the conversation
Vesterbro, Copenhagen
June 2010
My wife and I walked past this gritty dive bar in the decidely rough around the edges neighborhood of Vesterbro in Copenhagen, and I loved it for its authentic vintage ethic. When I peeked in I noticed right away how much it reminded me of a setting for a scene out of a David Lynch film. Later that evening I returned for a few beers and to be a fly on the wall, this photo and the others in this series are from that experience. These guys were playing a dice game and it would appear discussing something important. The guy on the left looked very serious.
Wednesday 30 June 2010
Copenhagen dive bar (explored)
Sunday 27 June 2010
death awaits around the corner... but until then enjoy your Coke
death awaits around the corner... but until then enjoy your Coke, originally uploaded by Slightly Esoterik.
Vesterbro, Copenhagen 2010
Wednesday 23 June 2010
Monday 21 June 2010
man, myth & legend (R.I.P.)
Sebastian Horsley in profile. I took this surreptitiously 2 weeks ago at an artists' fair in East London. I wanted to engage him, maybe for my 100 Strangers project, but for some reason my courage wilted as I approached and I settled for this candid. Figured I'd see him again in my London wanderings and maybe approach him then. Guess I figured wrong. Just saw this morning in the news that he died yesterday... so I fished out this negative and scanned it in.
A standout eccentric in a city piled high with interesting characters. If you look up the word debauched, there ought to be photo of Mr. Horsley.
His obit: www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/jun/18/sebastian-hor...
Thursday 17 June 2010
Tuesday 15 June 2010
Friday 11 June 2010
Wednesday 9 June 2010
Monday 7 June 2010
Sunday 6 June 2010
Markus (note: please click on photo to see full/uncropped image)
This is Markus Maverick. He is a dealer of vintage fashion, sometimes actor and an avid street photographer. We crossed paths at the art car boot fair being held at the old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane in East London. As I'm always intrigued by those with an original sense of style, I approached him and had a chat. He was quick to point out that this is how he dresses every day. He's a tremendous fan of the Victorian era and likes to work such elements into his dress. The impressive coat he was wearing was from the early 1900's and though I didn't ask, I had to assume his pipe was just as old. He'd recently completed work portraying Jack the Ripper for a History Channel documentary... this seems right down his alley given his love all things Victorian (on a side note, Brick Lane was Jack the Ripper's old stomping grounds with many of his murders occurring within blocks of the famous street).
I'm always put at ease when I end up talking to fellow photographer as they are sympathetic and understanding models. Sure enough, Markus was happy to participate in my 100 Strangers Project and gave me a few poses. He confided to me that he always feels a bit jaded if he asks to take someone's photo and is denied... this was in response to receiving my usual spiel that if he didn't want to pose it was no big deal. He was surprised by my laissez faire approach to the whole endeavor. Given how at ease he seems with people and his overall friendly demeanor, I don't imagine he's denied photo ops too often.
Enjoyed chatting with you Markus; look forward to seeing you around Brick Lane!
This picture is #23 in my 100 Strangers Project, to see more of my project, please click here: Slightly Esoterik's 100 Strangers
To find out more about the 100 Strangers project and see pictures taken by other photographers click here: www.100Strangers.com
Friday 4 June 2010
Tuesday 1 June 2010
Alessandro 22/100
This is Alessandro. I bumped into him as were both peering into the front window of the lomography store just off of Carnaby Street in Central London. He admired my old Yashica twin lens reflex camera and we started chatting about medium format cameras (I seem to recall him saying he has a Mamiya, but also maybe a Diana). We had a total photo-geek conversation ranging from the merits of full frame digital, to HDR and even tilt-shift photography. The type of stuff that puts most people to sleep in the matter of minutes. He takes some amazing medium format film shots, check out his photostream if you get a chance: Alessandro's Photostream
He's orignally from Ancona, Italy on the Adriatic but has made London his home for a number of years now. He doesn't see himself leaving anytime soon, unless maybe it was to go to the United States at some point. After visiting for a bit I pitched the 100 Strangers Project to him and he happily agreed to participate. I have recently acquired a 14-24mm lens and have been looking forward to shooting a wide street portrait with it. I try to make an effort to vary my 100 Strangers Portraits with different lenses, poses, processing, etc... For this one I wanted to sort of frame him in the various lines projecting from the red brick building in the background. I cropped it a little from the top down and patched on the letterboxing to give it a cinema-like aspect ratio. I added the cinema toned processing because it just seemed to work.
Thanks again for participating Alessandro; was great meeting you!
This picture is #22 in my 100 Strangers Project, to see more of my project, please click here: Slightly Esoterik's 100 Strangers
To find out more about the 100 Strangers project and see pictures taken by other photographers click here: www.100Strangers.com
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