Home sweet home

Posted 4 Aug 2008 - The Hague (NL):

Back in The Netherlands where the life is good.. I`m happy to be home after a year of long but happy travels, many encounters, lots of experiences and whatever not. I wrote a complete article about it at Us Europeans.

I have not yet written about what it`s like to be home again. Well, so far it seems like little has changed in a year`s time. I was not preparing for big changes either. Holland is still as amazingly flat as it was before, but I notice it a bit more after having been away for so long. Really: only the trees and the buildings stand out. Everything else is levelled, including even the crop on the field. I enjoy the greenness of the fields, the colourful skies and the yellow trains.

My apartment looks quite big and I seem to have a lot of clothes. Lots of people cycle. Girls on bikes and at bus stops are still the prettiest of all.

(© The Hague - NL, Aug 2008)
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Road ahead

Posted 5 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

After doing everything for the last time – during the last bit of the big European trip – it`s now time to do everything for the first time again. Seeing everybody for the first time, walking through streets for the first time, go cycling for the first time, wearing T-shirts for the first time, play tennis for the first time, football for the first time, cook at home for the first time, having to pay bills for the first time.

It`s all fine and I am still happy about being home. The way of filling up the days is a bit different from what it used to be during the last year, but there`s plenty of stuff to work on. I also have some interesting meetings planned for the coming days and weeks. For now, the near future looks a bit like below photograph. Plenty of options: it`s just a matter of connecting them in the right way and making things work.

(© Esbjerg - DK, July 2008)
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Failed photographs

Posted 6 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

When browsing through the more than 10,000 photos I took this year, I obviously came across some failed ones. Taking portrait photos is quite difficult. Recording somebody`s personality in nothing more than a rectangle piece of paper is a very accurate and even intimate job, which can`t always instantly go right. Any small difference in facial expression can make a big change in how a person comes across. In many cases, I needed to take more than one photo to select the best one. Fortunately, I usually know when I get the right one, which saves me some selection work afterwards.

Below is a small compilation of a few photos that obviously did not make it to the Us Europeans page:

(© Europe - 2007/2008)
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Organising photos

Posted 7 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

I have not yet been able to figure out the length of my European trip in kilometers, but I just did in photos: I took 7.386 of them, which equals to about 20 a day. This is one of them, from Romania.

The photos I sorted out today will serve for the Crossroad series, consisting of two crossroad photos from every one of the 27 countries. Another series called Habitat will contain photos of high-rise residential blocks in all the 27 countries. Then, there`s the Us Europeans portraits which somehow needed to be integrated into something fancy and attractive for an exhibition in Luxembourg next year. Still puzzling on how to do that. Any ideas are welcome by e-mail.

(© Baia Mare - RO, April 2008)
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Book ideas and Idea books

Posted 8 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

One week at home already, and I`m still reorganising my living space and my life :) Today, I came across all the notebooks I used during my trip. The photo shows 16 of them, but I found another one later on and I lost a full one when I was in Luxemburg. That altogether makes 18 little note books full of illegible scribbles. But then, I guess that printing all articles on Us Europeans will easily take 1000 pages of A4 paper. The book concept I am working on should have no more than 120 pages in 20x20 cm size, including illustrations.

(© The Hague - NL, August 2008)
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Silence inbetween the storms

Posted 13 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

It may seem like nothing is happening in The Hague, but I am actually quite busy with lots of things. My camera is being cleaned at the moment, so I have to resort to archive photo. Although the archive is pretty full after such a long trip, I don`t want to give everything away at once. There are some photo exhibitions on the way, I am trying to organise my life in such a way that I can keep a high rate of production after 1 September, even though I will resume work on that datum. As a part of those preparations, I have organised quite some meetings here and there to try and get a couple of writing assignments and exhibition opportunities. I will try to also keep working on DailyPhoto - which should become a lot easier once I have internet access at home again...

