ARCHIVE OF 'photography'
MATHIAS BOTHOR | BRETAGNE
Text from gosee.de: Following South Africa’s Coasts, this winter a new picture book, with an added calendar, takes us on a journey through breathtaking natural landscapes. This time round we are taken to Brittany and its steep coasts, which the French refer to as “land by the sea”. Mathias BOTHOR c/o GUNDA PATZKE spent months travelling across this wind and sea beaten land for Mare magazine. He met up with the headstrong locals and captured a highly unique image of the West French region.
From painterly houses in dreamy villages, to weather hardy fishermen on their boats – the photographer brings us closer to the phenomenal feeling of Brittany: a sense of nostalgia.
ADDED NEW PHOTOGRAPHY LINKS
For my world travel I preferred to be alone here on my blog and actually used it as my diary. Since a couple of months though I think about it more and more to make it less about myself again. I will still continue to write about my thoughts and projects, in case I have some. hehe. Nevertheless, I would like to turn the blog entries more in direction of photography, illustration, movies, lets say art in general again. Not only my stuff should be the main target here anymore. Other portfolios, exhibitions, events and so on will be more present in future.
I started already to work on it and added a couple of new photographers I like. H ave a look at there work if you like. alessandra sanguinetti, morfi jimenez mercado, olivier pin-fat or sean gallagher. Especially I’d recommend to have a look at is tim simmons, philipp ebeling and pieter hugo.
NO NEED FOR A HEADLINE HERE I GUESS
This picture I took today on the wedding I photographed in Nanjing. I like it a lot. That’s exactly the kind of picture I like to take in my head. Maybe its the first time I just uploaded a copy of the image from my head instead of a photograph. Oh yeahh. Just wanted to share this. Now, the following lines will be my thoughts I had on the train from Shanghai to Nanjing.
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Sitting in the train to Nanjing, I listen to the music I used to listen when I went for a run to the lake and around it, close to my place in Hamburg, where I lived. Listen to that music creates the images I have of that area, the people I lived with, the food I cooked and ate, but also brings me back to the way I felt during this time. Its almost like the music is the necessary button to push to project the movie on the screen. I have music that reminds me of certain times at certain places. It is a premise though that I listened to that particular music a lot and also had a special feeling, a special time at those places. Otherwise it doesn’t work.
When I now listen to that music I used to listen in Germany, it reminds me of Germany as other music reminds me of other places in this world I am not from. Does it mean I lost the feeling of being home in Germany? The last 8 months (6 months actually only, because of 8 weeks traveling) now just seems to be another stop on my world travel and I can’t really feel the difference anymore between my stop in New Zealand or China or Vietnam. Yes they are differences where ever I lived, where ever I stayed for a while. Different things that make me happy or bring me down. But non of those places feel like “That’s where I am from” anymore. Non of those places feel like breathing through and be who I am. Non of those places give me the feeling of “I have arrived”, “I came back, to where I belong to”. I became a citizen of the world. In English it sounds way more dramatic than it is. The german translation “Ein Bewohner dieser Erde” simply describes the name of the planet I live on.
In exchange of getting to know new cultures, speak new languages, see new geological wonders, I had to trade my home base. The base known as the place where I would be safe. Where I would be more taken care of. Its not like this anymore though. For sure not. Every place asks you to give your best, to except the rules, to get accustomed to a different way of life. It feels like I lost that base. Did I ever had it? Yes. I had it at a time where I didn’t experience different places, different options to live. To sometimes know less can be great. But I longed for it, so I have to deal with it now.
How was I supposed to know that back in the time when I decided to travel the world and take a break, I would change so much. That I am not just gonna come back, tell people about my adventures and sit down at the desk I used to work again was for sure. But further to the point where I would start a new chapter of my life and without the possibility to flip the pages backwards, oops, I guess I was to naive to think I could actually do that. Well I guess nobody really knew it and knows what is going to happen when starting such adventures.
I don’t want to complain, just explain. If the travel mode wouldn’t suit me
so well, I wouldn’t have decided to extend my trip for 6 months and now finally move away from Germany without any idea of a time when I will return again.
