Photo-Blog Hans-Josef Jeanrond

Berliner Reflektionen

Reflets de Berlin

Berlin Reflections

Back to Berlin for a 4 day conference, with just the Nikon body and one lens (only one hand luggage! and the computer bag is the obligatory one on this trip), I try to redo some of the images taken 4 years ago with a little compact camera.
After the switch from summer time the previous night, I calculate that 4 pm would be a good time to be on location. Alas, I do not take into account Berlin's north-eastern geography, and light is fading from 3:30 pm onwards!
That results in a few nice (I hope) twilight images, but I have to return another time to get the images I am after. Construction work prevents me to get to the right spot, but I am rather pleased with some of the reflections.

"Lila Dämmerung", Potsdamer Platz

"Fuzzy Geometry", Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus

On the way back to the government district, I pass by Neue Nationalgalerie

and "Legoland" at Potsdamer Platz

The afternoon light and the reflection make the geometry of Paul Löbe Haus and Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus soft but no longer fuzzy:

"Soft Geometry"

"Wege der Demokratie": Stairs, balconies and a bridge linking members of parliament and their staff to each other.

And then, there is Gehry! I did not think one could simply walk past the guard at the entrance of DZ Bank at Pariser Platz, but the guard even holds the door open for you. I had heard about the explosion of "Gehry-forms" behind the stern facade imposed by the city rules around Pariser Platz. But I did not expect this. Magnificent! The meeting room inside the "whale" inside the glass-roofed inner court (“under water”?).

Here we are back to the theme I meant to exploit mostly while in New York. But of course, in outside photography you are depending on so many factors. In the particular case of reflections, not only on the weather and the daylight, but also on cleaned windows, traffic, people, etc. So in the end, I did not catch too many good reflections.

Two Exhibitions in One - deux expositions en une :

* Reflets - Réflexions
* Portraits

2 - 26 mai 2010 Salle des Moufus
bvd Carnot, Collobrières

Prolongation d'une semaine - extended by one week

Note the changed venue - attention au changement de lieu

Interior - Exterior

Innen und Außen

Intérieur - extérieur

Travelling to Paris on 30 August provided the chance to catch the last day of the Cartier-Bresson exhibition at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie. (It is still under "current exhibitions", but it will no doubt be moved from there soon: www.mep-fr.org)

Putting on Ferdinando Scianna ("La Géométrie et la Passion") at the same time, did not do him much good: Even though there were some masterpieces in his show, too (less than a handful), he clearly does not reach the level of Cartier-Bresson. Cartier-Bresson's "géometrie" is more elegant and seems completely effortless.

Coming out of the MEP (with queues even longer than when I went in - Cartier-Bresson still draws large crowds!), I strolled around Place des Vosges. Looking at the Galleries and shops, I was able to take another shot at my favourite theme of the moment: Reflections and "inside-out / outside-in". The bright sunshine projected the Place des Vosges into the Galleries and show cases, where it blended with the exhibited works.

Outside-in / inside-out

Aussen und innen

Extérieur - intérieur

As promised in the last posting, I come back to the topics of "inside-out / outside-in” and "museum and the city". These topics will probably keep my imagination busy for a while, and I will have to revisit places again and again, in order to refine my images and come closer to what I would like them to be.
Comments and proposals for improvements are very welcome.

Exposition / Exhibition : 6 - 19 septembre 2008, Atelier Agosta

“Reflets – Réflexions”

“Spiegelungen – Reflektionen”

"Mat dansant"

(Cliquez sur l'image pour l'agrandir)