zwei

"Legalize Street Art"

2010-04-22T00:00:00.002+02:00

Street art and stencils: Even though they belong together, I divided them up in two posts to get a better overview. Very few of the Street Art pictures might actually be stencils, so please excuse the few eventual mistakes below. For me, steet art is the creative expression in public without any external request or commercial order which creates the substential difference to art in public space. This is the main reason for my passion since having this preposititon, street art is always a statement on society and politics itself without censorship because it represents a not necessarily wanted but publicly expressed statement of the artist. So street art does what especially contemporary art is supposed to do: it creates discourse and communication in public. And besides all that theoretical crap, it simply makes our streets look more beautiful. I hope you enjoy...

Berlin, Moabit, 2010
~"try something new now and then" Berlin, Neukölln, 2010
Wayne Horse(?): Beelitz (near Berlin), 2009
Wayne Horse(?): Beelitz (near Berlin), 2009
Beelitz (near Berlin), 2009
Beelitz (near Berlin), 2009
Beelitz (near Berlin), 2009
Kowalski: Beelitz (near Berlin), 2009
Berlin, Kreuzberg, 2009
Berlin, Kreuzberg, 2009
Berlin, Neukölln, 2009
Blu & JR: Berlin, Kreuzberg, 2009
Blu: Berlin, Kreuzberg, 2009
below: "Education may not depend on the parents' account." above: "that's why I prostitute myself!!!" - unten: "Bildung darf nicht vom Konto der Eltern abhängen.", oben: "und deshalb geh' ich anschaffen!!!",
Berlin, Kreuzberg, 2009
Mentalgassi: Berlin, Kreuzberg, 2009
Berlin, Kreuzberg, 2009"Kottbusser Park", Berlin, Kreuzberg, 2009
Berlin, Mitte, 2009
Berlin, Mitte, Brunnenstr. 183, 2009
"We all stay" - "Wir bleiben alle", Berlin, Mitte,Brunnenstr. 183, 2009
Blu: Prague, 2009
Paul Bloas(?): Paris, 2009
Mosko et Associé: Paris, Montmartre, 2009
Blu: Berlin, Kreuzberg, 2009
Kripoe: Berlin, Oberbaumbrücke 2009
Victor Ash: Berlin, 2009
"Legalize Streetart", Passau, 2008
Miss Van: Barcelona, 2008
Blu: Berlin, 2008
Granada, 2007
Granada, 2007
Granada, 2007
"What pollutes the world are your tired minds, your faces of fear" - "Lo ke ensucia el mundo son vuestras mentes cansadas vuestras karas de miedo", Granada, 2007
"there is somebody that jumps from leave to leave... from spring to spring... from flower to flower... or from dream to dream" - "hay quien salta de hoja en hoja... de primavera en primavera... de flor en flor... o de sueño en sueño",
