View allAll Photos Tagged SmallTalk
This is Tori.
After taking Stranger #80's photograph, I walked towards Hyde Park Corner.
I'm a small, bald, mild-mannered graphic designer. I have a nasally northern accent. If I met myself I wouldn't be suspicious, I would probably shake my own hand and smile politely. Can I take your photo for a photography project? Yes, sure, go ahead, I'd reply to myself. But as I've said before, my experience of asking women permission to take their photograph, usually gets a polite, but firm 'no'.
Are women more self-critical? I've had quite a few, 'Sorry, but I don't look good in photos.' To which I awkwardly reply, 'Oh, come, come. I'm sure that's not true.' I probably don't sound convincing. I'm not a natural charmer, so my smalltalk ends there.
For that reason, I had almost given up on women. But then I saw Tori. Come on James, ask her. I did, and without hesitation she agreed. Tori appeared to have the 'F**k it, what have I got to lose' attitude I had only previously encountered with men. Talkative and friendly, we chatted about the 100 Strangers Project and cameras (Tori is a professional retoucher) until Stranger #82 arrived. They had arranged to go for a stroll around Hyde Park together, so I took their photographs and we went our separate ways.
A fascinating fact about Tori? Her earliest memory is, at the tender age of just six years old, drinking vodka and orange, then jumping in a swimming pool.
This picture is #81 in my 100 strangers project. See the rest of my 100 strangers pictures here. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page.
Taken in front of Decimus Burton's Ionic Screen at Hyde Park Corner, London, England on 14/03/2014
„How can you put 400 people on a boat that was made for 100?“
Es ist Samstag und der Frühling lässt mich mit breitem Lächeln zum Flüchtlingsheim radeln. Ich genieße die Sonne und bin gespannt, wen ich heute treffen werde.
Von weitem sehe ich einen Mann mit Narbe im Gesicht, der lässig am Geländer angelehnt in sein Handy schaut. Ich spreche ihn an und nach kurzem Zögern öffnet sich mir ein Mensch, der an dieser Stelle nicht mit Namen genannt werden möchte.
Er stammt aus der gambischen Hauptstadt Banjul, hat leicht gerötete Augen und musste aus religiösen Gründen das Land verlassen – auch hier möchte er, dass ich meinen Lesern keine Details preisgebe. Das respektiere ich natürlich.
Je länger ich diesem Mann zuhöre, desto mehr vertraut er mir an. Scheinbar wurde er des Öfteren in seinem Leben enttäuscht und ist deshalb aus Eigenschutz ein bisschen distanziert. Ich wäre es an seiner Stelle auch.
Nach ein bisschen Smalltalk spricht dieser Mann über seine Flucht von Libyen nach Italien. Mit dem Boot. Sie wären 400 gewesen. Familien. Kinder. Und Babies.
Mit klarer Stimme berichtet mir der Gambier, dass auf dem Boot fast kein Platz für ihn war und die Flüchtlinge übereinandergestapelt werden mussten. Der große Gambier lag ganz unten und konnte sich die ganze Fahrt über kaum bewegen. Und bekam stellenweise nur wenig Luft zum Atmen. Einen Nacht und einen Tag lang.
Doch dann hätten die Flüchtlinge, die weiter oben waren, Rettungswachen gesehen und vor Freude jubiliert. In diesem Moment überkam ihn eine unbeschreibliche Freude und Erleichterung - obwohl er sich immer noch bewegen konnte. Alle wurden gerettet.
Mein Gesprächspartner erzählt, dass Libyen für ihn das schlimmste Land ist. Als Flüchtling müsste man sehr viel Geld für eine Überfahrt bezahlen – und das Risiko, unterwegs zu sterben, wäre sehr groß.
„How can you put 400 people on a boat that was made for 100?“ fragt er mich mit großen Augen. Ich kann nur den Kopf schütteln und ihm gratulieren, dass er es geschafft habe.
Erzähle ihm, dass ich darüber nachdenke, mal nach Italien zu fahren und dort das Übersetzen von Flüchtlingen zu fotografieren. Das hört er gerne und meint, die Welt müsse dringend erfahren, wie schlimm die Situation dort unten sei.
Lieber Mensch aus Gambia, wie gut es doch ist, dass Du in Deutschland angekommen bist. Willkommen in unserer Gesellschaft – ich wünsche Dir, dass Du Dich hier niemals erdrückt fühlen wirst. Weder von Deutschen noch von unseren Regeln. Friede und Freiheit mit Dir.
