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Posts tagged “portrait

POINT BLANK: MAKING OF EXHIBITION / AFTER PARTY

“The way is the target!”  ..like always!

I love it… …dreaming, planing, fighting, realizing, photographing, motivating, being angry, being happy, feeling doubt, changing things, doing things together…  …all that what happened to fulfill the mission.

Early December I had to change the complete concept to start already everything new. ..and it turned out to be good. Even better than the first idea. Like Victoria always says: “everything that happened, happened for the better”. But even we would have to cancel everything..  …the way to that point had so many amazing moments and wonderful encounters.

Thank to all helping hands, all motivation, all criticisms and all joy we had….  ..and yes of course, thanks for the after party! 🙂 😀

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..hey, and what do we guys start next?!!!

 


POINT BLANK: “THE LIVING SOULS”-EXHIBITION

“THE LIVING SOULS”

…they love  …they suffer …they smile  …they fight

At the 04.01.2020 we opened my photo exhibition at the Sverkov Gallery in Tver/Russia.

Contrary to Gogols ‘Dead Souls’ I found so many living souls in Russia during my portraits shootings, that I decide to share this in form of an exhibition.

Devided in four categories the photos were spread over halls of these wonderful gallery.

  • GENESIS , from painting to photography: A photgrafically interpretation of works of the painter Alexeij Jogolev
  • CHILDHOOD, the living souls of the kids
  • THE LIFE, a variation of deep emotions
  • PLACES WITH SOUL

This day was stunning. I’m still deeply moved. So many nice people and chats. I never expected so many emotions shared together that day.

This opening was supported by pianist Jewgenij Sokolowski who interpreted the photography in his unique style live at the grand piano.

My lovely thanks to my wife Victoria, the magic Boutique Anthropologie (especially Anatol), Diana & Evgenij (you both are great), everybody from the Sverkov Gallery, John & Losha, Alexeij, the most beautiful models in the world (Valeria, Kate und Sasha), all the nice people for dancing through the portrait shootings and everybody who made this night unforgettable !

photos by Vova Brutto, Victoria, unknown and me

 

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POINT BLANK: “PRICELESS MOMENTS 2019”

wow, OMG, that was 2019…  …that fast?

But it was a great year! I won’t miss it!

A lot of stunning photo shoots with wonderful and lovely persons. Preparing a new photo exhibition..  ..and Germany gets a new lovely and wonderful citizen: my beloved Victoria! My congrats to fighting for that for so many years and succeed in the end.

A very special thanks goes out for my russian friends and family. You were there for me whenever I need you and gave me so much love and hope. I love you for that.

The same for my german friends. Let’s rock Russia in 2020! Looking forward to have you there next year.

No complains about this year..  …hhmmm..   ..except our football team could do some better…  ..but as you know:

YOU NEVER WALK ALONE !!!

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All of you a merry xmas and a stunning 2020! Rock it!

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photos by:  Lena Fomina, Victoria, Denis, Johanna (I love you for doing that football photo of us at the ground, it rocks!) and me.

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…and of course Darlene again:

Watching the photos is best with that music (click)


POINT BLANK: ANTON

Anton, born in Kaliningrad, lives in Moscow. I don’t know his age. I don’t know his exact profession…  …but that really doesn’t matter. We encounter each other as two persons who are curious and open and we want to try out what happened, when two strangers encounter in a photo shooting.

An excellent time we had. Thank you, Anton for your open and communicative way. See you early January.


POINT BLANK: ANNA

Last week I met the wonderful Anna, psychoanalyst from Moscow, for a photo shooting in Russia.

It was so delightful to work with such a sensitive, smart, beautiful and open hearted woman, that is able to show a part of her soul at our first encounter.

After a few hours of work, talk, fun and a spontaneous dinner, we both decide to exhibit images we captured that day for my photo exhibition THE LIVING SOULS in January in Russia.

Hey, who else could better stand for a living soul than you, Anna. Thank you for that special day!

 


POINT BLANK: PHNOM PENH

Phnom Penh / Cambodia

“Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, was once known as the Pearl of Asia before the country spun into turmoil with the mass killings by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s. Over the last few decades, Phnom Penh has grown into an economic center, sprawled with high rises, hotels, historical architecture, modern malls, and an incredible food culture.” (source: tripadvisor)


POINT BLANK: “SHINE ON YOU CRAZY DIAMOND”

Tver / Russia

Thank you, Diana! Wow, that was magical! What a ride..    …and shine on you crazy diamond


POINT BLANK: STREET PORTRAITS

Samarkand / Uzbekistan / Central Asia

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..some street portraits of these kind and open people of Uzbekistan


POINT BLANK: ‘WELCOME TO THE LIGHT’

“Welcome to my city
Welcome to my town oh
Welcome to my country
So good to have you around oh
Welcome to my people
Welcome to my sound oh
Welcome to my family
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So good to have you around oh
Oh so good to have you around oh
Gone be the days when you opened up your mind
To the darkness, the devil and things no man should find
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Wooo Look Up, Can you see the light how it’s shining over our head now
Look Up, Can you see the message, the message that it spreads now,
Look Up, Can you see the light how it’s shining over our head now
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Oh the light might find you and the
Light might keep you in the distance
And the light can guide you and light can show you what you’re missing
The light might find you and the light might keep you in the distance
And the light can guide you and the light
Can show you what you’re missing right now”
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SEAN KOCH (“Welcome to the light”)
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POINT BLANK: FINDING TAISIJA’S GRAVE (# 2)

Finding Taisija’s and Mamadi’s grave. Part 2

Samarkand / Uzbekistan

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After we found the house of Alisher, the cousin who could help us to find the grave of Taisija and Mamadi, we got a warm welcome. Alisher was pretty surprised to see Victoria for the first time in thirty years. (hey, bro, would have you payed your phone bills, you would have known that a few days before, huh?)