Granada, 2007
Granada, 2007
Granada, 2007
~"With the not understanding you're making out of the gift a lunacy, on this way showing your blindness" - "Haces del don una locura al noentenderlo, asi mostrando tu ceguero",
Granada, 2007
Sam3: Murcia, 2007
Valencia, 2007
Valencia, 2007
Valencia, 2007
Barcelona, 2007
Barcelona, 2007
Space Invader: Barcelona, Barrio Gotico, 2007
"Guilt" - "Falta", Barcelona, Barrio Gotico, 2007
NoManLyMan: "Your work stinks" - "Tu trabajo apesta", Barcelona, Barrio Gotico, 2007
Barcelona, 2007
Barcelona, 2007
Ripo: Barcelona, 2007
Barcelona, 2007
Barcelona, El Born, 2007
Barcelona, El Born, 2007
Barcelona, Records Store, Raval, 2007
Barcelona, El Born, 2007
Barcelona, Las Ramblas, 2007
Pixel: "Nobody speaks my damn language" - "Nemo loquitur meum linguam damantam", Barcelona, 2007
Pixel & Ripo: Barcelona, 2007
Barcelona, 2007
Pez: Barcelona, 2007
Barcelona, 2007
Miss Van: Barcelona, 2007
~"Do you have enough of them to cope with us?" - "tienes los suficientes para enfrentarte a nu?", Pontevedra, 2007
Pontevedra, 2007
La Coruña, 2007
La Coruña, 2007
La Coruña, 2007
Pontevedra, 2007
Pontevedra, 2007
Porto, 2007
"I don't like going to school" - "no me gusta ir al cole", Pontevedra, 2007
Pontevedra, 2007
Pontevedra, 2007
Pontevedra, 2007
Pontevedra, 2007
"Rudi Carrell (former german comedian) was never here but we're having fun though",
Munich, Rote Sonne, 2006
"Totaldemocracy" - "Totaldemokratie", Berlin, East Side Gallery, 2005
"Totaldemocracy" - "Totaldemokratie", Berlin, East Side Gallery, 2005
Dmitri Wrubel "Bruderkuss": Berlin, East Side Gallery, 2005
Berlin, East Side Gallery, 2005
Atma: Barcelona, 2004
"manipulated information = waste" - "informació manipulada = basura", Barcelona, El Born, 2004
Atma: Barcelona, El Born, 2004
Atma(?): Barcelona, Raval, 2004
Barcelona, El Born, 2004
Pez & others: Barcelona, El Born, 2004Freaklüb: Barcelona, El Born, 2004
Barcelona, El Born, 2004
Atma & Diva: Barcelona, El Born, 2004
Os Gêmeos: "We have to use artificial fires for attacks against any act of prohibition or that we don't agree, fuck off those calling (can't quite understand the rest of it, sorry) - "Nós devemos uzar fogos de artificio para atentados contr qualquer ato de prohibição ou que não concordamos, se foda o quelles chamam de poder o poder e poder destruir o poder-nois, escreveu aqui hoje",
Barcelona, El Born, 2004
Barcelona, El Born, 2004
Barcelona, El Born, 2004
Barcelona, Raval, 2004

