archive for August, 2007
Hello Hollywood
I arrived safetly in L.A. and 2 beautiful ladies picked me up. What a welcome. Sarah and Josie are friends of my friend Dominic who spent a couple of month ago time in Los Angeles. Both of them working in a senior home, where I spent most of the time yesterday: talking to the old people, get some popcorn and playing piano for those guys for 2 hours. That was awesome. I loved my audience and they probably loved me, because old people just love me, oh yeah. Thank you Thank you. I am staying in a hostel names Banana something. It’s only 22 bugs per night and almost in the heart of Hollywood.
I went to the pier for a little walk and realized how many homeless guys spending their time next to the beach in Santa Monica. What a contrast. I spoke to a fishing guy who got a nice catch. His name is ruben and he is from guatemala. I gonna visit him in his church on sunday morning and listen to his music. He is playing the piano as well. Of course my camera will always follow me and I am hoping for another good report. Don’t get me wrong. I am not only talking to people because I care about my reports. I am interested as much as in my pictures. A couple of minutes later I met a young mother with her little dauther. She told me that she jumped out of her window with her 15 months daughter. She is workless and homeless now. Her answer to my question where she gonna stay tonight was really unexpected. She hates L.A. because of the people who lives here. “Everbody cares about their own business and is selfish.” Thats kind of true. We met some of them on the streets and she didn’t ask them for help. But she didn’t want any help, beeing paranoid that everybody just loves her little baby and not her. I bought her some food and pampas for her little. The unbelieveble thing: She didn’t trust me as well, which is not the first time in USA. I am kind of tall and white and my back is a little broad. So I could work undercover for the FBI or the CIA. Damn it. So I wished her good luck and hope she found something to stay. That was all I could do for her. This world is crazy.
I am leaving on monday to stay some days in San Diego. Next saturday I gonna gamble in Las Vegas and monday afterwards I gonna leave for San Francisco. I am always bussy and I love it.
Good Bye Locust
I am leaving my first stop and going towards the west in 8 hours. I discussed with my roommate charlotte about when you are allowed to say that you lived somewhere instead of only visited a place. We were defenetly in complete agreement that I lived here. I met 80 percent of the people from my homy home street Locust and will never forget this lovely place with all these puerto rican people. “Howareudoin” is always a good beginning to start a conversation. I’ve got also what I wanted those last days. The pictures from Harry. Finally. 24 hours before I left the city. I am still editing those pictures and present them the next time when internet is available. I am leaving with a little pain in my heart. I just get used to it and felt comfortable and great in my neighborhood. Thanks everybody in Locust. Especially Charlotte, Curt, Sophie and of course Harry. I gonna tell more about that guy soon. Awesome. Awesome to the max.
The first step is done.
Hi friends, family and everybody else who is interested in my life and my traveling and photos. I decided to carry on writing in english. Guess why? The folk out there I meet every day speaks no german at all. My written english isn’t that perfect, but at least you gonna understand what i am trying to say.
After 247 I spend another week in Florida to visit some friends. One reason I love florida it’s because of the sun. Nevertheless it wasn’t sunny at all, but i had some great days, which is much more important than the sun. I took several photos of friends and their friends again. But the whole week of vacation was more about relaxing from New York again as doing a report about Orlando.
So I came back the 2nd of August to NYC and tried to organize my photos to show those pics the class, started on August 4th. I can’t explain step by step why this guy, Joseph Rodriguez, is so fantastic and inspired me so much to go out on the streets, talk to people and take pictures. The first weekend I was so happy about my new influences that I went out for a party to dance like crazy. Well, some of you know how I dance. I danced like crazy which was so much fun. I didn’t take any pictures the next days, because I had some other things to do and I also wanted to wait for Harry, a guy from the hood just two houses away. He is puerto rican like most of the people around here. And he has a lot to tell. He had the courage to talk first to me 2 weeks ago to introduce me into all the rules of street and the Broadway: “Don’t go over there, those guys don’t make fun, you know, if you go there, they just Boom Boom you, you know, they just boom boom. So stay away from the other side of Broadway. This street is safe, this street is safe. Stay here. People here are good. This is safe.” He was frighten me somehow, because I also never crossed the Broadway before. But I realized that he made me even more scared about the other half of Broadway. Welcome to America. Anyway, he is a great guy and always when I see him we have nice “Talki Talki”, how Joseph would say.
Well. I believed that within a week I will be able to go out there and take pictures now and chat easily with the folk on the streets. Finally I figured out that I was not able to and searched for excuses instead the whole week long for not meeting people and don’t take any photos: It’s too hot, it’s too cold, it’s too late, I am tired, I need more time, I want to eat something first and so on. Friday night I went out to a party and a great night until 7 in the morning. I slept one hour and went to school. I was really relaxed and totally ok with the fact I didn’t take any pictures still with the thoughts of “I know how to do it now.” 28 minutes later somebody said: “I don’t know what I want to say in my life. I don’t know what to say with my pictures.” That makes awake again. I had no Ideas about taking pictures. One thing came to another and I doubt in myself again about everything. From one moment to another. Do I want to be a photographer or do I want to be an Illustrator and what the f*** do I have to say in my life. There are not really connections between her question and my thoughts, but it activate me to think. So I was really down and completely unsatisfied with my whole situation. I slept only hour the night before and was really tired what maked my scares even deeper. I knew, when I am not able to prove that black is white tonight, than I am lost. I went out to take pictures again on saturday evening. I’ve got a “NO” here and a “NO” there and another “NO” and another “NO”. But I realized in those “NO” moments already that I am able to ask people and I am not afraid anymore. Some of you can’t believe that maybe. But I really had those problems: Go to the folk on the street for my own and ask for a picture with the words: “Hi, howudoin?! I am doing a report about my hood, cos Iam living right next to you, you know. 28 Locust”. When I am with somebody, I am talking like crazy. But when you are for you own, its much harder. Its not hard to walk around and take snapshots and say thanks afterwards. Its hard to speak to people, what there are doing, how long there are in New York already, what their names are and so on. You have to see in the photograph that you had or still have a connection to the people. Finally I’ve got a “YES”. Those guys had a birthday party and had no problems at all with me. They invited me for a beer, for a birthday cake and asked me if I want to join these guys to come to a puerto rican bar not far away from that place. I said yes (which means I would be crazy and stupid if say no) and went to a small place somewhere between Brooklyn and Queens. A bar with live music and only puerto ricans. I danced with a woman around the age like my mother, only 4 and a half feets tall and had a lot fun. The conversations were quie funny, because they spoke english with an puerto rican accent and drunk on the top. I could understand only 26%. But sometimes you talk with a smile and thats totally fine. I enjoyed life again. Those guys couldn’t stop inviting me for one and another beer. Sounds like I was drunk after 2 minutes, but in total I had only 4 beer and could still concentrate on my pictures. I had exactly what i wanted this night. Beeing involved in a small social group, but still the outsider, able to take care about pictures. I am not totally satisfied with my pictures. But thats not the point. It was about finding my courage to go out there and talk to people I never met in my life before. I have all email adresses and new arrangements for tonight to meet some of those guys again and take more pictures in their apartments.
So I came home at 12.30a and met Harry again. Finally, after one and a half week waiting for him. I asked him for pictures and he said “YES”. So another great guy to shoot. 20 minutes later I received a call from a friend. She is a photographer and ask me if I mind to help her out the next days. So, I also have my internship now. The last 3 days in NYC gonna be really happy and fully loaded with photography and “TALKI TALKI”. I don’t know why, but the last days are always the greatest.