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He lives with his two (!!!) wifes and three kids in this typically self-supply household. Fruits and vegtables they grow in their garden.. ..and tabac of course. I know this from my mom in law. She spends most time of the the year at her dacha and grow all the groceries she (we) need. A happy and peaceful life. (btw, this peaceful life and all her love to me was put to the test when one day I stood with a bag of tomatoes from the supermarket in the door. But we clarified that..  ..I am refraining from then ....or do not tell her and just hide it).

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There was a lot to tell. Sad stories, funny stories…  …and a lot of memories from former times. Many members of that families died already and many new kids where born who meanwhile are already parents. Stories of lifes that took place in different places, in different cultures, with many disappointments and many opportunities.

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And then we finish our journey to fulfill our wish and the request we have received, to put flowers on grandma Taisija’s and her husband Mamadi’s grave in Samarkand / Uzbekistan.

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POINT BLANK: FINDING TAISIJA’S GRAVE (# 1)

Finding Taisija’s and Mamadi’s grave.

Samarkand / Uzbekistan

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After WW2 the sister of my wife’s grandma, Taisija, married the Tajik called Mamadi and they moved to Samarkand. Over there they started a good running business by trading flowers and after a few years they became a quite wealthy and respected family. Mamadi died in 1991. Taisija in 2000.

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In May Victoria and me spent a wonderful time in Uzbekistan. My mother in law asked us to bring some flowers to their graves, if we have the chance to find it somewhere in Samarkand. So our seach began.

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The only thing we knew was the street were they lived and that the cementary suppose to be near that street and that Taisija is the only Russian on that uzbek cementary…  …meant a piece of cake to me. But it wasn’t. Indeed we found that place…  ..but it was huge (#01). Ooops. ..or in other words, we were looking for the needle in a haystack. – ‘Ask, and you will be helped!‘ like this saying means..  ..and we asked. Our pretty good idea was to look for eldery people who may have known them and know where the grave is.

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At the mortuary (!) we found a cock fight (..I would appreciate if you click here, but please come back to this story.. ..it’s good! Of course the cock fight story is also good.. ..but this story is more touching.. ..or human..  ..uuhh, you know what I mean..), but none who knew Taisija and Mamadi. But the gentlement on image #04 told us, that there is an other old russian woman living somewhere in this district… …’where?’…  ..’somewhere uphill’..

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Honestly, I must say that this helpfullness of these people was terrific and cordial…   …as we will see later in our little story. So we asked around for this russian lady..  ..and we found a family (#07) that showed us where she is living. And we were lucky. She (#08, #09) although did not know where the grave was, but knew where a cousin lives, who could help us. Okay, I have to confess, we knew about this cousin. Even had his mobile number. Even called him (but the mobile was switched of, as we learned later, because he refused to pay his bills). But I didn’t mentioned him at the beginning of this story because my little storytelling-for-dummies-guide says that good to conceal some details to keep the story more thrilling.

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Not only that the family that showed us the house of the russian lady, was a really big help to us .. … they even offered us (without being ask) to give us a lift to that place. Wow. Like I said, I love the people over there and I decided if ever an Uzbek will ask my in Germany about his cousins place.. ..sure…   ..I will give him a lift. Promised!

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So, we finaly got to that place where we will get help…  …and we knocked the door…

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to be continued

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POINT BLANK: DIANA AND JEVGEIJNI

“For millions of years flowers have been producing thorns. For millions of years sheep have been eating them all the same. And it’s not serious, trying to understand why flowers go to such trouble to produce thorns that are good for nothing? It’s not important, the war between the sheep and the flowers? It’s no more serious and more important than the numbers that fat red gentleman is adding up? Suppose I happen to know a unique flower, one that exists nowhere in the world except on my planet, one that a little sheep can wipe out in a single bite one morning, just like that, without even realizing what he’d doing – that isn’t important? If someone loves a flower of which just one example exists among all the millions and millions of stars, that’s enough to make him happy when he looks at the stars. He tells himself ‘My flower’s up there somewhere…’ But if the sheep eats the flower, then for him it’s as if, suddenly, all the stars went out. And that isn’t important?”
(Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince)

 


POINT BLANK: BEHIND BLUE EYES

Natasha, psychoanalyst, practices in Tver and Moscow/Russia, was always fascinated by portraits where features of a person captured on photos.

…and so we tried…  ..no concept, no rules…  …we just let go…  …and danced…

Natasha, thank you for that dance. 🙂

 


POINT BLANK: …1 SQM.. ..AT THE WINDOW

Valeriya…  …at the window…  …just one wonderful square meter to play with light…

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“And I’ve missed your ginger hair
And the way you like to dress
Won’t you come on over
Stop making a fool out of me
Why don’t you come on over Valerie?”

(Amy Winehouse)

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If you want to see more images of Valeriya, click here.