Barcelona, El Born, 2004

"Zona Desaznarizada" = De-aznared area (former Prime Minister of Spain) +
"PP - Por mis Pelotas" = PP - ~Up yours! (PP = Partido Popular, right wing conservative party of Spain), Barcelona, 2004

"Stop making stencils of me, please!"

2010-04-20T00:00:00.004+02:00

I took the these stencils apart from the street art section just to enable a better overview. The majority and best parts come from Barcelona where the passion for stencil and street art really grabbed me in 2003 and where simply an awesomely creative scene exists. The rest comes from wherever I've been the past years trying to collect the works and save an image before they'll be erased. I feel a bit "guilty" since Berlin is rather underrepresented even though I've been living here for over a year. I didn't have much time and I'll try to fix that some time because there are actually tons of them. Same with London - unfortunately haven't been there the past 12 years. Obviously to most of the works, the artist remains unfortunately unknown - I tried my best!

Berlin, Moabit, 2010
Beelitz (near Berlin), 2009
Thomas Baumgärtel: Berlin, Mitte, 2009
Berlin, Mitte, 2009
"Ahoj" (Hello and Goodbye in Czech), Prague, 2009
Obey, Space Invader & others: Paris, 2009
Mimi the Clown: Paris, 2009
Paris, 2009
Sam3: Berlin, 2009
Vienna, 2008
Hamburg, 2008
Hamburg, 2008
Hamburg, 2008
Dolk: Lisbon, 2008*
Munich, 2007
Granada, 2007
Granada, 2007
"Long live the bad, long live the capital" - "Viva el mal, viva el kapital", Granada, 2007
Granada (mail box), 2007
"Take this off of my head!!" - "quitame ésto de la cabeza!!", Granada, 2007
Murcia, 2007
Barcelona, 2007
Barcelona, 2007
Barcelona, 2007
Barcelona, 2007
Barcelona, 2007
"Join a hilarious adventure of a life-time! Work, buy, consume, die", Barcelona, 2007
Barcelona, 2007
Barcelona, 2007
Dolk: Barcelona, 2007
Barcelona (José Maria Aznar - former right-wing conservative Prime Minister of Spain), 2007
Barcelona, 2007
Dolk: Barcelona, 2007
Dotmasters: Barcelona, 2007
Barcelona, 2007
Olivia: Barcelona, 2007
Barcelona, 2007
Olivia: Barcelona, 2007
Ripo(?): Barcelona, 2007
Obey: Barcelona, 2007
Olivia: "Barcelona is agonizing", Barcelona, 2007
Olivia?: Barcelona, 2007
Dr. Hoffmann: "Barcelona is dead", Barcelona, 2007
"mir", Barcelona, 2007
"not for sale" - "no se vende" + "Stop making stencils of me please!", Barcelona, 2007
Lisbon, 2007
Porto, 2007
Porto, 2007
"I'm a barbie girl", Porto, 2007
"I'm a barbie girl", Porto, 2007
Porto, 2007
Porto, 2007
~"nothing's happening" or "don't worry" (hard to translate) - "no pasa nada", Pontevedra, 2007
"right of rebellion" (written in Galician dialect) - "direito à rebeliom", Pontevedra, 2007
Pontevedra, 2007
~"already comes, already emerges the sun" - "ya llega ya sale el sol", Pontevedra, 2007
Zurich, 2007
"fucking good" - "de puta madre", Zurich, 2007
"You know Passau sucks", Passau, 2006
"You know Passau sucks", Passau, 2006
"Collar down!" - "Kragen runter!", Passau, 2006
"Fighting together - Antifa" (Anti-Facism Organization in Germany) - "Gemeinsam kämpfen, Antifa",
Dresden, 2005
Munich, 2005
Munich, 2005
"Hell, N.Y. Muscle" (DJ Hell's new album), Munich, 2005
"Capitalism", Munich, 2005
Munich, 2005
Munich, 2005
Munich, 2005

KNO(?): Munich, 2005

Munich, 2005

Sucht: Munich, 2005

Diva: Barcelona, 2004

~"Kill him or he will kill you" (written in Catalan) - "Mata o que há em ti!!", Barcelona, 2004

"No war for oil", Barcelona, 2004

"The rustic family" - "La familia rustika", Barcelona, 2004

Barcelona, 2004

Invader(?): Barcelona, 2004

"Barceloca" (loca = crazy, mad), Barcelona, 2004

Reflexions

2009-01-05T00:00:00.000+01:00

Different reflexions of various types and places...

Window in Barcelona, Spain

Window in Passau, Bavaria

Window in Passau, Bavaria

Side-view mirror near Barcelona, Spain

Mirror in Pontevedra, Spain

Mirror in Pontevedra, Spain

Train in Pontevedra, Spain

Building in Pontevedra, Spain

Building in Pontevedra, Spain

Sunglasses in Pontevedra, Spain

Window in Porto, Portugal

Beach of Cádiz, Spain

Facultad de Ciencias Sociales in Pontevedra, Spain

Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain

Car in France

Window in Lyon, France

Puddle in Lisbon, Portugal

Window in Budapest, Hungary

Blutenburg in Munich, Bavaria

Building in Cordoba, Argentina

Puddle in Nono, Argentina

Rail in Dresden, Germany

River "Inn" in Passau, Bavaria

Passau, Bavaria

Wall in Passau, Bavaria

Staffelsee, Bavaria

Nature

2009-01-04T00:00:00.000+01:00

Definitely my favourite part of photography because there isn't really existing anything more beautiful. Unfortunately, there are still missing a lot of pictures which I was taking analoguely and which are waiting to be digitalized when I get back to Munich in the summer. So check this post out from time to time, because it will certainly be updated from time to time (just as most of the others will be, as well)! The places I described as closely as I remember them and forgive me the little local patriotism - Bavaria is the south-eastern state of Germany.