(© Varnhem - SE, June 2007)
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Clean CCD, clear sky

Posted 15 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

My camera is back clean again! Not a single spot in the sky of today`s photograph. I went wad-walking on the bottom of the Wadden Sea with a group of Italians. It was a very nice day, very sunny and bright, with wonderful cloudscapes as well. I will post one of those tomorrow.

(© Holwerd - NL, August 2008)
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Cloudscape

Posted 16 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

Here`s the cloudscape I promised:

(© Holwerd - NL, August 2008)
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Neighbour

Posted 17 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

This is my down-door (as opposed to nextdoor) neighbour, who has been wanting to get photographed for a while. As I came back from uhm somewhere with my camera, I caught him from behind the counter to take his portrait photo.

I now realise that I have known him for three years, and greeted him on almost every single day, without even knowing his name.

(© The Hague - NL, August 2008)
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Dutch summer

Posted 18 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

If I were to stay within the rhythm of last year - changing countries once every two weeks - it would have been time to get out of The Netherlands again sometime by now. Still, nothing is really pushing me to start travelling again. I am enjoying the two weeks of spare time that separate me from resuming professional life on September 1st. The weather is far from constant, but I like it this way. Changing weather = changing light = varied photo opportunities. I haven`t been able to point my camera at lots of things yet. I guess I`m searching for something new to focus on: a subject, a message, a feeling or whatever that something new may embody.

Photo: Scheveningen beach after yet another quick rain shower.

(© Scheveningen - NL, August 2008)
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Fellow photographers

Posted 20 August 2008 - Breda (NL):

My passage in Breda originally consisted of attending a friend`s wedding. It also provided me with an opportunity to meet up with a fellow photographer. It`s the girl in the photo, named Christel Ooms (photo below, website www.christelooms.com). We never met before but somehow got in touch by e-mail some 5 years ago. Still need to find out how. Anyway, she invited me over for dinner with a couple of her creative friends and I could also sleep in her workshop so that I don`t have to go home before attending another wedding later today. In Zwijndrecht this time, some 40 kilometers North of here.

PS Still no internet at home, hence the irregular updatums.

(© Breda - NL, August 2008)
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Posted 21 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

..plus the second one, this time with daddy in the background..

(© Klundert - NL, August 2008)
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Little niece

Posted 21 August 2008 - Den Haag (NL):

Throughout most of my previous posts, it must have become obvious that I think only few things have changed in The Netherlands during my year away. One thing that did change is my little niece, who was only two months old when I left (photo).

She now has the same age PLUS one year, which makes quite a big difference. Here`s two photos of her, taken yesterday:

(© Klundert - NL, August 2008)
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10 days left

Posted 21 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

My one-month holiday will soon be over. Work starts again on 1 September and it requires some preparations, which I am now working on. Rechanging my address in the company registry, adding some activities to the portfolio and building another website. Also working on lots of photo stuff. Good times ahead!

(© The Hague - NL, August 2008)
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Landscape photography

Posted 22 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

Another set of photos showing the Dutch countryside -slash- summer weather.

(© Klundert - NL, August 2008)
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The undecisive moment

Posted 23 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

Discovering Europe is fun, but so is discovering your own country. With this photo, I thought of Henri Cartier-Bresson`s quote about `the decisive moment`, thinking that my photos are in a way opposite to that. I prefer to take photos that could represent any moment. Like this scene in Breda`s city park on a random weekday morning. In this case: last Wednesday. I guess it looks like this quite often, just waiting for somebody to discover the hidden beauty of the scene. Me, in this case :)

(© Breda - NL, August 2008)
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Black holes

Posted 24 August 2008 - Egmond (NL):

Verbal expressions, just like clothes, are subject to fashion. Since my return in The Netherlands, I have noticed how often people were asking or telling me about black holes, referring to the feeling of coming back home after travelling and getting bored afterwards.

I truly believe that people just fall into black holes because that`s what the cliché dictates. I also wonder why, if it`s so common for people to fall into these black holes after travelling, they don`t use part of their travelling time to fill up those holes in advance. Tomorrow`s post: about itchy feet.. meaning that I had been working on something and now would have difficulties re-motivating myself because I can`t work on the stuff I was working on for such a long time in a row: travelling and taking photographs.

