Girls and Photography

Vale da Telha (Portugal), October 2018

Andrea, Mirjam and i spend a week together in this beautiful house with three stores and a pool billiard table in the cellar where i actually sleep. The neighbour's swimming pool is used when nobody there and we arrive home after a long day in the sea to jump in naked,  washing off salt and sand followed by a cold glass of vinho verde awaiting the sunset.

We spend time on secret beach with the little waterfall and let Mirjam photograph us endlessly in all kind of positions , bare naked on stones, rocks, sand or seaweed at low tide. I forgot about what it is like to be with a photographer. Used to be the same, demanding lots of patience from my friends to do exactly what i want them to. Especially working with the Hasselblad on media format , the person to be portrayed has to wait in uncomfortable positions until i got the write setting and framing. Never did fashion though , not my cup of tea at all as it’s an art for itself which i definitely don‘t domain. My main interest is focused on the portrait and the story behind. That is why i did all my reportages within this format.

My shelfs in Berlin are full with negatives and contact sheets, the only important possesion i did not get rid of and sometimes look at, to actually choose other images i neglected back then. One changes the perspective after a while. Photographs in general gain value when times has gone by. It becomes an important documentary of its time, no matter if historical or personal.  

The sound of low tide

Costa Rica, September 2018

My sister left home to Rio and i drive far south near the border of Panama, taking along a hitch hiking refugee family from Nicaragua to start a new life in Panama with only but their clothes on. I feed my bad conscience and give them money for food and the bus drive towards the border when dropping them off at my crossing after having been together with them for about five hours. 

Only next day i arrive to the country's most famous and remote surf spot called Pavones with the longest lefty wave ever. As out of season, i hardly see people around and most of the cabin rental places are closed. At the end of the gravel and mud road beside the beach i find this amazing place run by dutch people called Rancho Burica.  

This is where i spend the rest of my time before heading back to Berlin. I love to walk along the beach at low tide, remembering parts of my childhood i spend until i was five years old in a little fishing village on the pacific ocean in Ecuador in the late 70ties.  

Surfing , horseback riding, Yoga at sunset and walks through the jungle or on the beach fulfill my days. My left hand and arm are making a bit of trouble and the paddling is getting harder every time. Damn, hope not having to give up surfing so soon because of that. Not ready for this yet. 

I sleep in an open bungalow with a mosquito net protecting me from the bugs and i can't clearly hear the ocean due the heavy rain every night.  The sea is so different everywhere and has a particular sound depending on beach or point break and so many other circumstances. Found this very old version of Hunter S. Thompson's revolutionary novel " Hell's Angels" from the 60ties eaten up by rats and ants in the bookshelf. It entertains me through the night.

The 1 % 

Relax to the max

Costa Rica, September 2018

First time in Central America , first travel for my sister without the kids and first time driving 4x4 wheel at night from the airport to the peninsula of Nicoya on the west coast during heavy raining season.

We enjoy every day surf and yoga, though not for the first time. Howling monkeys, turtles, whales and lots of maracujas show us the way to paradise.

So happy for my little sis about her fast progressing surf skills as i encouraged her to begin with that sport and life style. We remembered how i got her into reading books when she was a little girl and into running until she participated in half marathons. She will always be my little sister thus being a responsible and good mother of twin boys.

Raining season has the good side of empty beaches and breaks, chilled and relaxed athmospere everywhere hanging around with the locals.

Our password for WiFi is relax to the max.

To Disappear in Nature

Iceland, August 2018

Audun , Chief Editor of the norwegian magazine Vagant , proposed to start a series of travel reportages discovering all the places in the northern hemisphares affected by the Gulf Stream. So we decided to begin with this volcanic place of outstanding beauty.

Unfortunately i went off travelling from Berlin already with a huge cold which did not get any better during the five day hike from Landmannalaugur to Skogar on the Laugavegur Trail going through all weather stages but mostly  rain, fog and ice cold winds. I was amazed how the body works , getting stronger and fitter every day despite this cough and gripal infection. We stayed in huts though as camping would have killed me this time.

I am impressed by the well equiped co-hikers in their colourful functional clothing and backpacks. I forgot to take waterproof trousers , so wearing yoga pants that drops all the water into my old leather boots, becoming soaking wet almost every day. But hey , getting wet is normal says an icelandic lady in a hut. This is Iceland!

When i started doing these trips with my ex husband twenty four years ago in Transsilvania,  he taught me how to dissapear in nature wearing natural colours and having the minimum of things all tight up in your backpack without unnecessary items hanging around all over the place.

I walk steadily like an old Diesel motor in same pace uphill without pauses whereas Audun walks fast and stops every now and then to flirt with nature, taking notes or seldomly smoking a self rolled cigarette and sometimes loosing the trail. He is a Viking from Norway.

Salve

The Heat

Brandenburg, August 2018

Two years ago i started looking for a piece of land to buy in Portugal, in order to spend a more comfortable life as a cripple by the sea and the warmth. The idea has been vanished though, as property and responsibilty for things stresses me out.  