Plose, Italy

Plose, Italy

Wörthsee, Bavaria

Wörthsee, Bavaria

Heutal, Austria

Heutal, Austria

Staffelsee, Bavaria

Staffelsee, Bavaria

Staffelsee, Bavaria

Staffelsee, Bavaria

Staffelsee, Bavaria

Staffelsee, Bavaria

near Murcia, Spain

near Valencia, Spain

Valencia, Spain

Ebro Delta, Spain

A Corunha, Galicia

Monasterio, Galicia

Starnberger See, Bavaria

Starnberger See, Bavaria

Staffelsee, Bavaria

Oberbayern, Bavaria

Osterseen, Bavaria

Porto, Portugal

Porto, Portugal

Cádiz, Spain

Staffelsee, Bavaria

Staffelsee, Bavaria

Patagonia, Argentina

Patagonia, Argentina

Bariloche, Argentina

Bariloche, Argentina

Bariloche, Argentina

Bariloche, Argentina*

Nono, Argentina

Nono, Argentina

Nono, Argentina

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Passau, Bavaria

Blomberg, Bavaria*

Blomberg, Bavaria

Blomberg, Bavaria

Passau, Bavaria

Krailling, Bavaria

Starnberger See, Bavaria

Osterseen, Bavaria

Clouds, Bavaria

Clouds, Bavaria

Staffelsee, Bavaria

Lago di Garda, Italia

Würmtal, Bavaria

Beach, Portugal

Surfers, Portugal

Beach, Portugal

Beach, Portugal

Coast, Portugal

Mountains, Austria

Brixen, Italia

Gräfelfing, Bavaria

Gräfelfing, Bavaria

Human Beings

2009-01-03T00:00:00.000+01:00

...eating, dancing, relaxing or what else they tend to do.

some-strange-ting-riding-while-on-duty-being

("non-potable water") pissing

disembowelling

subway chatting

astra-urtyp-being

magic hands showing

sleeping-sitting

street portraying

outside-winter-learning

kinda baseball playing

thinking?

group-sleeping

despairing

talking

running

out-chilling

drumming

spinning

entering

drawing

disgusting

showing

dreaming

after-houring

rocking

enlightening

performancing

table-dancing

strangely dancing

wrapped-up being

spitting

shielding

suspiciously drinking

leaving

seducing

laughing

concerting

kissing

opening

for-photo-preparing

kids dancing

changing

photo-wanting

shaking

flirting

enjoying

calimocho liking

swallowing*

hat-wearing

devouring

fun-having

agreeing

partying

strange-face-having

lying

freezing

disliking

waiting*

relaxing

comfortably sleeping

sleeping

smoking

food looking

preparing

trading

dancing

posing

studying

leaning

playing

talking

descending

watching

eating

discussing

doubting

after drinking

chilling

wondering

not seeing

45-degree-smiling

around-turning

whistling*

Cities & Villages

2009-01-02T00:00:00.000+01:00

The following are different views and parts of city life. There are sceneries, graffities, buildings - well, whatever you might find in a city.

Campobasso, Italy

Berlin, Germany

Berlin, Germany

Berlin, Germany

Berlin, Germany

Berlin, Germany

Hamburg, Germany

Hamburg, Germany

Hamburg, Germany

Munich, Bavaria

Munich, Bavaria

Munich, Bavaria

Vienna, Austria

Valencia, Spain

Pontevedra, Spain

A Corunha, Spain

Pontevedra, Spain

Pontevedra, Spain

i(t')s over - Pontevedra, Spain

Galicia, Spain

Pontevedra, Spain

Pontevedra, Spain

Lisbon, Portugal

Pontevedra, Spain

Pontevedra, Spain

Porto, Portugal

Porto, Portugal

Porto, Portugal

Pontevedra, Spain

Pontevedra, Spain

Cádiz, Spain

Cordoba, Spain

Cordoba, Spain

Pontevedra, Spain

Pontevedra, Spain

near Le Puy-en-Velay, France

Lyon, France

Lyon, France

Lyon, France

Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon, Portugal

Budapest, Hungary

Budapest, Hungary

Budapest, Hungary

Munich, Bavaria

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Buenos Aires, Argentina*

Cordoba, Argentina

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Munich, Bavaria

Munich, Bavaria

Munich, Bavaria

Prague, Czech Republic

Passau, Bavaria

Passau, Bavaria

Passau, Bavaria

Berlin, Germany

Berlin, Germany

Dresden, Germany

Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona, Spain

Forms & Objects

2009-01-01T00:00:00.000+01:00

Various photos that don't fit well into the other posts.