I was at Hyatt to see the Bugatti Veyron SuperSport but I missed him:/ When I take this shot Michael Schuhmacher passed me and we had a smalltalk! Nice guy!
Hyatt Media Habour, Düsseldorf 2011
Cows and calves. The name of this restaurant in Leiden. 'Koetjes en kalfjes' (speeking about cows and calves) is a Dutch saying for smalltalk.
photos of this series flic.kr/s/aHsk619P7A followed by more photos
Just a little stroll through the `Viertel´ (literally "quarter"), consisting of areas from the subdistricts Ostertor and Steintor, two different administrative districts of the city of Bremen ( 550.000 inhabitans / Metropolitan Region `Bremen / Oldenburg´ 2.4 million people ) in the north of Germany.
A young woman sitting between sculptures of naked women. They seem to talk to each other. Black white street photography from Berlin.
©2012 Susan Ogden-All Rights Reserved Images Thruthelookingglass
HAPPY FAUX FRIDAY....hope you have time to chill a few moments and have a listen............i ADORE this song....and am prone to play it VERY loud in my car, because of that!! :) (Then i can sing and no one can hear me!!!)
Fly Over States
Jason Aldean
Couple of guys in first class
on a flight from New York to Los Angeles
Kinda makin’ smalltalk, killin’ time
flirtin’ with the flight attendants
30,000 feet above, could be Oklahoma....
Just a bunch of square corn fields and wheat farms,
man it all looks the same
miles and miles of backroads and highways
connecting little towns with funny names...
Who’d wanna live down there,
in the middle of nowhere.
They never drove through Indiana,
met the man who plowed that earth,
planted that seed,
busted his ass of you and me,
or caught a harvest moon in Kansas,
they’d understand why God
made those fly over states.
I bet that mile long Sante Fe freight train engineers seen it all,
just like that flatbed cowboy
stacking US steel on a three day haul.
Road and rails under their feel,
yeah that sounds like a first class seat.
On the plains of Oklahoma
with a windshield sunset in your eyes
like a watercolor painted sky
You’d think heavens door’s had opened
You’ll understand why God
made those fly over states.
Take a ride across the badlands
feel that freedom on your face,
breathe in all that open space,
meet a girl from Amarillo
you’ll understand why God made
-might even wanna plant your stakes-
in those fly over states.
Have you ever been through Indiana,
on the plains of Oklahoma?
Take a ride.....
Del-ka Aedilis wants to provide "the perfect roleplaying environment where terraforming, city or village layout, buildings, interior, decoration and everything else appears to be from the same mold".
Castle Black and The Wall (SURL) is their newest sim. I took advantage of this occassion to meet them for a little smalltalk about their project Del-ka Aedilis. Read the whole interview with Del-ka Aedilis on my >> BLOG <<
Rubilyn wears
HEAD: LeLutka Mesh Head Stella
BODY: Maitreya Lara body/hands
HEAD / BODY APPLIER: Lumae Niska - 4 - Peach // Sangria - Lazy Sunday
HAIR: Magika Shine
EYES: IKON Triumph. Armor free GG / no fee
EYELASHES: Mon Cheri Falsies
EARS: [MANDALA] Steking Ears Season 5
HEADPIECE: Independent Objects Mearwen Circlet tyvm!
OUTFIT: FDD Stories Trissa @ The Fantasy Gacha - Gacha
funny scene on the market in Marrakech. although it is the vegetable market, a chicken is somehow hidden in the scene ;)
And so I return to Ye Olde Hunting Grounds in the vicinity of the beloved - and now departed - St Alphage house.
The building on the right is "Moorgate Exchange" so named because it has been built on the site of - erm - a Telephone Exchange... although strictly speaking it was Fore Street Exchange so perhaps the new building has been misnamed.
While the new concrete/glass office block has notable environmental credentials... and even has gardens on the roof... it unfortunately adds little to the landscape of The City in my view and risks become YACAGA (Yet Another Concrete And Glass Architecture) building...
... and as if to prove a point, the adjacent (and vacant) site's wooden - yes Wood... remember that stuff? Organic, natural... handrailing provides a useful rest for the APS 5D. How long that will endure is anyone's guess and no doubt the replacement will be steel and have knobbles on it to stop ver kidz grinding their skateboards.
"Fo Shiz" to use the latest smalltalk.
Anyway.
In the distance there are cranes above the mahoosive hole which goes down to Crossrail - where once there was high-walk there is now a low-hole. More of that later...
