When I started work as a software developer, “hello world” was the first test-message a program wrote on a screen or on a teletype (yes I am that old). It was a sign that the program started working, rather than crashing within milliseconds – much to the relief and pride of its creators. Hence “hello world” seemed like an appropriate title for my first blog posting: If you see it, then an former computer scientist managed to get a new technology to work despite missing documentation and the slang of “geeks” that comes with it.

Isn’t blogging a bit embarrassing, narcissistic, “m’as-tu vu”? Judging by the millions of “experts” of all kinds that populate this new media space, proffering their judgement on just about anything, it might not be the right thing to do, indeed. But working in marketing and communications, I can’t resist testing this means of communications. And as a photographer, I like, of course, to show my photographs and share my impressions of other people’s work. I hope that you enjoy the postings and that some of you are “infected” by my enthusiasm for photography.

This blog will take up all kinds of topics concerning photography and present some of my own photographs to your critical eyes. I will not have the time for regular posts, but I will try to add something new at least once a week: look at exhibitions, galleries, art fairs like Paris Photo, etc. Most of the images will come from my work at La Défense, some of them from my efforts in portraiture – if the models agree. And some simply from everyday observations that I would like to share with you.

Of course all this will remain purely personal and anecdotal. I cannot aim to be exhaustive nor relate all the subjective views on a topic that will together give you a balanced view. Some of the posts will be in French, others in German, depending on the subject and the main audience – or possibly on my form of the day. I will not be able to translate posts let alone maintain this blog completely in three languages. I hope you will enjoy the images and the notes, and I am looking forward to your comments.

Since a blog is somehow like a never ending construction site, I have chosen one of my recent images of La Défense to start with and I will keep it as a symbol.

Construction - 07_0114_La-Def_L2_29

"Construction" (Tours de la Société Générale, La Défense)

My photo Website (www.jeanrond-photo.com) will continue its quiet life as a more permanent collection of “galleries”. I will take some of its images into this blog in order to tell you their story and my way of looking at them, but above all to solicit your comments. And some of the images presented here will also find their way into the galleries of my Website.

Please don’t hesitate to give me your feed-back. (Click on the "comment" or "no comment" icon at the end of this posting.) Write in English, French or German, whatever is most convenient to you. (For other languages I will need a translator, I am afraid.)

Best regards
Herzliche Grüsse
Cordialement

Hans-Josef