As promised in my last post, today I will take you along on a walk through a little village in the Ligurian Appenin mountains that run along the coast of the Mediterranean. What ties this little mountain village, called Bellissimi, to the balloon vendor I photographed in Genoa’s Porto Antico the other day, are well…balloons. Bellissimi (which means “the most beautiful”) is full of murals of balloons. To see a selection of the artworks, find out why Bellissimi’s claim to fame are balloons, and last but not least see a picture of the four Bellissimi who visited this village, click below for the full story of “Liguria Explored – Bellissimi”
The Japanese concept of Wabi-Sabi celebrates the beauty of perfect imperfection, impermanence, and the natural state of things—an ideal philosophy for photography. Instead of chasing perfection, Wabi-Sabi encourages finding beauty in flaws: the cracks of a weathered wall, the softness of blurred motion, or the fleeting golden hour light.
This mindset frees us photographers to embrace authenticity, valuing the raw and unpolished over the artificial. A blurred motion shot, for instance, may evoke more emotion than a sharply focused one. A grainy texture or an uneven shadow can add depth and character to an image.
By adopting Wabi-Sabi into our photography, we not only can expand our creative vision, but also connect more deeply with the subjects we capture. It’s a reminder that life, with all its imperfections, is inherently beautiful—just waiting to be captured through the lens.
If you feel inspired, pick up your camera (or smart phone), head into the streets and find your own way of capturing the beauty of perfect imperfection.
Yesterday I was doing some street photography while strolling through the alleys of Intra at Italy’s Lago Maggiore. It was really too hot and humid to get the creative juices flowing. This is the only shot that is a keeper from the outing. I saw that mural and what message it seems to convey, and the luxury coffee store across the street. Then I saw the approaching sunlit family of casual Saturday shoppers. More contrasts. I snapped away with my iPhone.
In post I debated whether to convert to monochrome. But I like how the colors work together in this image. One photograph I like is enough to be happy with a day of otherwise energy-less shooting.
If you feel energized to head out with your camera (or smart phone) to capture some street photography, check out my free Learning Center for lots of tips and inspirations around shooting in the streets.
Doing Street Photography while visiting museums and exhibitions is one of my favorite things to do with a camera (or in this case just my iPhone). Another opportunity arose during a recent visit to Genoa. The doge’s apartments of the Palazzo Ducale are featuring an exhibition of the work of Emmanuel Radnitzky, better known as Man Ray. The title image of the exhibition was already featured in another recent post. Join me for a tour of Man Ray’s work. Check it out by clicking the link below. A little disclaimer: the post needs to be treated as NSFW 😉
Wow…there was never a four week break between posts on this blog. And this when I wanted March to be the month to pick up the pace on the “Streets of Nuremberg”. But then, two years into the pandemic, the Covid bug finally caught up with us. First Big Boy, then myself, then The Significant Other. It was no fun, for none of us. But all of us were triple vaccinated, and so we were able to weather the virus at home. While it felt like a typical winter flu, it still took me the good part of two weeks to really get back on my feet. Two weeks also without any creative energy. But here’s a few photographs I took just prior to the virus attack in an exhibition of the works of French impressionist Claude Monet. The Street Photographer eye in eye with a master…
As written in my last post, The Significant Other and I spent last weekend in Zurich. We used the occasion to visit the exhibition “The world of Steve McCurry” in the Maag Halle. Those of you who have the opportunity to see this exhibition, either in Zurich or elsewhere, go! All others can join me for a quick glimpse of this awesome presentation of McCurry’s work and see some colors in the dark.
Good Friday is a public holiday in Germany. Time to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. Time to unwind a bit, taking The Significant Other and the Leica and heading out for a little hike near Etzelsdorf, visiting the site were the golden headdress of a bronze age sun priest was found that I wrote about in this post about our last trip to a museum.
While today’s images still are on the SD card in the camera, I want to share a photograph taken with the Leica M (Type 240) and the Summicron 50mm F/2 during another recent Sunday afternoon hike around the village of Möning, a few kilometers from our house. We took a peak into St. Willibald church, where I was immediately hooked by the rays of light falling through one of the windows of the old church dating back almost one thousand years.
That moment I was glad I had brought the Leica on this trip, as none of the other cameras I own would have been able to capture the magic of this moment as the vintage full frame rangefinder. The tonal range, the softness of the light is special to this sensor almost ten years old now. A perfect image to share on this Good Friday.
If you feel like picking up your camera on this (hopefully for you as well) long weekend and are still looking for more tips, explanations and inspiration around photography, check out my free Learning Center. And then have fun hunting for those magic rays of light.
I never did post some images I took during our last trip to a museum, at least for the foreseeable future, as all museums are closed due to the Covid lockdown. While I brought the Olympus OM-D E-M1X with the mZuiko 12-100 F/4 for the tour through the exhibitions of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, I never really got into the flow that evening, so the yield was rather limited, but there are a few shots that are worth sharing.
Last Sunday, together with good friends, The Significant Other and I visited the exhibition of contemporary German painter Christopher Lempfuhl in the Museum Würth in Künzelsau-Gaisbach. Frequent readers of this blog know that I love shooting street photography in an exhibition. Taking my recently acquired used Leica M for a spin, I gave myself the challenge to shoot a small reportage with only a 35mm prime lens. One exhibition, one lens.
A few weeks ago I asked you to cast your vote for “Ginger”, a creative project that is supporting Nuremberg’s application to become the European Capital of Culture in 2025. From many ideas submitted, the Open Call N2025 initiative advanced 96 projects to the stage of public voting. Also thanks to your help, “Ginger” received the fourth most votes and will be one of ten projects whose realization will be funded with 5.000 EUR.
It’s Easter Sunday, and a beautiful warm and sunny day it is in Nuremberg. Family is coming and The Significant Other, enlisting my services, has the Lamb alla Pugliese in the oven. Life is good.
To cap my three part series about Notre Dame de Paris, I invite you to an Easter walk around the Old Lady, that hopefully one day will rise from the ashes and be restored to all its glory…..
Nothing like a good juxtaposition to start into the weekend. Putting huge and tiny into one photograph. Giantesses and Dwarfs. Portland and its many awesome murals provide great opportunities to capture these opposites.
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