here is my christmas enty all shot on trix. non pushed.
the last days were full of gorging and booze.. even if most was delicious.. first class, i still haven't eaten so much in my life in such a short time.. it's a sin

the first photo on the 24th i took was this SOS symbol, as if i already knew what will come.


so we started with oysters and champagne at my fathers place.



ina was a bit sceptic about the cute living starters.. i like them.


claudia from venice calling.


after some hard work eating a delicious menu.. i still decided to catch up lorant in the morgenstern.

we stayed till 6.


the streets were empty. but that's quite usual for that time of the "day".


next day. a few hours later. it was 12:30am. the streets were still empty. it was silent as if a bomb had exploded.


taking the subway to "harrys time".. there we had brunch with my father and friends.



they were late. i was first. so i had some time to get familiar with the place.. and get rid of my hangover. the waitresses were really nice..


so we had more food. it was real luxury though.


the kids were playing with the pods- and cells- and boys.



it was fun to watch and think about myslef at that age. god these brunches were boring to death.. but today i'm really enjoying the wine and stuff... just not as a kid.


after the brunch.. and i ate as much as i could eat.. since it was all-inclusive price anyway.. i went to my mothers family to have turkey.. took this frame on my way there.. it's about how i felt.


i was "commissioned" to document the fest.


aww. the tree.


i often consume these family meetings from outside. almost as a show. this might reflect in my photos too.


mother.


sister.


a present.


my uncle. (sober, even if it doesn't seem so)



mother and the salad.


uncle reaching for something.


uncle pouring the wine. my sister having the "awesome it's christmas" face.


fighting for the enclosures.


grandmother. brought the turkey. they have a look. like a minute of silence before cutting it to pieces. at least it seems so.


traditionaly my uncle seperates the turkey into its elements.


this is like the climax. so i gave it another angle and perspective.


finally the meat ! my sister preferred a tofu "brick" instead of the thing that once was breathing air and eating corn once. she's a vegetarian. she's like the opposite of me in many cases.


a rarety. a photo of my sister that i somehow like.


grandmother after the meal. chilled and satisfied.. the turkey project was a success. cheers!


mother and sister in between the chaos. almost too similar.




not only i had a filled stomache. uncle couldn't stand anymore.


sister reading the gossip-mag "woman" (real trash). my mother sneaking from the side. my uncle still digesting on the ground and my grandmothers friend playing with the carrera race track.


oh and there is me. with my new hood i got from my dad. i'm looking very gangsterish.. so i took this photo.. kinda fitting to the freakshow of christmas.

found this quite a timeless scenery.


december 26th. going to my fathers family christmas meet. more things to eat and drink.


it's all in the details.


straight to the point. i wonder who took his or her time to write asshole so carefully with 3 exclamation marks with a small brush somewhere nobody will probably take any notice of. well i did and i find it wonderful. it's a part of a series i'm actually still shooting.


just like this one saying "pussy". this time even more subtile.


my little french-asutrian cousin. never thought this photo would turn out. f2.0 1/15th is quite the setting for a 5 years old boy.


my french uncle at the sofa. exposing here was pretty much a challenge.



at the table. we had soup and then some sorta roast...


uncle and aunt.


soup. cousin and inlaw-grandmother.. it's complicated.



the roast. we also had kidney... not my thing actually..


my father.. who almost had eaten as much as i did.. looking forward to get some slices of the roast... haha, i love that face.


i was bored. boredom makes you do different photos sometimes.


a classic scene in my fathers family.





the grappa. not a bad one actually. most grappa you get in italian restaurants taste more like nail polish remover.


also very typical. sometimes i like to analyse my own family via photographs. all those little gestures, acts and facial expressions..


my aunt and cousing bang-bang each other. with eyes closed. must be some insider between them.



aunt lightning the tree. i had f2.0 1/30th here.. it turned really dark already.


this one was even 1/15th.


singing some christmas chansons. glad i have a rangefinder and no 1dsMKII for such situations.. haha.


little mateo unpacking his present.


