Category Archives: Abstract

Afterwards

Afterwards

Missed opportunities amidst routines,
thoughts caught by obtrusive screens –
for laziness we stride for now,
hide from duties, disallow
old habits to creep in, begin 
a time with generosity,
a life without velocity.

Sujet (Part 2)

Sujet (Part 2)

As a kid I had a whole collection of matchbox cars. My favorite one was a blue police cruiser which had blinking lights — simply wonderful. I sometimes still miss it. Together with my brother, I could play for hours and hours. They were like a large playground for us, offering endless possibilities. Among other things, we developed an intricate car racing simulation; we might even find our old notes in some hidden folder. And within this world of cars, my younger me also found meaning. At least for a while.

I guess at some point everyone who writes, writes about writing. There are endless lyrics on writing lyrics, or poems about their own creation (link). It seems an evident topic. After all, the process of creation is what characterizes any practiced craft. When I started this blog I thought I would get around this topic; but apparently I am not. Back at home when time was sparse, writing often felt easy. Accepting something with its imperfections was fine. But now, as there is seemingly endless time and no obligations, no word seems to fit in its place, no sentence bears a clever idea, and no text seems satisfactory. Simultaneously, the same happens with my photographic journey: infinite opportunities, but no direction. No purpose. No meaning.

And so, for now, I keep exploring the large playground that I’ve found in these creative crafts.

Obscured

Obscured

Trees shifted by a gentle breeze
of grace, at ease the silent world around,
clouds drifting by, unbound and free,
three cranes agree with distant calls:
a potpourri of nature's soul.

Mandala

Mandala

I always liked to color in Mandalas as a child: It’s soothing to see the repetitive patterns emerge in bright colors out of a black and white sketch.

While I’ve played around a lot with ICM photography in the past, I’ve only rarely used in-camera multiple exposures. Mainly, because my old X-T30 offers a limited set of features. So, here is a short series of pictures using additive multiple exposures with the X-T5:

Which one do you like the most? For me, it is certainly No. 1 (or maybe No. 3). I tried around with multiple plants, but this one worked the best by quite a margin: It was helpful that the edges of the leafs were in strong contrast to the deep greens to get the distinct mandala-like appearance and structure. Additionally, there was some lovely passive light through sparse clouds. The Fujinon XF 80mm Macro lens did a wonderful job at isolating the bloom (which was only around 1cm in diameter) from its background while retaining all the little details.

Winter

Winter

This year’s winter was rather typical: November is rainy and gray and one begins to wait for colder temperatures. Snow actually comes around for brief period in the beginning of December, but is then replaced by even more rain and days after days with little light. Darkness surrounds the city and its inhabitants minds. In January, one has given up the hope for a cold winter after all, and the wait for Spring begins. And while February starts off with some warm sunlight and everybody is getting ready to enjoy the first blossoms, winter grips on tightly again and doesn’t let go, even though it is the middle of March by now.

Living a True Life

Living a True Life

Life on the 3rd floor, high above the ground, spoiled by consumption of irrelevance, social life reduced to glowing screens, a life detached from truth, daydreams all day long, dreams of what could be, of what should be. Removed from reality, many layers in-between. Life is foul when mass-produced food is catered on silver platters.

I am in search for a genuine life. I guess, we all are. And probably I will continue this search until leaving this existence. So why am I searching in the first place? What hope is buried deep beneath? What do I expect to find? And do I want to find it? Or am I scared to face the harsh actuality of passing time?

Offset

Offset

A little threat,
yet troublesome,
has entered me,
I need more tea!
My former self:
a silhouette,
offset a bit,
I'd like to quit.

Ways of Water

Ways of Water

Blurry shapes are stirred around,
mixed in motion, give a notion
of the hidden world above.
Day and night are intertwined
and realigned by breathing air:
a little water love affair.

A Barcode of Life

A Barcode of Life

Barcodes are commonly used for the identification of items. Many standards exist but, in general, barcodes must be universal, unique, and easy to process. The standardization of barcodes grants great benefits, not only for everyday shopping: A unique identifier facilitates and simplifies the ordering and processing of goods all over the world.

Similarly, the distinct identification of organisms and their relationships is one of the major goals in the life sciences. What would be more suited than a barcode – a barcode of life?

Many genetic regions have been proposed for the use of being such a barcode. For eukaryotic species, the 18S gene is most commonly used today; a rather short fragment of ribosomal RNA that is evolving slowly and allows the reliable identification of most species. It is surrounded by highly conserved sequence regions that simplify the sequencing process. By this, the analysis of 18S RNA from the environment delivers a comprehensive overview of all present species, equivalent to scanning a barcode of all organisms.