As I was walking around on the Vocational Training market in Leiden (*) this week, trying to make a photostory of the event, I thought of the idea of making a mini series, focussing on the hands of these young people, showing their skills. This morning, I picked out three of my best ‘working hands’ shots, converted them into black and white, and added a grain filter. I really love them and think I will further work them into a collage or triptych poster. Here’s the first one 🙂
(*)For more info and photo’s of the Vocational Training market, see my previous blog post
Hands of a boy demonstrating his skills as a precision instrument maker. He’s holding a thin glass pipe into the flame of a burner to melt , bend and shape it
Fun in this photo is to see how the little scater on the T-shirt of the boy seems to be scating along on the heath of the flame…
Yesterday I was in Leiden, a small historic town in the Netherlands. I wanted to make a photo-reportage about the International Photo Festival in Leiden – which I did – but then happened to walk into a totally different event.
On one of the church squares where the displays with photo’s were set up, a large crowd of people had gathered before the entrance of the church. I wondered what was going on, saw a lady with a camera who was obviously a press photographer or reporter, and asked her whether she could tell me more. She told me that in half an hour, the official opening would take place of a two- day info market, in which vocational training schools would present themselves to young potential students, who will soon have to make their choice for a vocational training next year. That sounded quite interesting to me, so I decided to stay around and make a photo-reportage about this event as well.
The total story and a selection of the photo’s I made on the vocational training info-market you can find here on Demotix. I really loved to see how young people who are already in vocational training were eager to demonstrate their skills, and share about it with others.
There were a few more images that just didn’t make it into my Demotix story any more, but I like to show them here:
ROC student kneading doughBuilding on a wooden constructionGroup of boys show interest in metal instrument partsParamedics training: first aid can save lives…
Photo made in ‘de Oliemeulen’ zoo in Tilburg, the Netherlands – Sept. 22, 2014
“Grey crowned cranes (Balearica regulorum) are native to the dry savannah in Africa south of the Sahara, although it nests in somewhat wetter habitats. They can also be found in marshes, cultivated lands and grassy flatlands near rivers and lakes in eastern from the Uganda and Kenya, south to South Africa. This animal does not migrate.
The grey crowned crane has a breeding display involving dancing, bowing, and jumping. It has a booming call which involves inflation of the red gular sac. It also makes a honking sound quite different from the trumpeting of other crane species.
These cranes are omnivores, eating plants, seeds, grain, insects, frogs, worms, snakes, small fish and the eggs of aquatic animals. Stamping their feet as they walk, they flush out insects which are quickly caught and eaten. The birds also associate with grazing herbivores, benefiting from the ability to grab prey items disturbed by antelopes and gazelles. They spend their entire day looking for food. At night, the crowned crane spends it time in the trees sleeping and resting.
The grey crowned crane is the national bird of Uganda and features in the country’s flag and coat of arms.
Although the grey crowned crane remains common over much of its range, it faces threats to its habitat due to drainage, overgrazing, and pesticide pollution. In 2012 it was uplisted from vulnerable to endangered by the IUCN.” Source: Wikipedia
Young, soft pink Eglantine rose with yellow stamens and tiny drops of dew on the petals, on an old and thorny bush… Photo made in North Holland Dunes Reserve, June 8, 2014.
The choice for this image to post today was inspired by a poem of georgetteann : Grief – May this image bring some gentle comfort and hope to anyone who has lost a loved one recently or longer ago – and still silently cries at night about the loss…
It was a great course and you haven’t been able to follow it live, or to see a re-broadcast, it is possible to buy the course in 22 downloadable video segments. I really recommend it for everyone who would like to make an income by making art. I surely learned a lot and will likely go back to my notes or rebroadcasts in the future.
A collection a day
During one of the sections of the course, Lisa told us about one of the projects she did a few years ago. It’s called ‘A collection a day’ , and that’s exactly what it is: during a whole year, every day, Lisa either photographed or drew a collection, and posted about it on her blog. I was so fascinated about that idea that I went over to take a look at it, and … it’s marvellous! The variation in the objects she collected and photographed is enormous, and the fact that she alternated the photo’s with her own drawings and illustrations of collections made the whole only more colourful and varied.
I LOVE collections too, and have been collecting small, ordinary things of all kinds all my life. The idea of putting them together and showing them to the world is so awesome. It gives the ordinary things that colour and beautify our lives another dimension, and ‘a larger impact’… And what a commitment to do this every day, 365 days, a whole year long! That’s something I would never manage to do. But I would like to do something more with my own little collections too, and Lisa’s project definitely brought me some great ideas!
Day 1: Vintage erasers by Lisa Congdon (*)Day 331 : Plates by Lisa Congdon (*)
Lisa’s collections are now recently printed as a book, and I think it would be great to have something like that on your coffee table, and to browse through it once in a while. Something for my wish list for sure! So if you love collections too, and would like to have a look, head over to her blog, where you can see all her blogposts online, or to her website, where Lisa tells you about her project, and the way she went about it, and where you can order her book!
Book: “A collection a day” by Lisa Congdon (*)
Thanks a lot, Lisa, for a great course, and for this great inspiration!