1/8th. only candlelight by the chirstmastree.


they later were playing on the piano. somehow i did a double exposure.. kinda nice there.



my aunt. doesn't look like her there but i like the frame somehow.


grandfather. in his more causual wear. a kinda typical thing for him to change cloths when the end of the get-together is soon.


my cousin playing the trumpet like a little dumbo.. quite impressive. his fathers expression is great.



it's a kinda family thing.


december 27th. going to the airport to pick miriam up.


a friends working place.. kinda fun to dirve by, by train.


vienna airport toilet. i've taken this photo once already. probably was picking up miriam back then as well... i don't know exactly.


miriams new pride. i must fully agree though.


hello miriam. hello vienna.


walking home.


at a friends place. they have a tiny cat.


december 28th. visiting my grandmother. my fathers mother. again having some sort of roast... to be accurate.. "Onion roasted beef"

on my way there i saw this lady with a rolleiflex.


and this old sign.


on my way back to town. i shared my way with this guy in white.





met miriam doing the shopping.

nerd-hood.

nerd-hood, retared face combo.


december 28th. evening. again my fathers place.

on my way there.


we had venison steaks.. you can see them to the left. helen was also there.


there's my never ending excessive eating and drinking story over. after i completly wasted myslef yesterday.. i got up today, developed 5 rolls of trix, scanned them and posted this blog entry... and i don't get payed for that ! a shame... ;)

see you next year.

was shooting for a petition against the law that will be realized by 2008, that so called "wild" placarding is illegal. they used to tolerate it until now.. but since the european championship of soccer will be in austria 2008, the want to "clean" the city up..

in the end it's not just ridiculous but will also mean that many people will lose their job and comissions for placarding.. mostly people and companies that don't have the budget to make advertising via the "gewista" the one and only company that will placard legal by 2008. it's so to say an organized monopole that is supported by the social democrats, the strongest party in vienna.

in short. it's pretty crap !

so i was taking some photos of what was going on in that scene in the last days.. hope to shoot more with them, especially in 2008 when the gewista will send out their "scouts" to catch the other placaders out there... pretty incredible.



the gewista itself commissioned to glue placards saying "no placarding!", as a sort of foretaste of 2008.. so they used the time when it was still legal to placard.. by posting these saying it is not. maybe some sort of tactics to make people believe that placarding is an illegal act, which isn't till 2008 of course.


so they started this petition or action against this law and the gewista.

the following were for the press itself. staged so to say.








an old man joined. he wanted to get some attention obvioulsy. he was posing for the cameras.. the big ones.. not for me. he didn't even notice me (what i like)... so i took a photo of all together.. cute scene.


the main photo for the press. all people who are holding the posters will probably lose their jobs and companies with all employees by 2008.. their business which was legal (they payed taxes, registered trade...) will be illegal from one day to another.


one of them showing me this tape-construction. he says they're not produced anymore nowadays.


interview in the next cafe.


because of the EM2008, they're cleaning up. only coca cola, mc-donnalds.. fuji.. whatever i don't know will be allowed to advertise in vienna that time.




for 2 days you could see these posters in most inner districts at nearly every corner. i was not going to take photos everywhere.. these are just my favs.. maybe because these are places i visit quite often.








just one day after.. they were removed. of course neither the social democrats nor the gewista are pleased by these posters and their messages... but i hope that the action will turn even more agressive.. also for international people in english.. more with keywords as "corruption" etc.. things that really hurt. i mean, they can't lose anymore.. they allready have lost their jobs by 2008...

same place, next day.


just walking around in vienna.



this dog seemed kinda big to me..


cheese !


look who i met ! i used his 40/1.4 voigtlander here. at 1.4. the focus is perfect. of course, since both is voigtlander.. so if you're shooting bessa.. better use voiglander lenses and if you shoot leica, don't use voigtlander lenses.. use leitz and zeiss.



been to some christmas partys.

one was more art-orientated.. well actually all xmas partys are alcohol and buffet orientated... we know that.





there was this naked woman on a cigar. i don't want to know the price for this work of modern art but it's sure more than i will ever ask for anything probably ;)


on my way to the next party. saw this. i think if i call it "selfportrait" it will be art... right ? j/k maybe cancer is the better title... but it's just a photo. right. so titles are senseless.


the agencys party. much less sophisticated. cool somehow.






then the film went out... and i went to another insider party. it was pretty white then.

so i loaded the next one at 12:30am. didn't sleep. took a self portrait before i went to bed to remind myslef what i can look like sometimes.


decided to get rid of a few things i use to collect... like these old rolls of film


and a bunch of crap prints i produced in the early times... must have been hundreds..


kitchen. new stuff.




going out the night before christmas.




funny. exactly one year ago we were doing the same. playing pool at the portrait. i think that shot is pretty nice.. but doesn't change the fact that i'm wasting lots of film lately... still shooting.. dunno why.


