Photography: Personal favourites 2023 March
Category Archives: 2023: Bring it on
Düsseldorf March 2023
Day 1
– a day earlier than originally planned (due to the “mega-strike” on 27 March), an extremely early train ride in utterly miserable weather, a visit to the excellent K20, and then to the fitness room and pool in the hotel (trying to keep up some kind of daily exercise routine in addition to walking), and finally a really good lamb curry in nearby “eatdoori”.
Day two
– walkabout in ever-changing weather to Rheinufer (briefly, due to a strong, icy wind), then Hofgarten, and on to Ackerstraße (not as interesting as it is hyped up to be, but seems to be under development and has potential). I did find one nice café: Oma Erika.
Day three
– in beautiful sunshine, but very cold, K21, Lorettostraße (another up-and-coming street much less hyped but in my opinion more interesting than Ackerstraße), Rheinufer, Medienhafen, Kunst im Tunnel, and some more parks. Dinner in a very good, and clearly very popular, vegan Vietnamese restaurant – “To1980“.
Day four
Overcast and slightly misty but dry and warmer than in previous days. Daniel Libeskind’s Kö-Bogen (an upmarket shopping mall), I like most of his buildings but am not so sure of this one although I took and am posting too many photos of it :-); more parks, an aborted visit to NRW Forum (several school classes queueing to get tickets), Nordfriedhof (in the hope of some bird photography despite less than ideal light conditions – I did see some chaffinks and some treecreepers). On the way back, discovered Golzheimer Friedhof, now a park full of ancient gravestones and other cemetery ornaments.
Day five
– the main purpose of the trip: Art Düsseldorf, an annual art fair which has long been on my wish list. It takes place in another repurposed industrial area.
But first: the Schauspielhaus, by Bernhard Pfau (b. 1902), opened 1970:
Day 6
– Altstadt, NRW Forum (renewed attempt). Also took a quick look at a new oasis in Düsseldorf – the central library with an art forum and a good café. Return to Berlin.
“Bird-watching in English”, 2 – Volkspark Wilmersdorf
The second excursion by NABU/VHS led by Robert Crouch. Not the best place for birds-watching, especially on a weekend – too many people and too noisy. But the weather was OK and it was a nice walk.
On the way back, I walked through Wilmersdorf cemetery (much quieter :-)) and saw the elusive green woodpecker, but unfortunately did not get any photos worth showing.
Short visit to Tierpark
Main purpose: to see the four newborn Takins (three Sichuan, one Gold-), and to try to take some better photos of the gnus than last time when they had recently arrived.
Mission almost accomplished, except for the gnu part. They were no longer cowering in the furthest corner, but were still not in photo-op mode and I was unable to focus past the trees.
Series: Berlin’s Subway (U-Bahn) Stations
At the time of writing (March 2923), there are 175 subway stations in Berlin, and they are all very different.
1906
1913
1980
2020
2021
“Bird-watching in English” – Naturpark Südgelände
Very nice walk, led by Robert Crouch, in true spring-like weather, in Naturpark Südgelände, organised by Volkshochschule and NABU. We did not see as many birds as expected, and I did not take any bird photos at all, probably because of too many people in the park that day. But still very enjoyable, and there is always something to see and photograph there.
I also realised that Robert leads a bridge course for VHS – something I have been wanting to take up again for a long time, so I have now signed on for it as a kind of refresher course, and hope to be playing regularly after that.
Walkabout to scout for photos for the next class
Last week, in the Strudelmedia course I am attending, James advised us to start as many projects as possible, because then we will always stumble upon things to photograph when we are out and about. I am trying to heed this advice.
The first part of my route here. I then took a coffee break and forgot to start recording again. The last part was approximately this.
Back to Tempelhofer Feld for another NABU tour of the old plant nursery (Alte Gärtnerei)
As usual with NABU, an interesting hour walking around the area which is still up for development. We saw quite a few different birds, among them a hawk a couple of times, but I did not get any good photos.
On the way to Leinestraße U-Bahn station, one of the others showed me a tree where three owls were getting their beauty sleep. The were so well camouflaged that I would not have spotted them myself. The best photo I managed (still not good) was with my phone.
Also took some photos for my ongoing series on garbage in trees, and – close to home – started a new “project” on demotion sites, inspired by photos by Daniel Poller which I saw in Amtsalon the other day.
And finally, the white croci are in full bloom in Besselpark, starshaped, in honour of the astronomer after which the park is named: Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel (1784-1846).
12 March catching some more EMOP exhibitions
Amtsalon (see under specials), Komunale Galerie, and Kunstwild Photoprojekt.
I can absolutely recommend the exhibition in Amtsalon, and it is also an interesting building in itself.
A grey and slightly snowy day, I skipped the two parks I passed on the way, and did not take many photos.
Almost back home, I started a “project” about demolition sites, inspired by some photos by Daniel Poller which I had seen in Amtsalon earlier in the day.
Which is also where I noticed a car crammed full of stuff :-).
Foobs
I don’t like selfies – the self-absorption and self-obsession and megalomania behind them – and I don’t like photos of myself. Also, if people knew how stupid they look while making selfies, they would not be making them. But in this case, I thought one was justified.
I had been to Hempel’s In Petto in Steglitz (“Fachgeschäft für Brustprothetik”) to pick up my sickness-insurance-sponsored foobs, as we say in our circles (yes, despite thinking it is a bad signal to send, that we don’t need fake boobs to feel like real women, and all that, and that you can find clothes that one way or another camouflage the “beyond-flat” concavities a bit). My excuse for getting them anyway: There are days where I just want to go out in the world and look “normal” and not make statements all the time – at least not about breast cancer and mastectomies. Besides, some clothes simply “hang” better with a bit of a bulge.
I then went clothes shopping, and soon came across the sweater in the photo. It is difficult to see, but the word on it is “Illusion”, so I had to have it. A sweater with the word “Illusion” smeared across the chest sporting the new foobs is a fitting tribute to my spinelessness 😊.
PS: I have only worn them once, am not really planning on wearing them a lot at all, and certainly did not bother to bring them along to my temporary residence in Köpenick. I am even avoiding – and have instead thrown out some – the clothes in question which I feel show off the concavities too much. Breast prosthesis, and the type of bra they require, are just too bothersome, time consuming and uncomfortable.