... in the meantime a homage to the former Telephone Exchange. While perhaps not the most loved building, it was built in 1959 by the 'Ministry of Works' from a design by G.R Yeats who also designed an Exchange in Houndsditch and, more famously, was the chief architect for the Post Office Tower.
What was interesting was that it had similar architectural characteristics to the commercial office blocks which surrounded it - something which you might not expect from a building of such a functional nature.
The ground floor contained a Post Office and had a rather nice roof of 'curved hoods' on Fore Street - that side of the building being faced with slate.
What we have now is somewhat blah, blah, blah - while it's good to see the reference to the Exchange in the building name it would also have been nice to include a nod to Mr Yeats.
I rather like the reflection on the wood here... and while I'm not a fan of the new place, the concrete struts are rather fine and have lovely curvey bits at the bottom... see, I'm not a complete architectural luddite...
... I'll leave you to ponder the future of the buildings on the left and to...
.. enjoy
photos of this series flic.kr/s/aHsk619P7A followed by more photos
photos of this series
bicycle bike Velo Bicyclette Fiets bicicleta bici Fahrrad Rad www.flickr.com/photos/97695964@N02/albums/72157667498023871
Just a little stroll through the `Viertel´ (literally "quarter"), consisting of areas from the subdistricts Ostertor and Steintor, two different administrative districts of the city of Bremen ( 550.000 inhabitans / Metropolitan Region `Bremen / Oldenburg´ 2.4 million people ) in the north of Germany.
The minimart by the Texaco in West Olympia on the corner by Haggen is so weird, it really gives the Day & Night market in Lacey a run for its money. But it was especially weird today after a formerly fantastic Holiday Rambler RV--longtime overnight parker by Capitol Lake (noticed it on my earliest photo scouting missions)--burst into flames. The crew that was called in to clean it up was there just as I walked up from the Subaru service department.
I had discovered that this minimart had some really unusual merchandise by the time I took notice of the presumed boss of the crew. Well, he was the only one not working anyway. He was asking for a closer look at some of the huge knives in the locked display case just as I had stumbled upon table lamps with glass lampshades depicting paintings of the Virgin Mary and an almost gothily gruesome crucified Christ. "BRO! BRO! BRO! YOU JUST MADE A SALE WITH THIS BAD BOY!!" boomed the bossman when I finally found the NOS range of energy drink products (make mine a sugar-free Turbo, please).
The dude's neck gaiter kept falling down, and after several minutes of meaningless smalltalk, requests to look at other miscellaneous merch, and even some joking and poking at trying to figure out which country the clerk and proprietor had immigrated from, the clerk finally found the spine to tell the man to leave or pull his saggy gaiter up. The guy was like "I FINALLY FOUND SOMETHING COMFORTABLE I COULD WEAR OVER MY FACE AND NOW JAY FUCKIN INSLEE WANTS TO BAN IT!"
Really now... I know it was shared across social media earlier this week that neck gaiters (and the kind made of the same material as moisture-wicking base-layer shirts) might spread more droplets than they hold back. Maybe that reportage was being imagined by this imbecile into an imminent decree from King Inslee.
Anyway... There was quite a selection of masks there, including the Mexican flag, a marijuana leaf in Jamaican flag colors, and every gang-associated color of a typical bandana design rendered in a typical cloth mask design with a malleable wire for nosebridge fitting. But what do you make of the American flag mask that says "PROTEST WHATEVER CAN'T BREATHE", though?
From the TED stage.
Moments earlier I did a live, and unfortunately, unrehearsed demo of the Nanotex waterproof khakis. I took a glass of water and splashed my waist with vigor to show how it would leave no mark. In a freak instance of fabric folding, the bolus of water hooked into a gaping open pant pocket. The inner pocket lining did not have any Nanotex coating.... So for the entire talk my boxers were soaking wet, but you wouldn’t know it because none of the water could seep through the outer pants fabric.
On screen is a Scanning Tunneling Microscope scan of dyads of atoms (carbon monoxide) on a copper surface. We got to play with these during a visit to Don Eigler’s labs at the IBM Almaden Research Center. A room full of equipment interfaces to a PC with a mouse that lets you move atoms around with audible feedback as you drag them across the surface (imagine the copper lattice atoms are bumpy like eggs in a carton).
In this particular example, carbon monoxide is lined up like dominos on the surface. With a flick on one end, they tumble like a child’s cascade. In this case, they are pre-configured to implement a logic circuit (the world’s smallest 3-input sorter). It is 260,000 times smaller than the smallest IC equivalent.
Circuit design experiments were done with regular dominos. The business expense report for dominoes raised some eyebrows at IBM.