2/3. Geology? Archaeology?

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A quick reminder because I love getting myself distracted by photo challenges: The 2/3 series features a simple formula: composition by the so called rule of thirds. The idea is to focus on structures and colours rather than composition while giving the pictures a uniform look. Based on this unifying ‘grammar’ it should be possible to arrange and re-arrange picture series according to different criteria – and tell different ‘stories’ – without losing a certain coherence. Here, the story told might be of rocks, or the remnants enclosed inside them.

Opposite Walls

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It has been for quite a while that I wanted to make these photos because the blue mosaic is quite unique for Wiesbaden and the bars add some extra art nouveau. All this was found in a passage leading into a commercial backyard in the downtown part of town.

Once there, capturing the blues, I thought, why don’t I also photograph the opposite side for Paula’s photo challenge? (Can you tell these are opposite walls? There is scientific evidence…)

Traces of the Past

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Traces from a past when these were, strictly speaking, already traces from the past: Classicism was quite the thing when these buildings were erected roughly 150 years ago. I am fascinated by the ways the builders found around traditional – probably expensive – masonry: Mostly brick and cast iron and occasionally some wood were the materials used instead.

This is my (late) contribution for Paula’s Thursday’s Special which is really worth a visit.

2/3. Imagine

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What if every picture of the 2/3 series were a word? Each one acquires part of its meaning through a certain use in a certain context, any single picture relating to the sequence the way a word relates to a sentence, sentences after sentences – sequence after sequences – woven into a narrative. And then there are the simple words and the complex ones, some of them able to stand alone while others do not mean much outside the structure of the sentence. This might be the field I am currently playing on.

(I arrived at this short description because it seemed clear from the beginning that I might post the same picture more than once, depending on the use I might have for it in different contexts. That’s how I arrived at language: I also use some words more than once, and while they always almost mean the same, the sentences they are part of mean very different things.

You’ve seen two of the above pictures already, but I needed the car for obvious reasons. But was it necessary to re-post the last picture as well? Deleting it from this sequence felt like something went missing, so: yes, had to re-post it!)

2/3. Faces of Hamburg

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Though these pictures were made in the course of two different walks, I saved them for Jo’s Monday Walk – they just seem adequate because they were literally made en passant. And they show different faces of the same city: nostalgic, rough, sumptuous, utilitarian. The latter two are less than 200 meters apart, by the way, while the first two are not far from the Elbe river.