok to use one of my portraits to go with the interview.
One of my pictures published in KUNSTFORUM? Just what I needed to conclude the year.
Unfortunately photo credits were mistakenly omitted, which means that my first KUNSTFORUM publication is anonymous. But in the end this infringement also meant another four malnourished children treated or material for the safe birth of 10 babies or 250 people vaccinated against meningitis or 400 children vaccinated against Measles in the second installment of »Infringing for Médecins Sans Frontières«.
If you, too, want to make a donation, you can do so here.
When Inspiration Strikes
When asked whether he wrote on a schedule or only when struck by inspiration, Somerset Maugham allegedly replied:
I write only when inspiration strikes.
Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o’clock sharp.
The 500 Birds
»It’s the 499 birds before the 1 that works.« (Alexia Sinclair/via)
or, in the words of Jacob Riis:
When nothing seems to help, I go look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before. (via)
The Court Councillor’s Table
Booked for: 9.30 h. Every day.
Amsterdam Family Portrait
Earlier this year my dear friend Nic had asked if I would be interested in shooting a portrait of his family. Since they live some 1200 km away, the crucial question for me was not so much if but more when. Then, in early September, I was in the vicinity (meaning: only 400 km away), and spontaneously opted for the detour to pay a long overdue visit to Amsterdam – and also finally meet their daughter.
I did not have my gear with me and there only was an hour left in between the idea to go for the shoot and me having to be through the door for the train station, so in order to put the opportunity to good use we had to move fast and I had to borrow Marlene’s old Canon. Of course time was even scarcer after the usual displacement of furniture had taken place, and the combination of time pressure, borrowed equipment and a different camera maker resulted in a couple of technical blunders on my part, but we all had a fun time and in the end were pretty pleased with the results.
»Show up early…
…and stay out late. That’s when the most interesting things happen.« (Corey Rich)
Made in Sweden
We’re down to the last match now, so before it goes I wanted to preserve some of the match-box-glory in photographic form.
I used my tilt-shit lens for this, hence the angled plane of focus.
Tilt Shit
I wanted to try using a tilt/shift lens for a long time. I don’t particularly love the miniature effect, but I really like what Gregory Heisler is doing to the focal plane by tilting and I thought shifting would be great for architecture. So the other day I grabbed an old 50mm f/1.9, a body cap, black molton and a heated paper clip. I used the paper clip to cut the body cap open and the glue (obviously) to glue it all together.
To be honest, I was a bit stumped when, after my first test shots, I realised that I had also created a macro lens by considerably increasing the focal length. Thus, this now is my tilt-shit-lens.