The funny thing is, what I am doing now isn’t that unique at all. Many people from all around the world wander around the globe to find their luck, peace, happiness, whatever they seek for. Everyone of those globetrotters is excited to be somewhere else, because nobody really misses the place they are from. They maybe miss the people and the food. hehe.
To live somewhere else for a longer time claims that you need to give up certain behaviors you grew up with. To do new things you haven’t learned in the place you lived before. And the more you change the place you live, the more you need to deal with your new environment. So there is less time to concentrate on yourself and I think many people like that. A life where its more important to be at a certain place than being yourself. It is great to travel the world, to see all these “other” things. The price I need to pay is to give up a piece of myself: My Home.
COUNTRY CHARTS ON PFLOCK.COM
Hello. I just have a little note on the site, everybody is probably so excited about it. Back in the time the menu of my website used to be in order of the countries I visited. The new website doesn’t really tell that anymore, so I decided to bring a chart up front a series what tells you about the location in this world. So, it doesn’t tell you about every single picture where I took it, but I like it that way more anyways. I think about the idea to bring up a menu what lets you choose from what part of the world you want to see pictures. Still, I just think about it.
NOBODY SAID IT WAS EASY. OR . NIHAO AND NOW ?
Some people probably already heard about my move to China. I moved here in order to expect better opportunities to live for less, eat better food, learn Chinese and find a job what finally gives me the chance to photograph or learn from photographers such as the guys from Rimagine, where applied for a photography assistant position. Let’s see what the future holds for me here in China. To be honest, I am obviously afraid, that nothing is going to work out like in Germany. Actually I had a plan which contains making wedding picture business with my friend James, get an apartment in Nanjing and enroll into the Nanjing university language program, so I do have a visa which allows me to stay in China for half a year. So far, I am not going to do any of those things. No wedding pictures, because I need to have a working license, no apartment, because I don’t really know if I get a job in Beijing or Shanghai or somewhere else in China. Shanghai has the best options though. Last but not least, I am not going to enroll, since there are definitely cheaper options like going to Hong Kong to apply for a one month F visa and extend it two weeks later for half a year for about 3,450 Yuan. The program would me cost about 9,000 Yuan, so I am quite happy I didn’t sign up yet, instead I will wait what happens with my applications I’ve send. So this is the most difficult time I had so far in my life. Yes, indeed. Since everything looks totally unclear and uncertain, I was happy to receive an Email from a visitor on my website from turkey who cheered me up with his words:
Dear Florian Ritter,
Great photos, I looked up your site, and great portfolio.
I ‘m an amateur photographer since 5 years in Turkey and searching photographers and portfolios, to learn new things.
But this portfolio is the greatest one for me. First time I ‘m sending an e-mail to a phographer. But I realy wanted to
present my regards. Thanks for these photos…
Especially Stories, Urban, People and Landscape.
Have a nice day…. and Regards
Gokcen Cidam
In this case, thanks to Gokcen
夏 河 。XIAHE | GANSU PROVINCE
After I spent a week in Xiahe, Gansu Province in China, I would like to introduce you to a new series of landscape pictures. Xiahe is on an altitude about 2900m and one of the Tibetan remote areas outside of the actual Province Tibet.
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Xiahe (Chinese: 夏河; pinyin: Xiàhé; Tibetan: བསང་ཆུ་; Wylie: bsang chu; English: Sangchu) is a county in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu province, the People’s Republic of China. It is home to the famed Labrang Tibetan Buddhist monastery, one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist monasteries outside of the Tibet Autonomous Region. The town is populated largely by ethnic Tibetans, as well as some Hui and Han Chinese. The area is highly rural and pastoral (including yak and other animal rearing). The geography is mountainous. In recent years it has become a tourist attraction. The town was named Xiahe in 1928.
Xiahe is found in the southern portion of Gansu province, along the western border with Qinghai province. It lies along the Daxia and Zhao rivers. It is on the northeast edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The average elevation is 2900 – 3100m with the highest being 4636m and lowest 2160m. (source: wikipedia.org)