"out of order" i think it's pretty clear. well at least to me. people still tried to urinate there. this proves that there are stupid people out there... really stupid.


maybe the same guy drove through there...


that's somehow "wild". took this for mr.wild aka zort.


the best christmastree this year. kinda reflecting how anti-christmas christmas time is.



bought this for myself. my little christmas present, beside lotsa baryt paper again.


next entry will feature lotsa family and lotsa christmas stuff.

getting ready for the winter.

bought 30 rolls of trix. exposed some of them allready.


people "unpacking" a small car. it was really filled up with all kind of stuff. maybe they're getting ready for winter too ? a nuclear one !



look. i dared to wake up the bear from its winter sleep.


something for bernhard. a place he should go to eat once. he'd be a VIP there.


a view into a hostels kitchen. same street as the darkroom. i remember working in a kitchen of a huge factory canteen. worst job i've ever done beside the military. i learned from both.


not so special but the bokeh looks strange.. i hope i don't need to worry about my lens. probably had too much ketchup and mustard already... ( > hint to ryan)


one of the darkest corners in the pub. i just wanted to know what 400iso can get out there.


this can happen when you leave your camera somewhere in the pub. people never trust me when i tell them that they won't be able to take a serious photo.


so what is the holy sin ? sleeping with a prostitute ? i don't know. this sticker doesn't make much sense... still it cought my attention so i grabed the camera. set the 8th and shot the holy sin thing.

ps: did you find the flying angel-vagina too ?


this advert makes me realize how hard it is to make something sexist with men. i mean. eveyone will find this more or less funny.. or would never take it serious, because it is not meant seriously cause the moment men are the object, people find it funny because this is not the way they're meant to be like, the submissive, the naked.

imagine palmers would have done this campagne back then with men. this would have been much more intresting. but this way, how palmers did it with women and now "iglo" does it with men, is so not innovative, it hurts. and people earn much money with these campagnes. sad thing.


sunbeams. something i hardly see in the last days. most of the times it's grey or i'm in the darkroom... "dark times" *cuts veins*


kinda found that guy intresting. almost cute. yeah, maybe cute is the right word. so i took a snap.


hey little old man. now what you're gonna do ? come over and slap me ? no. people sometimes don't realize that i take photos of them.. it took me 3 times to finally have his face the way i wanted it to be ... just a little game, that was fun. didn't mean it bad neither.. i just was in the photo mood


had to wait until there was either a car nor a person passing. what a weird scene. i think it was an 8th at 400iso. printed it allready. really worth it. nice tones too.


ina. we're talking a lot. good topics. it's cool to live together with a lesbian, no sexual atmosphere, nothing.. all reduced to content ;)



next day. i was getting up earlier. saw that woman standing in the cold wind. waited for some cars to pass.


went to a befriended photographer. helped her with digitalizing her old negatives. here is pavarotti loaded in nikon scan 4. was a good negative.. back then the labs were creating good b/w negs... unlike today. never seen a tmx100 that contrasty and still fine grained like on these negatives. really makes me sad that today you get so much shit, scratched, dusty and what else..


it started to snow on my way home. i've seen this bresson-like scene and waited till the guy walked into the center of the frame. it's important to hit the shutter when he's about to step i believe.. adds to the idea of making tracks in the snow. 125th here seemed the perfect shutter to me.


chaos. snow and cities always make me think of it. funny how the snow left the word uncovered.


hey little you ! i found the bit of snow on the blanket lovely.


