A distant memory

of Venice...

Our favourite summer band

For me it all started (well, you know, not all, but yesterday’s performance) as I was on the way to the venue. I was cycling through Tivoli (Ljubljana’s answer to Hyde Park) and from the distance I heard some synthesiser music that reminded me of the one man bands you could find at the Croatian seaside in the 1980s. I had absolutely no idea what to do with this piece of information as – at least as far as I know – the only thing Laibach could possibly have in common with them is the time period.
So, I was cycling towards MGLC (the venue) at a constantly decreasing pace (nothing to do with the fact that it was uphill). My head was full of thoughts like ‘I got the days mixed up’, ‘I was kidnapped by Doctor Who’s phone booth and taken to another dimension’, ‘My mind is playing games with me (again)’ and similar. But no, I arrived and saw loads of people who seemed to be waiting for the same thing as me. And yet the music did not change. Until… it did! It changed into a version of the intro of Jane’s Addiction’s I’ve been caught stealing. And the barking just went on an on… as intimidating as Laibach were (or tried to be in the 1980s) this time they managed to intimidate a dog, who did not feel safe even when standing right next to his owner.
Well, this was followed by an actual half hour performance by the band, which was nothing special, but much improved from the background tracks somebody has been serving us until that moment. Their call for revolution did not sound as powerful and energetic (and was not so carefully planned) as it did in the 80s but then times are changing… (at this point I almost went into a historical discourse, but for a change my better judgement kicked in).
Anyway, as soon as they finished, the one man band soundalike was back and I cycled into town as fast as I could.

Eurovision song contest

Guess what... I decided not to watch it (I never do really). I thought it might be better to go and watch and listen to people playing live and something different. So I went to see an American band (or rather duet) known as Xiu Xiu and described as an experimental art pop act.
Having no idea how the Eurovision song contest went, I am still convinced that I chose the right option.

Student exhibition

at Famul Stuart. Went to see what the students at Famul Stuart (School of applied arts) were up to during the past year. A few things caught my eye. This is a part of a coffee table (the part under the glass top, which probably means that it does not double up as a magazine rack, but it looked fun).
I also liked the sort of recycle part, even though the objects were not the greatest ever, more because it is thinking in the right direction. It is always good to see things that people throw away being reused in an innovative way.

Skunk

Anansie. I didn't think I would enjoy it as much as I did. I forgot about this band a bit... I mean not that they ever existed, but how much energy they have. Unsurprisingly (I forgot) as they were off the scene for almost a decade. But it seems they are making a comeback and they haven't aged a bit in all this time (which makes me wonder how come I have? That's just not fair, is it?).
However, for a bit of contrast, I posted a photo of Skin form one of the more subdued songs.

Flo

as in Florence & The Machine. If I was spoilt for choice yesterday with three different events I attended, today was straight forward. I knew that the blog will be all about Florence & The Machine. After all the trouble I went through (well in the end it wasn't that bad) to get a photo press card for the concert, it had to be Flo, didn't it? I will even have to write a short review of the concert... Ah the depths we sink into... That is just for all of you who think that being a translator/photographer is a simple job.
But no, to get back to the subject (as if I ever was there in the first place). I enjoyed the concert. It wasn’t the best ever, well it wasn’t even the best this year, but it was in the top five of the year for sure (I do attend an immense number of concerts). I think I realised that I attend various concerts for various reasons. I went to listen to (well and photograph) Challenge (Kat Dyson, TM Stevens, Cindy Blackman) for the music, Nouvelle Vague for the show and that certain concert feeling, Nevchehirlian and Tindersticks for the poetry and poetic feeling and Florence for the pure energy and strong voice (Here I could go on and on with all the concerts, but it is just meant as a indication of the various reasons I might attend a concert). And yes Florence gave me all the energy I expected and a bit of a show and more stage decoration that a simple mind can handle. Job well done, Flo :).
(And yes, I noticed I surprised most yesterday with this piece of information, but I do have her album on my mp3 player and I do listen to her sometimes as I cycle around town)

Spoilt for choice...

...and yet I do not have a reasonable photo of what I really wanted to show. From all the things I saw & photographed this day, I wanted to show you a photo from the light guerrilla project that is currently taking place in Ljubljana. Well, I am going to show you a photo from it, but it is not as good as I wanted it to be. No, no, no... While writing this blog I actually decided to make a quick collage of a few photos from the same light guerrilla thingy. The main kaleidoscope type part of the picture was a part of a projection on a side of the building... Now in a perfect world I was have a camera that could cope with such conditions and offer something that would be almost as stunning as seeing it in real life.... but then perfect, schmerfect or whatever they say... then in the lower part of the photo you have three photos of people. The camera was set on these people and as they moved the kaleidoscope changed... the colours where taken from their clothes and depending on their position within the light square these colours would appear on the wall projection (some 20 metres high I guess). A project that is pleasing to the eye and people seemed to enjoy it very much, but unfortunately I could not squeeze enough from my camera to do it justice.