Itchy feet

Posted 25 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

As promised, today`s article deals with itchy feet. No, I am not suffering from those at the moment. After a year of travelling, it feels very good to be back home. So far, I don`t have the idea of being stuck in one place. Nor do I feel like I desperately need to go somewhere, or go back somewhere. I could go back to where I was last year, to the Baltic States that I was visiting last year around this day. But I could also try and find places in The Netherlands that make me think of the Baltics, as you can see in the photo below.

Apart from all that: the next international trip is going to be soon anyway. datum: 3-5 September, destination: Barcelona.

Relaxing weekend

Posted 26 Aug 2008, The Hague (NL):

I`m back from a nice and relaxing do-nothing weekend in the dunes near Egmond. I cycled there on Friday (80 km). Only halfway back on Monday (other half by train), because I needed to be back in time to play football. I shot this photo on the way back home in the city centre of Haarlem.

Anyway, very nice to be offline for a few days, not worry about anything and enjoy doing nothing. Won`t be much opportunity for all that during the months ahead.

Small words, big words

Posted 27 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

Big words are popular these days. Economists break their heads about whether downturns in the economy can be classified as a recession or not. Politicians fall over themselves and each other. Their sharp words usually mark a disappointing lack of vision, empathy or whatever else it takes to be an honest person.

`We sharply criticise X` (person or country) `..condemn Y` (event), `we truly regret` (something they themselves could have avoided),`we couldn`t possibly have expected` (blatant lack of vision), `we are terribly shocked to learn that ...` (shit happens, deal with it, we can`t help it and if anybody is to blame, it ain`t us)

The big words elegantly combine with the empty words. `We will investigate this case thoroughly and come up with concrete recommendations so that this situation can be avoided in the future` (we all know what`s wrong but we need to find out whom to blame for it), `reality prescribes that we should..` (I want...), `it`s too early to draw conclusions` (I know what`s wrong and you don`t. Let`s keep it that way).

Altogether, lots of bullshitting. Even though life can be so simple:

Square portrait #2

Posted 30 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

Another square portrait. This time it`s my parents` dog Joppe.

Dutch polders

Posted 30 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

Being back in my own country allows me to (once again) look at it through `different eyes`. Most of it is the same wherever you go: green, flat floor versus blue or grey skies and some man-made devices inbetween. This photo is from the Krimpenerwaard polder, which is about as low as you can go in The Netherlands. Field level: -2 metres compared to the North Sea.

Never alone

Posted 31 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

At first, this seems to be an idyllic photo where nothing disturbs the silence. Another look shows two cyclists and two cars, breaking the quiet moment. That`s how things work in a small country like The Netherlands: you may think you`re the only one somewhere, but you never really are.

Home sweet home

Posted 4 Aug 2008 - The Hague (NL):

Road ahead

Posted 5 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

Failed photographs

Posted 6 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

Organising photos

Posted 7 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

Book ideas and Idea books

Posted 8 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

Silence inbetween the storms

Posted 13 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

Clean CCD, clear sky

Posted 15 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

Cloudscape

Posted 16 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

Neighbour

Posted 17 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

Dutch summer

Posted 18 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

Fellow photographers

Posted 20 August 2008 - Breda (NL):

Posted 21 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

Little niece

Posted 21 August 2008 - Den Haag (NL):

10 days left

Posted 21 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

Posted 22 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

Landscape photography

Posted 22 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

The undecisive moment

Posted 23 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

Black holes

Posted 24 August 2008 - Egmond (NL):

Itchy feet

Posted 25 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

Relaxing weekend

Posted 26 Aug 2008, The Hague (NL):

Small words, big words

Posted 27 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

Square portrait #2

Posted 30 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

Dutch polders

Posted 30 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

Never alone

Posted 31 August 2008 - The Hague (NL):

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