ATM in Berlin

döner kebab wrapping paper at night in hamburg

miniature museum in hamburg

at the documenta in Kassel

sculpture of the documenta in Kassel

placa del tripi

detail of the "Alhambra"

picnic

lamp in Murcia

wooden bar

cold coffee

building in Lisbon

plaza in Porto

arabic lamp

"Mestiza" in Spain

car window

hotel

whine barrels

lake

after party

wooden rust

stone ground beach

express-way sign

On a Low Cost Road Trip Through Spain

2008-06-10T00:00:00.000+02:00

The sun is shining and you are wearing sunglasses, shorts and a t-shirt. It is warm outside. It is even warmer inside. Inside that is a car without airconditioning. Actually is it so unbearable hot that you might expect to die of inner drought any second. To make matters worse there is not even a breeze of air moving. Because the car is not moving either since you are stuck in traffic jam in a small coastal village. It is summertime in Spain and you are on a low cost road trip heading down south along the Costa Dorada (coast between Barcelona and Valencia) towards Valencia.

(Jogger at the beach of Barceloneta, Barcelona)

(Graffiti in Murcia)

(Cat in the shade in Granada)

The low cost part of the voyage basicly insists of the following: a camping equipment with a tent, a camping stove with kitchen surroundings, a sleeping bag with camping mat and the will to live less luxurious than you are usually used to. Since you took the car out of reasons of convenience and comfort you take in the money saving aspect by avoiding expressways with road charges and therefore save gasoline by driving slower or sometimes not at all like in longterm traffic jams as mentioned before.

(Graffiti in Valencia)

(Towards Granada)

This way of travelling might not seem very attractive and sometimes it actually is not but in the end you going to experience a country and its inhabitants in a way that you will hardly get to know by spending your vacation in a “Club Med” or likewise. Taking the coastal line between Barcelona and Valencia as an example, there is one camping resort next to the other filled with mostly German, Dutch, English and French tourists followed by one incredibly ugly mass-tourism concrete-beach jungle also called hotels next to the other also stuffed with German, Dutch, English and French tourists. In between these two types of coastal area there are sometims nicely small villages with a glimpse of Spanish identity. And as you sit down to take a coffee you become aware of the other guests speaking German, Dutch, English or French. As you finally pay your coffee your mood is getting close to being pissed-off because you are being charged by an English speaking waiter the tripple amount of money that you would normally pay in any bar or café in Spain.

(Stencil in Granada)

(Graffiti in Granada)

Of course there is added a slight exaggeration to this anecdote but the general situation in this part of Spain is like this, not to mention the Costa Blanca (coast near Alicante) which is supposed to be even worse.

(Graffiti in Granada)

Back to the low cost life, stuck in the traffic jam with an outside temperature of 38 degrees (Celsius). After a while, the traffic dissolves and you reach the Ebro Delta. There are miles and miles of sandy beaches. The landscape is impressive and the Mediterranean Sea incredibly beautiful. The best part of this is that you can find hardly any people populating these fine sandy beaches. You drive back into town, buy food for lunch and dinner and buy a parasol since you have already been sunburnt for more than two consecutive days. For safety reasons you ask a native if there might be any problem with the police, camping on these beautiful beaches without permission. He friendly negates and gives you some hints for the best and loneliest places to stay and wishes you a pleasant trip. You go back to the recommended spot, push the parasol into the sand, lie down and enjoy beach, sun and water. You spread the picnic blanket, cut some Chorizo (typical Spanish sausage), open a glass of olives and a bottle of whine and start cooking pasta for dinner while the sun is setting. And in this little piece of paradise there is nobody else present which gives you the impression of being in a dream rather than in real life.

(Relaxation and enjoyment at the Ebro Delta)

All of a sudden the dreamy bubble bursts and you finally realize what your error in reasoning was. You are on a delta of a river which means that there is much humidity. And much humidity combined with warmth equals millions of mosquitos. So the nice romantic dinner at the beach turns within seconds into a run for life of an unevenly more powerful opponent which leads at first into the car and at last into the ocean relieving your body with a cool sensation from thousands of itching point on your body.

(Camping at the Ebro Delta)

In the end you enjoy your meanwhile cold-gotten meal and drink cheap but tasty red whine while staring at the fantastic sky with millions of stars glowing at you and bringing you back into your bubble of paradise.