Dance

Went to a dance performance tonight, and I was sort of a part of it. I was free to interact with the performers (well my camera was free to do so, I am just the camera's extension :) )and I enjoyed myself. Don’t think I moved quite as gracefully as the rest on the stage though…

Need to brush up on my French

Went to a concert by Nevchehirlian tonight and unfortunately for me the lyrics seem to be extremely important and my French... well... is a tad rusty to say the least... I understood some of it, but not all and I have a feeling I missed out on something there.

After a long long time

I had what seems like the laziest day in yonks. I got cruelly awaken at 4.40 (now that is a nice and lazy start to the day) just to be told that the morning photo shoot is off. For many this would be good, but for me, well... first of all the photo shoot was off!! and secondly, I was awake. At 4.40 am. For no good reason. For those of you who know me, you know that I like photo shoots and that a cancellation just takes my joy away. You also know that once I am awake, there is no way I can go back to bed. So there I was with 20 hours to kill to the next bedtime and nothing to do. Well, I also had no energy as I have been working too hard lately, so what was I to do but... read a book... And go to a play in the evening, but not take any pictures, just relax and watch the play. As I said a rest day.
(This is one of the rare self-portraits I did... you know photographers...)

Do you...

see what I see? Sometimes I wonder how we perceive the same thing. So here it is... take your time (you know in today's world 27 consecutive seconds spent on any single thing means shows total focus and dedication – ah, I do love do be cynical sometimes) and take a look at it. Think about it. Try to describe it. Write it down in the comment area. ‘Why?’ you might ask... Well, for fun. As a mental exercise. So I am not the only daft one writing all the time :). Because it is the weekend. Because there is absolutely nothing better to do. ‘Cos you want to be clever. Pick a reason, any reason.

Evening of

easy electronics with some non-electronics thrown in. It was a relaxing evening with lo-hi-fi, Mora Calix & Oliver Coates and Burnt Friedman (Burnt and Fried? now that's unlucky...)& Jaki Liebezeit. A very fitting concert for the type of week I have been having (exhausting). Here everybody seemed to have a combination of 1 instrument + computer and they all played quite easy, sort of chill out music. I'll just tell you the main combos and then I'll let you be: lo-hi-fi (electric guitar & computer), Calix & Coates (Computer & cello) and Friedman & Leibezeit (Drums & computer).
At this the term computer is used rather loosely...

Demonstrations

These demonstrations seemed to have raised great discussions in Slovenia. So here is a very quick recap of how I saw them. First of all, I have no idea how many students and pupils where there at the beginning of it all. When I was approaching I saw masses of them moving away from the parliament... and when I say masses I mean masses... The main street was shut and full of people moving away. When I came to the parliament there were still quite a few people there and yes the majority looked like students or pupils... But then the majority also seemed to be merely observing and chatting (and yes, of course some were drunk - but was that not the case at all the demonstrations we attended when we were pupils or students?). But then there were some people who did not look like students or pupils (no I do not have in mind photographers and other news reporters) and they seemed to be the loudest and most aggressive (Ok I did see two drunk girls who looked like pupils and they seemed rather agitated by the police and threw some eggs in their direction). But anyway, I have been to quite a few demonstrations in my life, mainly anti-war and social rights and similar, but these were the first I did not feel safe at. And somehow I am not sure whether this was all down to the students and pupils (nor was it down to the police may I add).

A different era...

... but what does it mean today?

Mondays are ruff...

...especially so, when you feel this (and know it) already in the morning.

An evening of dark ...

...but humorous songs. Had a great time at this slightly bizarre (sort of little shop of horrors) cabaret style performance. In between I got an idea for a quick photo opportunity, but then I thought it would be too complicated with the lighting and stuff.... But when I went to unlock my bike I saw who the lighting guy was and knew it would be so easy, if only I would have known before... I am sure there will be another chance... until then you will just have to settle for a photo from the actual show...

Full Monthy

Went to see the theatre production of the Full Monthy in the evening. One of the rare opportunities to photograph something on the big stage... and I mean big... you don’t even notice it is big until you come there with your bog standard lens (17-85, 1:4-5.6, yup that is really what I use) and realise that all of the action is taking place about 10 metres away from you... and as it is a public general rehearsal (which was full) you can’t hop on stage or move around, so you don’t disturb the others... So I sat where I could, which meant that in between me and the action (in those 10 metres) there was plenty of stuff that disturbed me, mainly some monitors positioned on stage right in between... But anyway, considering the circumstances I think I came home with some photos that can be shown to the general public ...

On the set

I suppose it would be wrong for me to be on a set for three days and not post a single photo from the filming. Here I got the team to pose for a picture for me...

New Wave

After a day of taking …hmm… documentary photographs during the filming of a documentary film that my cousin is doing for his study project , I went to see Krnc’ exhibition and the to the concert of Nouvelle Vague that I was really looking forward to. And you remember how I was raging about Challenge and what an excellent concert it was? Well I do. This one was also an excellent concert, but from a different aspect.
Challenge was all about great musicians doing great things with their instruments and thoroughly enjoying themselves. Nouvelle vague was a concert at which the band (well at least the two singers – I must say the rest of the band really is in the background) had great fun as did the audience. Everybody was singing along (we all knew the songs from their first time round – not the band’s the song’s – as Nouvelle Vague do remakes of various songs (and in the start they were all New Wave songs) and maybe the music and singing was not – hmm – the best evah, but I can assure you all that nobody noticed this, as the atmosphere was sky high (a daft pun, but here it is).

