Le città e la memoria – empire of lights

Fragmente einer Sprache des Schreckens

01/11/201311/11/2013 Tobias M. Schiel12 Comments

Batterie Longues-sur-Mer. People killed here. People died here. A tractor tows a plough over the fields, back and forth; birds sing, gulls scream. I smell the sea.

I know the guns reached far and were not easily destroyed. However, I’d like to imagine that after the first destructive blows the remaining soldiers realised that their chances dwindled. And ran.

People run around and photograph the cannons. I don’t want cannons; they are not appealing, not even visually. I try to make a picture of this space that stifles me.

[This week’s photo challenge reminded me that today might be an adequate day for posting this.]

Monopteron II

28/09/201306/09/2013 Tobias M. Schiel6 Comments

Chapel in the Fields

19/07/201329/08/2013 Tobias M. Schiel6 Comments

Totem or Toro?

13/07/201329/08/2013 Tobias M. Schiel6 Comments

I cannot figure out who made this sculpture or what it is (if you know, please help me with a hint). Yet it has its part in defining the space between the museum and the Rhein-Main-Hallen in Wiesbaden. Since the latter are to be demolished, I wonder what will happen to this piece.

Chapel Space

21/06/201329/08/2013 Tobias M. Schiel10 Comments

Contributing to this week’s photo challenge.

Of Heroes and Battles

11/05/201302/12/2013 Tobias M. Schiel4 Comments

The first picture shows the memorial for “Wilhelm I., Fürst von Oranien, Graf zu Nassau-Breda, Statthalter von Holland, Seeland, Friesland und Utrecht” (erected in 1908). Wilhelm was born to the House of Nassau as Count of Nassau-Dillenburg. He became Prince of Orange in 1544 and is thereby the founder of the branch House of Orange-Nassau and the ancestor of the monarchy of the Netherlands.

The second picture shows the obelisk erected to commemorate June 18, 1815 – namely the soldiers of the “Erste Nassauische Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 87” who participated in the Waterloo battle.

Reflecting History

04/05/201329/08/2013 Tobias M. Schiel6 Comments

Man With a Book

26/04/201329/08/2013 Tobias M. Schiel15 Comments

When I think of pictures, I often think of lines – outlining the shape of an object, or adding up to shades of gray in a hatching. Michelangelo, however, thought that there were no lines in nature; there are only surfaces. And from a photographic point of view, he is spot-on: Photography gives us a unique chance to present surfaces with relatively little effort. Maybe that’s why I like photographing stone so much.

My contribution for this week’s photo challenge – culture – shows a statue by F. Schaper (dated 1904/05) representing Gustav Freytag, a German homme des lettres.