the most famous elevator ? yes. it's bernhards. i remember taking these shots with f2.0 1/15th or 1/30th when we started to shoot trix "years" ago. now i shot this one at f2.8 1/60th on 400iso. so much about sensivity and the grain is the same... damn we developed like the first men on this planet.


ina and i went to bamboo.. pure sin ! but good stuff.


you can choose from raw ingredients and then let them grill it. the girl in front of me seemed quite "lordly". made me think of lia a bit.. harrumph...


saw this. thought this could look nice in bw.


something for german speaking people. this stuff makes you "zua" !


snowing outside.



a little in-house christmas party we joined as an act of courtesy...


the santa had real beard ! just so you know how much light there was. 1/4th f2.0 400iso.



a print i liked. i tried a new frame especially for this motif. i think the perforation of the film fits the tracks of the train very well.


another caddy. doing these for a friend. i just read that about 14 thousand of these were collected on the street a year, only in vienna. that's hella lot !


here in little austria you're save.. in china they'd eat you !


for christmas eve ?


granny in the subway.. what a boring photo !


prefer this one much more. i liked her shoes. took a frame. then realized the shoes in the back and waited for someone else to pass. i was lucky that all 3 of them had rather spiky shoes.

again f2.0 1/60th on a trix at 400.. i wonder why ever push again ? i started to develope at 21C° and more agiation.. so i expose it on 640 in dark conditions.. it doesn't really matter.. you just should avoid overexposing it when there is enough light, better stick to exact metering when you're outside.


damn that frame is sharp. i didn't expect it at a 1/15h.. but i'm glad it worked out. tones are lovely..


sending letters. he wasn't the only one.. the post office was stuffed !


a bike on the ground. a guy leaving the peep show another guy passing by having a curious look.


something else. kinda unusual scene.


just like this one is.


washing the dishes ? eww... better not.


damn dark. 1/4th. makes the man with the dog turn into two ghosts.


leonie. the cute barkeeper.


this is a serious self portrait of an upcoming artist ! please mind the pose of my hands.. i really gave my best !


a worker in our staircase. they start to hammer at 8am... that's when i go to sleep usualy !


look what i've found in the middle of the pavement.. it made me smirk a bit.

normaly you find freezers and stuff.. but this is a rarety. right in the middle of the street.


a weird looking building site. it somehow seemed as if a bomb exploded right there. it was just a hole between two normal houses.


went inside out of curiosity.


a nice and cosy place to leave your kids at !


for the sake of tones and bokeh. what an oldschool air conditioning system !


this also cought my attention. never seen a station in vienna with so many benches and the white canvas cover behind just adds to the surreal feeling.


the whole station was covered in white.


another one. hard to find at first sight. should look nice on a 11x14inch print.


at the blaustern.


having lunch with helen. showing the prints.



the bridge in the back made me snap this one.


i wonder what this would look like printed ! the scanner overexposed it generaly.


last frame on the roll. 4 buggys in one bus ! that's the rush hour... people were rather stressed unlike the girl i focused on.


hope you enjoyed some bits of my last 3 rolls. shooting more again. don't know why. it's just fun. i just love it.. first time i feel like that again after a long time. hope it lasts a bit.

funny how i decided to post a blog instead of going to bed after coming home at 2:30am.

first news, bad news.. my beloved summicron is starting to film over inside(!) the glass.. this looks like that:



i've to wait some time until it disappears again. i wonder how long i can still use this lens.. it has survived a lot already.

so it's christmas time once again. maybe my most favourite street at that time. it shall look nice in colour too.. since the lights are blue.


robert invited some to a movie night. he has a vodka out of a small plastic cup as a starter, not the gourmet stuff..


so we switched to wine.


and had some chili con carne.



robert the avantgarde artisté !


passionate discussions !


and less passionate watching the movie. (i liked it. we started with "kandahar"). 1/2 second f2.0 2000iso here. taken during the end credits.


first film is over


now this almost looks like a hommage to Hiroshi Sugimoto.. i must say i was thinking of his work while i took this one.


now to some serious art inspection on the macbook.



it got late.


at 6:30am, i decided to go home. i cought robert in the kitchen eating the left overs of the chili con carne.


one last view on the bar.


this is christmas. people come together but that's way too much for my taste.. it's really fucked up i'd say.




