Church by the Lake

After only a short time in Iceland you really do start to notice how few trees are there. It gives the relatively small island a sweeping vista look in places. No trees to obstruct the view.

man in pool

I think the little sign at the front says 38ºC - the temp of the water. Iceland benefits from having a lot of thermal heating. I arrived there towards the end of summer. As far as photography goes it was good weather - meaning not sunshine everyday. In fact a good mix of overcast, mist, sunshine through the clouds. In one place I stayed on the east coast, another photographer from Italy who had just left apparently was cursing his whole stay - nothing but sunshine. Nothing screams holiday pics like blue skies and sunshine.

Mind your step

This year (2005) the monsoons filled Lake Pichola. This building otherwise is surrounded by rocks. Probably why the stairs disappear into the water. On the nearside bank is a sitting area - a kind of ghat leading down to the water. Some young people were swimming back and forth with some style - backstroke freestyle, even butterfly. I later found out it was a swimming team using the lake as a training pool. Udaipur, Rajasthan, India.

Rajasthani Farmer

Around 2005, a friend and myself hired a couple of scooters in Udaipur and rode out into the countryside. There were plenty of scenes on and off road, including temples and towns along the way. For most of the trip I used a Canon 5D MKII (maybe even the original 5D as I had both). Lens most used was the original 100-400mm f4.5-5.6. I found it to be an excellent portrait lens. This farmer was not posed but walking towards me. Amazing the equipment they use to get the job done. Pretty much all manual labour out this way apart from the occasional buffalo.

Somewhere in Helsinki

A very short visit to Finland enroute to Sweden gave me a few shots around Helsinki. An interesting architectural landmark but I have no idea now where this is. You may start to see a recurring theme here.

Playing Hendrix

Came across this grunge band wandering around the streets of Venice, Italy. Can’t remember which Hendrix song it was but they were OK. Don’t know if they were making a living from it. I suspect not.

My Humble ode

Nuns in Rome

If you’ve ever been interviewed as a photographer (I haven’t), one question they like to ask is - Who are your influences? In other words which photographers, past or present have shaped the way you approach your own work? Well I can say which photographers I like but they haven’t necessarily influenced my work. In many cases they exist in a different genre. If you’re into photography as art, and by that I mean if you aren’t necessarily trying to create perfectly toned or coloured images according to the expectations of most people and just using your camera as an artistic tool, then I’m going to recommend an obscure artist from last century that I find immensely inspiring. After seeing his work you might like to reappraise your own approach to photography and maybe take a few more risks.

Another question it raises is - Can you teach ‘vision’? It’s a great example of someone whose art was informed by his previous life - meaning that of a typesetter. A very black and white background. Looking at his work you can be forgiven for thinking you have been living under a rock or at least in a very small box. Here’s a guy who didn’t care who else was doing what. He had his own vision and followed just that. Definitely food for thought.

The Photographer Who Hated Reality | Mario Giacomelli's Black & White

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