22 Jun, 2014
by KIKI
Author:
KIKI
Society - The Südzentrale

 

The Südzentrale is a former power plant in Wilhelmshaven, Germany. Built in the Art Nouveau Style it forms a townscape defining building ensemble together with the Kaiser-Wilhelm Bridge. Since it was closed down in 1993 it's left to decay. Despite protests and even citizens' movements people didn't manage to save the beautiful old building. Demolition will start in two weeks. What a shame!

 

 

I didn't have my big camera with me but I managed to take some photos with my little point & shoot camera that captured the building quite nicely.

 

Sad it's going to disappear soon ...

 

KIKI

 

 

20 Jun, 2014
by KIKI
Author:
KIKI
Pic of the day

 

Books, collage, Wilhelmshaven 2014

 

KIKI

 

 

16 Jun, 2014
by KIKI
Author:
KIKI
Pic of the day (actually yesterday)

 

Didgeridoo artist impressing the crowd at Eberswalder Straße

 

KIKI

 

 

14 Jun, 2014
by KIKI
Author:
KIKI
Pic of these days

Weinbergspark by night

 

You don't need a big camera, often your smartphone is enough. The reason I love to shoot big cameras is the shallow depth of field. You can blur backgrounds, even in distant shots. That way you can emphasise special parts of the image. BUT, it is also cheating a bit, you can make average photos look much more dramatic or interesting that way. Really powerful photos don't need blurring to emphasise, they are strong enough by themselves. So, when you're a great photographer you can make beautiful photos even with your cellphone. The above image was taken with a Panasonic LX7. I bought it two years ago as my new pocket camera. To be honest the Canon S90 I had before and its successors are much more fun because they are even smaller, but the LX7 has a special sensor that let's you switch between different aspect ratios, like 4:3, 3:2 or 16:9, with a twist of the slide bar around the lens. It's super handy when you want to take a portrait or capture really wide shots. Because of it's unique sensor the focal length really becomes the widest when you switch to 16:9.

 

And the LX7 has a wonderfully bright f/1.4 lens. Paired with the image stabilizer you can create great images in literally any light. You couldn't have taken the above shot with a smartphone, it was way too dark, but with this 300 € pocket camera it's possible.

 

This is another example of the LX7 from the other day. Gallery at night with only the door letting in the street light. Good little camera ...

 

 

Happy shooting!

 

KIKI

 

 

25 May, 2014
by KIKI
Author:
KIKI
Pics of the day

 

 

I love Berlin! Berlin is a wonderful city because it is diverse, it has so many different people, art, things, everything. You can focus on whatever you love and spend all day living for it and won't be bored for a very long time.

 

I always loved this particular Berlin Mitte art on the photo, those artists never minced words, they always expressed what they don't like about the center of the city that becomes more and more expensive, more and more boring and more and more crowded with superficial people (generally speaking). But that's probably the fate of the center of every real metropolis. And to be honest, when you move out a bit you'll find areas again with more art, alternative lifestyles and creativity. Berlin stays my most favorite city in Germany, and to be honest I haven't been to a cooler city anywhere else in the world.

 

KIKI

 

ps: Thank you, Berlin, the Tempelhofer Feld stays! :-)

 

 

 

25 May, 2014
by KIKI
Author:
KIKI
Society - "Playtime" exhibition Munich

 

 

I've been to Munich last weekend to find some more organic shops interested in my clothes.

 

I also visited the "Playtime" exhibition at Lenbachhaus. It's about work in modern industrial nations. It's pretty critical as most works focus on how workers are exploited for big companies, especially in capitalist countries. The exhibition has a pretty good e-book available which gets you a great overview here.

 

I liked the artwork of Henrik Olesen. He has completely disassembled a notebook into all its individual parts, it's also here. It's a critique of modern work and the dependancy of us modern workers of our notebooks. The disassembled computer reveals that it's only a machine, put in a state never able to work again like it was designed. It's broken forever. I liked that, especially as most of the day I'm sitting in front of a computer, too, and spend a lot of time being angry about defective software and problems that should have been solved by 2014.

 

I also liked the big wall with all the intelligent and critical slogans referring to work in our modern world. I liked the expression "The Jobbit" in this context, in the style of the very popular fantasy book by J.R.R. Tolkien.

 

Anyway, art is a step further often and gives you a lot to think about and to change in your own world, your own behaviors in particular.

 

Happy Sunday! Go vote by the way!

 

KIKI

 

 

24 May, 2014
by KIKI
Author:
KIKI
Is it my bad English or theirs?

 

Click on the image to see it in native resolution

 

"House of Phenomenal"! - Does this make any sense? I don't know. Next to my house the old department store Jandorf is having one of their usual events, something they do for years. The building is used by big firms and fashion brands to hold special events. In this case one of the big sports brands is promoting and preparing for the upcoming soccer world cup. I decided to this time completely boycott it. In Brasil the political situation is very strained. People go on the streets like in Turkey, Venezuela or Cambodia to give vent to their anger and mostly protest against the government. People in Brasil are paid badly as in other countries, too. But the soccer world cup makes it even worse. The FIFA organisation is well known to be completely corrupt, stadiums are built right into the rain forest, residents had to be force moved and prices for the tickets are way out of budget for the normal people who actually live their.

 

On top Greenpeace has published a study this week proving that all the big sportswear manufacturers, especially Adidas or Nike, are using terrible amounts of poisonous substances in their clothes, football shoes in particular. That's not even terrible for the environment and the people in the low-wage countries it's also bad for the consumers who buy and wear those things. I think it's good to red-card those companies and I decided to not support the world cup at all and won't watch a single game, at least not voluntarily. That way I have more time to focus on more important things.

 

KIKI

 

 

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