U3: Landungsbrücken – St. Pauli

Tobias M. Schiel7 Comments

DSC04813-k

DSC04823-k

DSC04820-k

DSC04818-d03k

DSC04727-d-07k

Hamburg: I always had in mind to get on the Hochbahn, ride one station, get out, photograph, hop on the next train, ride to the next station, make some more pictures…

I never got going until recently. It was interesting to realize how a theme, an interest, a subject evolved: After running up and down a couple of stairs I began to understand what to pay attention to.

Stairs, escalators, handrails cannot be avoided when riding the Hochbahn. They set the mood, define the character…

Mind you, this series is a rather fragmentary representation of the U3 line (Hamburg’s only circle line, running above ground for a large part of its course): While I had a chance to visit the western stops repeatedly, I never got around to riding the full circle more than once; needing my time to ‘develop an eye’, I did not even get the camera out at some stops when I arrived there for the first time. ‘Nothing to see here,’ was the quick verdict I intend to prove wrong during one of my next visits.

Next stops: Sternschanze – Schlump.

Forbidding

Tobias M. Schiel6 Comments

DSC04559-k

DSC04537-k

After some very friendly nudging by Paula I decided I had to come up with something for her Thursday’s Special: Forbidding. At first, things did not quite work out the way I intended them to, so it took a little while. Despite the obvious choice in the left picture I think these finally work.

Litfaß 12.2

Tobias M. SchielLeave a comment

DSC03628-kton

This series keeps growing. New ads invite new graffiti, Bible quotes written by a man who claims to be Jesus, which in turn get ripped off by somebody else, creating layers of narrative potential… To collect the resulting compositions, I have added a new gallery called “Litfaß” (after the inventor of this type of advertising column) to the Photo Series menu.

Formen & Figuren

Tobias M. Schiel9 Comments

DSC04329-k+

DSC04372-bk

DSC04350-d15k

DSC04365-tk+This the fifth and last post in which I share pictures inspired by Paleica’s Magic Mottos. Formen und Figuren were in focus (no translation needed here, I think). Paleica mentioned geometrical forms among other things, which triggered it for me: I hope my contributions show that once you found a good topic, the pictures seem to multiply on their own account: You only have to know what you are looking for.

Dot City

Tobias M. Schiel18 Comments

DSC04260-d01k
DSC04235-k
DSC04240-k
DSC04255-k

Paleica at episoden.film gives photographers a month to come up with responses to her challenges, which is nice to begin with. In January and February I used the time to photograph and select, and came up with a retrospective by the end of the month. Today I see it differently. I photographed Formen & Figuren (shapes and figures), trying things out. I intend to share them over the month so we can see what develops (if anything develops at all).

Choice

Tobias M. Schiel7 Comments

DSC04148kton

Last Thursday we invited friends and colleagues for a private viewing. The show included two pieces from the Litfaß series, and one of the visitors remarked that she had mistaken the two photos for collages at first sight.

Collage is a matter of choice: You pick the elements of your picture from a vast pile of available stuff, then arrange it into a composition.

The process of making a photo is very close to that of making a collage. You choose. You eliminate. The choice determines the outcome. We don’t show what is but what we see fit for framing.

I hope nobody minds me choosing another Litfaß picture (from session no. 17) over showing arrays of things to pick from for Paula’s Thursday Special which is – you may have guessed – choice. And this is what I chose from (click to enlarge):

DSC04152-k