Do you have some collections yourself, and did you ever photograph them or blog about them? If you did, do let me know, I would love to come and see yours!
It’s a few weeks now that I skipped posting my Sunday Street photo’s, because I had other things to do that had priority. But I don’t want to forget about it all together. So, although it’s Monday night already, here come my Sunday Street shots.
Till now, I picked two different photo’s for my English and Dutch blog, but as of today, I’ll pick two, and post them on both of my blogs. Here they come 🙂
For me, it’s not so much a problem to think what to write about. Rather, to pick one of the many possibilities, and not trying to do them all at once. So as soon as I’ve done my two daily posts ( E and NL) , I will start making a list in Evernote with possible topics, so that I can keep track of all the ideas that come up. Or better, let me open Evernote right away, and jot ideas down as they pop into my head… 🙂
The Bijlmermonument
Yesterday October 4, it was the 22 anniversary remembrance day of the Bijlmer disaster, when an El Al plain crashed in two of the Bijlmer apartment buildings, and 43 people died, with many more injured and traumatized.
I couldn’t be there at the remembrance ceremony, but we’re living so close by the monument that we could hear the music in our living rooms, and I could see still some people around when I passed there later that evening.
22 years ago, and people still remember… This year, the ceremony had a special accent, in the light of the recent disaster with the MH17 in Ukraine, where 298 people died, among whom 196 Dutch. This recent disaster brought so many memories back for people in the Bijlmer, and they expressed their sympathy to the victims and their families and relatives now…
Advise from the Bijlmer to the family and relatives of MH17 victims: make sure there comes a monument, and often seek one another’s company and support – always remember! …
the Bijlmermonument, with the tree that saw everything, the remembrance wall and the mosaic tiles, photographed sept. 2012
Yes, I so would like to be able to post a little bit more regularly – let us say…. ehmmm… daily??? OMG – Why is it so hard to commit to that? Only a few sentences and maybe a photo every now and then would be enough, right?
My big difficulty is that I would like to do regular blogs as well on my English as on my Dutch blog. So indeed, that’s double work. And I’m aware that I am so unreliable when it comes to keeping up with my ‘daily’ resolutions… But why not giving it a try anyway? Shall I start today?… I DID!!
Previous weekend, I had a really busy photojournalistic weekend. On Saturday, I was photographing on the “Day of 1000 cultures”, the opening of the new cultural season In Amsterdam SouthEast: a colourful festival where all kinds of cultural and sprts organisations presented their programs.
And on Sunday, not only did I make use for the first time of my newly earned press card from DEMOTIX, to make a photo story about the Amsterdam City Swim 2014… I also spend a few hours making a reportage of a demonstration against the horrific actions by ISIS, the terrorist group that is very active in Irak and Syrië
It has taken me some time to sort out and edit all those photo’s, but now at least a few of the reportages are uploaded at DEMOTIX , the worldwide network for free lance and amateur photo journalists.
The Amsterdam Cityswim was organized this year for the third time, as a fundraising for the ALS foundation in the Netherlands. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is one of the most serious, invalidating and deadly diseases of the nerves system. The Netherlands counts about 1500 patients. Every year, about 500 of them die, and 500 new patients are diagnosed with the disease. While there is investigation done all over the world, the cause of the disease is still unknown, and no cure is found. For those 1500 patients, with a life expectancy of 3 to 5 years after diagnosis, there is still no hope for a future…
The 2000 participants to the City Swim, together with the 200 kids that participated in the Cityswim for Kids, raised together an amount of over 2 million €, by finding sponsors for their swimming effort. This money will be used for further investigation and support to people with ALS.
Participants of the Amsterdam Cityswim for Kids and lifeguards swimming under the bridge towards the Keizersgracht channel. Public on the bridge is cheering them on.Celeste (14) and Lianne (11), two of the 200 young swimmers who participated in the Amsterdam Cityswim for Kids.Eva & Mathijs, twins (10) proudly show their medals, earned in the Cityswim for Kids. Well done!.Quinten Helmstrijd (3d place), Sam Boorsma (2nd place) Carolien Beckers (1st place) – winners of the Cityswim for Kids.
First group of swimmers ready to dive in.With a big splash, the first swimmers hit the waterFirst group of athletes in the water – all along the route, life guards are standby to keep an eye on the swimmers’ safety.
View on the finish and the Keizersgracht where crowds of supporters are looking as groups of swimmers finally reach the finish after a swim of 2014m through Amsterdam’s channels.Participants carrying orange balloons arrive at the last strecht of the Keizersgracht Channel, in view of the finish of Amsterdam City Swim 2014. A life guard is standby, keeping an eye on the swimmers’ safety.Exhausted but satisfied, one of the swimmers comes out of the water, a black and white football on his backTwo women friends have now time to recuperate and relax, after the long swim of 2014 m.
Family, mom, dad and kids, with rented red Mac Bike bicycles, in the busy touristic centre of Amsterdam. The boy and girl in front of the carrier bicycle eating salted chips, and sharing some with dad – Amsterdam Street photography
Discovering Beauty 