later that night. taking some frames to prevent getting bored.




i remember the day i bought that camera. a little dedication to it. lorant now used it.


here is lorant ! looks like 2am ?


one last frame left.. finally finished.


trix:

after i got home at 6am drunk as a deer.. i had family day on sunday. so i went to my aunt's place to have some nice lunch with my little cousin, uncle and aunt.


my 4,9 years old cousin was sick.


so he got something for his nose.



and eyes.


but he is a brave one, at least he plays it in front of me.

he wanted me to take a photo of this orange. i asked if he didn't want to show his face.. but he insisted on hiding.. cutey.


my uncle showed me some old single-LPs he just bought somewhere in france.

this was my favourite.. good the 80s are over !


dads and sons have to fight.



pow !




after the lunch we chilled a little. i still felt sick of the last night.. the last vodka at 6am. so we talked about good vodka, from poland.. "schubrovska" or something.. mixed with apple juice it's awesome.


the little one always wanted to play and hug and fight and being carried around by me.. so i thought of taking a photo in the bathroom.. somehow missed the focus.. but better than him falling down... i think ;)


later on sunday, i visited my father and claudia. more food. more good food.


it got late. she took a little nap.



going home. shitty weather. "greek winter" i call it. rainy, windy, but no snow.


next day. 7am. monday morning. woke up because of weird sounds going on. new pipes got installed in the flat. foreign men in the antechamber.



foreign men in the toilet !


it got dusty. i had to leave soon.. didn't want my camera to collect needless fine-dust.. or how you call this in english.


ina wasn't too pleased either.


shooting last random frames on the roll on a monday morning. walking around because i had got some spare time.


maybe the bottle we waisted on saturday ? it was close the morgenstern pub and the same stuff.. stoly.


a junky couple. they had some sorta fight in their weird state..


now to the portraits. it was a commission.. but it was real fun. good photos for a grey monday morning..

started at the prater. we climbed inside the old roller coaster. nobody was around.. because a: monday morning b: shitty weather c: monday morning damnit.. ;)


first cig break.


i like weird places.



one of my favourite candid shots.


i got some serious stuff too.. but didn't feel to post the less personal ones. these are just my favourites.

kodak 400nc (exposed on 320iso). my favourite of that roll.


so after some time in the prater. we went downtown to have some coffe..

took this one in the tram. one of my favourite prints at the moment. looks ace on fiber.



in the tram, there were these young boys, who had left school earlier that day. it was not easy not to notice them.



on the way to the cafe, we stumbled across him. of course asked for a photo.


conversation photo.. classics. taken on plus-x f2.0 1/45th 35mm.





don't know where she got that apple from.. but it was somehow a cute scene.

is that a decisive moment ? :O




seems like i prefer the less serious photos .. haha.

i liked that scene somehow. we went to take some last photos at a trainstation. she had chestnuts.


also printed this one already. maybe my favourite of her.. somehow powerful but still nice and personal. that's what i'm mostly going for when i try portraits. (serious ones)


i somehow liked the scenery and aksed for a photo too.. didn't really try to look that cool, serious business haha..


digital again.



on the way back. light was getting softer and darker. almost 4pm already.


there was this old wooden chair.


so why not ?


didn't plan to go out on monday night, after shooting all day and preparing the photos till 10:30pm...

but then i still went to this club.


it was pretty stuffed.




she really wants it.




some nice still life.


i went for more trashy stuff.








a cute beer glass couple outside. the ambulance car in the back


outside. some guy tried to photograph me with his cellphone.. some lady entered the scene.. so i took my photo too.


went back inside. took some random shots.


these guys were really well.. let the photo speak for itslef.


they played soccer with bread. that's really stupid.



and tried to get some chics obviously.


this guy was really wasted. i woke him up. this is what he gave me.


so this is what the emergency exit looks like !


going home. i don't remember what this photo had in common with johnny cashs "hurt" ?

but there was something.


went to mc-donnalds.


i like that saturation. so trashy.


so weit so gut.

winter is time for studio photography.. or cheesy tree next to a street vanishing in fog photo. just kidding... ;)

still from the last studio commission.. the shots i took in between.