(Stars at the Ebro Delta)

("Stars" of a bathroom in the Alhambra)

As you might have noticed travelling at low cost includes many disadvantages or colloqually spoken “pain in the asses” but after all, those moments make life beautiful, special and enjoyable and will make you never forget your voyage. Of course, heading from Barcelona through Valencia, Murcia, Granada and back again, you will experience and see a lot more than a short story as told before but pictures are the better way to illustrate the beauty of the sights and places visited in Spain. The only recommendation I want to give is to visit the Alhambra, the former moor castle in Granada. This masterpiece of art and arquitecture impressed me with its beauty like neither a church nor any other building in Europe ever did and shows how highly developed the moor culture was already nearly 1000 years ago. Strangely enough that the Spanish people don’t seem to acknowledge the moor occupation of the Iberian Peninsula as a part of their own cultural history. At least my impression left me believing that the moor influence is still noticeable in their culture, especially in Granada where the occupation lasted about 700 years.

Alhambra

(View from the Alhambra on the Old Town of Granada)

(View from the Generalife on the Alhambra)

(Room inside the Kalif's Palace)

(Detail of a wall)

(Window of the Alhambra)

(Fountain inside of the Generalife)

(Detail of the Lion's Court in the Alhambra)

(Court inside of the Kalif's Palace)

(Detail of wall and ceiling inside of the Alhambra)

(Ceiling of stars in the Kalif's Palace)

(The Alhambra at sunset)

Granada

(Streetart in Granada)

(Old Town of Granada)

(Wedding procession in Granada)

(Wedding procession in Granada)

(Graffiti on the stairs to a viewpoint)

(Bar in Granada)

(Coca Cola sign in the Old Town of Granada)

Murcia

(Plaza in the center of Murcia)

(Stencil in Murcia)

(Between Murcia and Valencia)

Valencia

(Coastal area around Valencia)

(Overview on Valencia)

(Café in Valencia)

(Bookshop in Valencia)

(Alley with toilett, Valencia)

(Stencil, Valencia)

(Street in Valencia)

(Construction worker, Valencia)

(Market in Valencia)

(Old Town of Valencia)

(Olive tree, Valencia)

(Beach north of Valencia)

Barcelona

(Barceloneta at night, Barcelona)

(Stencil, Barcelona)

("Butcher's Shop" in Barcelona)

(Door of a music store, Barcelona)

("Plaza del Tripi", Barcelona)

(Stencil, Barcelona)

(Barcelona at its best)

Barcelona Is Dead!

2008-06-08T00:00:00.000+02:00

Barcelona is Dead!

While I was visiting the city this summer and walking trough town, I noticed this piece of streetart. This message struck me quite a bit as I have had similar thoughts concerning the general condition of this city. At the end of 2003, I had stayed for over four months in Barcelona, studying spanish and having an incredible time. Not only because of the people I met there but even more because of the city's atmosphere: the bars, the people from all over the world, the streetart, the cultural posibilities, the immigrants (mostly the pakistanis), the general liberties, etc.

It's not that everything has changed and you couldn't enjoy this city anymore but for my part it has definitely lost a lot of what it made it so very special. The bars are not allowed to play music loudly after 11 p.m. which means you can hardly hear the beat of a song. Also you can't buy alcohol anymore after 11 p.m. and neither are you allowed to drink it in the streets. A lot of nice and special bars have simply vanished. You can't smoke pot anymore in cafes or bars - they'll throw you out if you do so. A few years ago, I sometimes wondered watching a rather old guy lighting his joint in a cafe in a busy street. Of course, the crime has obviously decreased for a huge part or at least it has been pushed out of the center.

(transl.: "Your work stinks")

I noticed the obvious intention of the government to make this city more secure and chic-cosmopolitan on the other hand. But I don't think they know to what price they're doing so. The city is losing its creativity and its liberty - its identity.

("Butaaaaaaaanoooooooo" - Salesman of butane gas)

Most of the posted pictures aren't really a strong support for my opinion - even though they are all taken in July 2007) but, of course, I tried showing the special and beautiful sides and sites of town.