Hectic days

Had a few very very hectic days in which I took loads of photos but had absolutely no time to view them, let alone actually post any. So now I will cheat and upload them for the past few days (hopefully as soon as possible) with some explanations of the days (as much as I remember).
This is where it all started. A concert in Kino Šiška where I saw 4 bands in one night. The first band - Italian Doc Remix (which was in reality a separate concert in the small hall, and a part of a – slightly noise - series that usually takes place at a different venue) was my favourite of the evening (and this will make one of my friends laugh, because he usually tries to make me go to noise concerts and I am not that… err… keen) . However, this is not a photo from that concert but from - huh - err... the fourth band of the evening. I like it because of the colours and because drummers are hard to feature in photographs as they are usually hidden in the background.

Volunteers

I have been volunteering at the cancer clinic for over a year now. I don't do much, I just take photographs, I just dedicate some of my time to them, for something I enjoy doing anyway. It is true, that I usually come quite emotionally drained from their events... You see, a part of me is a photographer. I look around... I look people in their faces, in their eyes.... I look at the way they move... I notice things... Sure, I don't notice everything, but I might notice more than many. But anyway, this was not supposed to be an entry about me, but about the other volunteers there. They do the hard work. They talk to patients and comfort them... they try to keep their mind away from the illness and on anything else basically. And that is the hard thing. You need to be empathic enough to actually care and want to help, but if you are too empathic, you will suffer greatly. Not everything is depressing though. They organise events where people come to entertain them (bands, dancers, comedians...so if you are one of them and want to participate let me know) and they sometimes make such teddy bears together with the patients...(and other things). I don't know... I guess my message for today is do a good deed once every now and then... doesn't matter what, just something... a small thing is enough.

Eh, excuses, excuses

It does not happen often, but it happens. After photographing 13 bands and 2 exhibitions in 4 days, I did't take a single photograph. But then, it was a Monday, and as Garfield says: I hate Mondays. I did spend a part of the day trying to organise a couple of my next photo shoots... so keep your fingers crossed that they come through... I will have a photo for you tomorrow (promise), and with any luck it will be good (or at least fair).

A concert...

... during which the only thing you can do is slowly fall in love...

Happy Birthday...

.. Radio Student and thanx for organising loads of concerts... but as you had your 41st B-day should you not consider renaming yourself into Radio Mid-life crisis?

Second day in gallery

Today I just had to take a photo of one more painting (the glue that stuck it to the wooden frame was still drying yesterday) but as I was there, the paintings were there and the artist was there I thought we could have a bit of fun and make a few portraits. So here is one of them.

Excellent day

Even though I started the day a bit rough (or quite a lot) it all turned out excellent in the end. The hard part of the day was ended by 10 am (not bad, eh?) and then the photography started. First I went to take some photos for a catalogue (it was hard and it knackered me totally, even thought I really enjoyed it... it took me about 4 hours to take 4 photographs that I was pleased with and I had absolutely no breaks in between.. it was take a photo look at it on a computer, discover what is not good about it, change some things, take another, look at it on a computer, decide what isn't good, take another with some changes... etc. But in the end 4 photos were good (and guess what, that is all we needed). Then, it was lunch and afterwards to an art exhibtion (oh yeah, the morning was spent taking photographs of some paintings (on metal sheet and lacquered - extra shine from all sides)for an art catalogue). Then I went to an afternoon opening, with a bit of live music, rushed home and went to a concert... Took loads and loads of photographs in one day... very different ones too... and I had to learn some new stuff... excellent day, what can I say.
(I am sure you all know where to find the rest of the photos from the day.

Urban Ballet

Another day in which I did something I don't usually do. I took photos during an actual dance performance. This of course hindered me in a number of ways. One was - I could not move. I sat on a chair (luckily I did get a place in the first row) and took all the photos from that very chair. I even tried not to twist and twirl my body to much so I would not disturb the people around or behind me. The second problem is that as I have got an SLR, you can not turn off the sound - the shutter actually opens and shuts (yup, just like in the good old days)and moves the mirror and all this mechanical movements produce some sounds... So I only took photos when there was loud music, or on a few occasions I followed the beat and pressed the button on the beat (if the music was quiet). I also did not take that many photos... But I did have moments where I thought: 'If only I could stand over there, or on the stage, or behind them, or right next to them (depending on the situation) and if I had a bit better equipment... what a photo it would be. In the break I was talking to a friend of mine who works in short films and while discussing the possibilities came to the perfect picture. But as there were no possibilities to actually take it, it just remained an idea stuck in our heads.

Time lapse

This photo does not really mean anything without looking at yesterday's photo... It is just strange how fast some things change... (not to mention the noise associated with it). Mais, c'est la vie... et c'est la mort.

Where...

... do old buildings go to die?

The wonders on my doorstep...

... never cease to amaze me.