i like how you can see the art directors hands holding the cute pinkish dumbbells.... that was so 80s ! but fitness will always have the 80s touch.


took this one in between too.. more portrait like. added this cheesy reddish tone.. i think on print it will look nice. i hope she'll like, just a little something.


back to the familiar stuff. kodak trix developed 18:30 21C° 10s movement 20s non-movement. exposure guessed 2000iso.

i met an actress in a restaurant. we had a nice chat. we plan to take photos on monday for her portfolio. i'm pretty curious and i'm really looking forward to it. portrait commissions can be the best if the person is cool and she is in this case..

so on the table behind us there was this baby who didn't stop screaming. it didn't bother me but i turned around and took this one.

the father later came over to talk about s/w photography he also used to do. a leica m body on the table is always a good reason to start conversations.


kinda cool how the guessed exposure seems to be spot on here.


i tried to put the focus on the kids shoes.. but therefore i'd need a 50.. didn't really work with the 35 at f2.0


ina and i are currently stuck in the second season of lost. we've watched the first in 3 days and now we're looking for someone who's got the 2nd... we're kinda addicted even if we sometimes have to roll the eyes, cause it's kinda stupid sometimes.


LOST ! damnit ! i love that view. that has character.


went to some really nice hostelry around the corner. great cook there and great beer. "wratschko"


then. wherelse ? morgenstern ! i don't know why i'm still trying hard to make useful photos in there without flash... it's just not enough light for any useful tones.



later in the WIRR.. it was almost 4am. this photo made me realize one thing: i fucking need a haircut ! :O


there was more light. we were allowed to have a beer each, cause they were closing soon.




outside the darkroom. i was carrying a 5 liter canister + 7,5 liter of used chemicals in my backbag. when i got out these two were crossing my way.. i had to hurry and got rid of the canister (no worries ;)) and then took this one.

i wanted to stop down to 2.8 to create the "star" effect of the aperture here.. so i went for 2.8 1/30. it's pretty bright for the night.


look who we've got there ? nice lady and her private paparazzo in one photo !

he had birthday. i got something special for him, but don't tell !


so they left me or i left them and went my way up to good old mc-d.

this couple was really nicely positioned. i took a frame then they kissed and i took another. christmas is coming closer. love is in the air ! yeah.. what to do with such a shot actually ?


at the Mc-restaurant-donnalds. many people. lotsa noise. stress-deseased faces and in between all of this, that man. wearing a skin-tight dolce&gabbana shirt he was singing something for himslef. expression wise it must have been something slightly passionate.. maybe something about a lost love or the good old times.. what ever. he cought my attention.



one of the shots i currently like.





now a roll of apx100.

this shot was taken on the trip back to vienna.




these old ladies and their dogs. i wonder about a theory i have. let's assume they buy their first little dog with about 55 years when they stop working and switch over to "invalidity pension" and a dog like that makes about 10 years and these old ladies turn older and older, they get 80 or 90 years old... so up to 35 years in pension. do they buy another dog and another ? do they buy the same race ? do they give the same names again or "the second" or "the third" ?

i wonder about these things.

i think this little thing is at least a 2nd-generation doggy maybe even a third. he didn't know his granny at 55 like the other.. can this little creature wonder about something ? at least it looks like on this photo.


a woman trying to lock her bike. i was going downstairs with the escalator. had to hurry because she was almost "gone".






"Aufsperrdienst" nur wo ?


a little insider..


kinda funny. i'm trying to take a decent photo of that view every year at christmas.. i'm still not really satisfied.


he was really nervious about somtehing. probably his favourite band just released their new album. i won't guess some dark bandnames here now.


austiran folk music. it's the worst on this planet, it really is. but they have their fans and they earn much money from them.


the weather is pretty shit.


f2.4 1/125th on 100asa... you can imagine how "bright" it is these days.

one more cheesy postcard photo.


i found that quite funny. the scanner cropped the photo but i can still print.



at the bus station. we had to wait ages...


whatever it is. i've came across it hundreds of times and never took a photo.


a self in the window reflection of one of the most "authentic" drinking holes in vienna... the zipp aka zipffff !