("Peligro" = Danger; they wanted this statement under their photo)

(José María Aznar)

Still, some pieces of streetart are rather clear: so maybe Barcelona is not quite dead, yet. But it's agonizing!

La Pamplonada - There was madness in any direction

2008-06-06T00:00:00.000+02:00

San Fermin, Pamplona, Spain. Lots of people dressed in white with some red cloth here an there, several bulls galloping through the narrow alleys of a Spanish town and some drunk Australians getting killed by them. That was basicly my idea of this happening so supposively tipically spanish.

(the alley where the run takes place)

Since I'm neither a great supporter of activities connected to huge animals such as fighting with or running from bulls, nor do I have the intention to get killed at this age, nor do I need to run from a bull to ashure myself of my manhood, this happening was not really on first place on my wish list of things to do and see in Spain. Well, different people - different wish lists. "This is pure Spanish culture" I was told by a Spanish colleague. "Oh, thank you very much!", I thought - now I had to go...

(on the road to Pamplona)

Arriving there, all human beings were truly dressed in red and white, no matter if tourist or local. No false stereotype for that part. This went so far that arriving at a huge crowded plaza stuffed with a few thousand people maybe, it was impossible losing my friends: they wore green and yellow t-shirts. At one point this festivity doesn't differ from any other in Spain. You go on the street, talk to people and drink alcohol. The difference is that this rather small town is so crowded with peolpe that every appartment would have to be a hotel to host all the visitors during those days. The next mourning walking through town a quite fitting quote from a movie was gradually emerging from my mind: "There was madness in any direction"(Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas).

(madness)

It was some kind of a huge orgy of red, white and alcohol. On every bit of green people were sleeping. The people that were not sleeping were completely drunk. And the people that were neither sleeping nor drunk, were intenting to get there by drinking - what an incredible mess.

(no comment)

With this scenery in the city at 7:30 in the mouring, my friends wanted me to put myself into a narrow street to wait for some huge and aggressive bulls to arrive to spike my ass like a piece of meat on a barbecue stick. I did not quite agree with this idea.

(playing games with the police)

Finally we encoutered an open door to one of the houses in the alley thinking we might ask some gentle peolpe there to watch the bulls from one of the balconies. The old "lady" though was quite convincing on throwing us out again by yelling constantly like a machine gun in a very high and loud voice "Out! Out! Out! Out of the house!". At last I was nearly more afraid of the human dragon than of the bulls. But getting out we encountered hell. The police took and pushed us into a group of people that was being penned up at the wall by policemen. There we were: pressed to wall without the slightest space and right at the end of the group so that the bulls would kill us in first place when they would arrive. Ten minutes of pure inner panic until the policemen pushed our entire group slowly but not very gently out of the running lane and closing the gates behind us. Well, I survived that day but I did not see one single bull, not even a glimpse. What a disappointment!

(modern architecture in Pamplona)

Walking through the same alley ten minutes afterwards it was full of bars that had reopened and were showing the run on TV. My friend - one of those who had not had any prior concerns whatsoever about the run - was staring at the screen with opened mouth shaking his head not believing what he was watching and becoming slightly pale in the face. "Dangerous, man! Very dangerous! Very very dangerous! Very dangerous, man!" This moments was better than any bull I could ever see running in a street - I still get a rather huge grin thinking about this moment.

(after the run in the bull stadium)

In the end we decided that we wouldn't want to stay sober for another day only to try to run with the bulls the next day. So we joined the rest of the people to anticipate in typical Spanish cultural activities. Our Finish friend emphasized his disagreement with our intention with the following statement: "Yo quiero correr con torro, joder!" (I want to fucking run with bull!)

(bull stadium)

Carnaval 2007 en España

2007-04-04T00:00:00.000+02:00

The following pictures were taken during "Carnaval" in two different cities in Spain. This is the selection of my favorite photos and I think they represent well the energy and will to dress up of the people there. Certainly, it was one of the best carnevals I have experienced so far.

Cadiz, Andalucia

the beginning

pretty little elfins

hasta la victoria siempre?

captain, let's have another one...

(cleaning-up) diva

chain reaction

waiting for something

Pontevedra, Galicia

good and evil

guitarero

conversation

pausa

the end