Georg Baumann
Subscriber Member
June XXVI, 2009
The sound that shakes the earth. - Silence -
Learning to do nothing, I sit on that rock and observe the gentle curve of the skelleton which once was a wall built of granit by men hundreds of years ago, preventing animals to fall to certain death. Massive bolders where arranged to a wall, labour as hard as can be, to last for centuries.
The atlantic is calm today, yet the wind up here goes right through your bones, I enjoy the wind, it makes me feel alive, and most of all, it keeps the midges away. A strange bird lands beside me, so close I could touch it. It has a longish beak, mostly black and beautiful orange feathers and is nearly as big as a seagul. Not bothered by my presence, it starts to clean and rearrange feathers for a while, and then flies away, falling for a short while to find the warm air and then gliding gracefully higher and with very few wing movements gaining height again.
People are dying in Iran, a most opressive regime governed by medival mindsets. Sharia Law is still practised and followed. Women's rights are only slowly emerging from a basis of free thinking and educated people, they put their very life in jeopardy, risking everything to enable a future for their children where values such as personal integrity and freedom will dominate their lives and not the mindsets ot a handfull of Tyrans exploiting a nation.
It is the year 2009, but what does that mean? The computing power of my 8 core Mac would have filled an entire school building not so long ago, the world faces a financial crisis on a level that can only be described as devastating, a crisis that was triggered by only a handfull of people as well, again, a handfull of people.
The beauty of this place is enchanting, and I feel like I could sit here forever. We are choosers, this is the very core of our existance, we make choices and in that we are responsible for our actions and consequences. Basic principles of ethics seem to be far removed from our modern economy and it shows. When the first people went to space and saw earth from above, they where overwhelmed by it's beauty and the obvious fragility of our atmospheric system which enables life on earth.
So easy to forget this in the midst and stress of modern life, carreer, children, worries, and in general a life under a lot of pressure, but nevertheless determind by our very own choices.
I could do street photography, product photography, glamour photography, but I do landscapes. It enables me to find something that is longing in each and everyone of us and share it, and once in a while, someone feels the same just by looking at a picture, this makes all my efforts worth my time.
Above me where the road is, a few people walk by, one points in my direction, obviously wondering about that nutter who climbed down the cliffs to shoot from here. He has a camera and takes a picture of me, barely stops in his walk, snap and go. They are chatting loudly like a flock of geese, exited voices, I can not hear what they are saying, but their nervous sounds, talking over eachother. How can they even get a glimpse of this amazing place if they don't shut up? Do they even see the skelleton of a wall? I doubt it. They keep on walking, their voices disappear quickly and it is quiet again.
I feel content here. Have to come back more often and take many pictures. It is one of those places where I can shoot over and over again, and find always something new. When heavy weather hits, I could not stand here, I would be swept over the cliffs in no time so violently the winds can hit here when the atlantic raises his voice, yet, animals are all around here all year long. I will come back here in January when the storms are battering the cliffs, if I am careful enough I should be able to capture this.
Photographing landscapes, what a privilege!
The sound that shakes the earth. - Silence -
Learning to do nothing, I sit on that rock and observe the gentle curve of the skelleton which once was a wall built of granit by men hundreds of years ago, preventing animals to fall to certain death. Massive bolders where arranged to a wall, labour as hard as can be, to last for centuries.
The atlantic is calm today, yet the wind up here goes right through your bones, I enjoy the wind, it makes me feel alive, and most of all, it keeps the midges away. A strange bird lands beside me, so close I could touch it. It has a longish beak, mostly black and beautiful orange feathers and is nearly as big as a seagul. Not bothered by my presence, it starts to clean and rearrange feathers for a while, and then flies away, falling for a short while to find the warm air and then gliding gracefully higher and with very few wing movements gaining height again.
People are dying in Iran, a most opressive regime governed by medival mindsets. Sharia Law is still practised and followed. Women's rights are only slowly emerging from a basis of free thinking and educated people, they put their very life in jeopardy, risking everything to enable a future for their children where values such as personal integrity and freedom will dominate their lives and not the mindsets ot a handfull of Tyrans exploiting a nation.
It is the year 2009, but what does that mean? The computing power of my 8 core Mac would have filled an entire school building not so long ago, the world faces a financial crisis on a level that can only be described as devastating, a crisis that was triggered by only a handfull of people as well, again, a handfull of people.
The beauty of this place is enchanting, and I feel like I could sit here forever. We are choosers, this is the very core of our existance, we make choices and in that we are responsible for our actions and consequences. Basic principles of ethics seem to be far removed from our modern economy and it shows. When the first people went to space and saw earth from above, they where overwhelmed by it's beauty and the obvious fragility of our atmospheric system which enables life on earth.
So easy to forget this in the midst and stress of modern life, carreer, children, worries, and in general a life under a lot of pressure, but nevertheless determind by our very own choices.
I could do street photography, product photography, glamour photography, but I do landscapes. It enables me to find something that is longing in each and everyone of us and share it, and once in a while, someone feels the same just by looking at a picture, this makes all my efforts worth my time.
Above me where the road is, a few people walk by, one points in my direction, obviously wondering about that nutter who climbed down the cliffs to shoot from here. He has a camera and takes a picture of me, barely stops in his walk, snap and go. They are chatting loudly like a flock of geese, exited voices, I can not hear what they are saying, but their nervous sounds, talking over eachother. How can they even get a glimpse of this amazing place if they don't shut up? Do they even see the skelleton of a wall? I doubt it. They keep on walking, their voices disappear quickly and it is quiet again.
I feel content here. Have to come back more often and take many pictures. It is one of those places where I can shoot over and over again, and find always something new. When heavy weather hits, I could not stand here, I would be swept over the cliffs in no time so violently the winds can hit here when the atlantic raises his voice, yet, animals are all around here all year long. I will come back here in January when the storms are battering the cliffs, if I am careful enough I should be able to capture this.
Photographing landscapes, what a privilege!
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