Visual Story

Bad Kreuznach

“Whether you’re looking for wellness, hiking, cycling, good local wines, a health holiday, spa treatments or simply want to explore the magnificent natural landscape of this area, Bad Kreuznach offers it all… Shoppers can find everything here, from food, textiles and shoes, to electrical goods and DIY stores… There is a lot to see and discover in Bad Kreuznach: buildings and churches steeped in history, monuments, museums, works of art, and also the beauty of the landscape…”

The claims of the tourist information webpages of Bad Kreuznach (a small spa town near Frankfurt) seem bright and appealing. And I have seen it all, at least a small part of it :-) the famous old houses on the beautiful bridge over the river Nahe, the natural landscape, the historical walls, the nice cafés, friendly people. Except… What I have felt roaming through the streets was completely different. Maybe you can blame it on the grey, cloudy and cold German wheather, on my desire for shadows and black color, or you can imagine me in doomsday mood - my pictures do neither look like the pictures of the Bad Kreuznach website nor like the photos my friends brought back from the same day.

Sorry… I am sure I have been unfair to Bad Kreuznach…

A Children's Game

When I was a small boy, we used to play hide-and-seek in our flat at some of my birthday parties. I remember having a lot of fun with my brother and my friends, but when the darkness crept up in the evening, and all lights had been switched off, the shadows and objects started to turn into blurry creatures.

My mother is still living at the same place. While the decades went by, little has changed, except I have grown much older.

The challenge “Take photos of a children’s game” has been an idea of Stefan, my friend and photography teacher, to whom I owe much.

The Colors of NYC

It was my first stay in New York City, and it will not be my last.

I have never seen a light mingled with colors like this. You can see it, you can reach out and touch it, you can feel it: the dark auburn and light clay brown of the apartment blocks, the rusty weather-beaten brown of the iron bridges, the hundred times repainted black of the bony fire ladders, fences and railings, the filthy grey brown of the pavement, the impenetrable reflective blue and brown of the skyscrapers’ glass panels, the earthy yellow of the buzzing taxis, the humid grey of the hot sky, the fathomless blue green of the sea.

All those soft nuances and vibrant tints blend to the brownish colors of the light, the light that shines on people, buildings, parks and streets, placing everything onstage for a split second while the shutter is released.

Shot with iPhone 4.