Living this amazing heat wave this summer up in middle and northern Europe, i am happy to stay stuck to my minimalistic life style. Instead, i rent a kayak and paddle with Andrea and her son in the east german lakes and channels which have remained the same since GDR.  

Die Wilden Mädchen

Galicia, July 2018

Mirjam and i hired a car to drive along Spain's Green Coast to stop for surf and hikes. As she injured her knee on the board first day , we had to change plans and skipped to drinking and eating instead. Never had so much seafood and palate joy in my life thanks to her. She likes to observe and photograph , to drive very fast despite the speed limitations but takes her time to get ready in the morning. 

I built up the tents and make sure to find everything we need. Every now and then i rent board and wetsuit to get rid of last night's wine feast and hangover in the cold waves. 

The night before going sailing with my friend La Coruña, we get to know the city's night life the Berlin style and hardly have enough sleep. 

First time travelling with someone after a long period of lonely hikes is awesome and interesting. Found out what a weirdo and nerd i had become. I did not take much care about Mr P though, will will get back to this on the next travel.

Thelma & Louise

Keep on Movin'

Kopenhagen, July 2018

A friend of mine involved in the festival 'Move Kopenhagen' told me about this four day workshop event  taking place every year by the harbour of Refshaleøen. I bought a ticket without thinking too much about what to expect. I must say, it was difficult for me to deal with the community dynamic of love and peace as it is not my cup of tea at all to be standing around in a large group chanting and dancing your inner child out, singing oms and touching each other continuously.

It makes me being aware of how much i like to be on my own or with a small group of people i choose to be with. Nevertheless it was a great experience to see how these people at the festival run and jump around like wild young horses in the Savannah doing Parkour, Slack Lining, Dance, Hoola Hoop or Acrobatic Yoga, Handstands and Bouldering.

My intention was to find something i could learn and progress in as having to neglect a few sporty activities i did all my life due to physical limitations. I guess the Parkour training is definitely something i want to go on with. Unfortunately Slack Lining requires so much balance that i did not even try it. 

We had lots of sun and swam every day in the harbour watching the sailing boats or water airplanes passing by,  listening to the danish marine canon fire to celebrate sunset and enjoying the mobile sauna on the shore. I wont be coming back next year but leave the festival with positive impressions and a wider knowledge. And this is the most important.

Love and Peace.

Of Dogs and Girls

Cantabria, June 2018

Wherever you meet people passionate for the surf you end up creating a community. It is much nicer to paddle out together and watch the others catching a wave or being cheered on catching one yourself, especially if you live in one Surfhouse like we do up on the hills with a phantastic view both on the mountains and the river entering the sea.

I do love observing the girls on their boards sliding around with such elegancy and style. And so many of them have got dogs. Only the Punks in Berlin's streets have more i guess. On the last evening before heading back to the city we drink and say good night to the boys, who tired and tight-lipped, fall into their bunk beds.

The dogs still jump around at midnight, happily receiving attention from the drunken girls.  

Preferences and Priorities

Cantabria, June 2018

Aritz runs his own Surf School Meron in San Vicente de la Barquera with his partner Yucca and he really makes me work out hard to progress and advance every day a little more in giving me private lessons.

He does not know how i try to paddle straight as much as i can as normally paddling in circles 'cause left side weaker than right. But hey, his drill is working out and i am so happy of results after two hours every day in the sea.

Definitely need to practice freestyle swimming whilst in Berlin before coming back here in July in order to achive enough upper body muscles. Wanna really catch these waves again and again and all over again, paddling  out into the sea over or through white waters continuously. 

I'd rather spend my money on private teacher and sleep in my tent than using up budget for comfortable bed, which i do sometimes aswell. It is all about priorities and preferences. 

Out of Balance

Galicia (Spain), June 2018

Grew up by the sea but never been taught how to sail. My friend's brother in La Coruña is a professional sailor who had just returned from a european team sailing competition in Vigo and is taking me out on a day trip. The more wind the more inclined we are towards the water level. I make an effort to not freak out and fall into the water. Least thing to do is taking a picture in that situation. He would not go alone on this eleven meter boat so i am forced to do all sorts of things. My sense of balance has been obviously affected and i hold on to everything i can grab while crooked on the boat. It is alot of fun though and we enter the port after sunset.

Life in a van or mashed potato

Galicia (Spain) , June 2018

I met Stephane two years ago on my first trip to Portugal. He worked as a model in his twenties and decided to quit city life for one on the road fifteen years ago, teaching kite and surf. 

Last night he went fishing and brought back a huge net of Percebes and a couple of white fish. The local bar man cooked it all and offered free wine in exchanged for the dinner. 

I feel tempted to buy a van myself but erradicate the idea quickly as don't want to change the oversea travels for driving around mostly in Europe. Would need to learn how to deal with car mechanic for repair needs and rather prefer to drive a summer on a motorbike if ever i achive to get my motorbike drivers license. Have to hurry up though as left extremities handle the gear shift. If deterioration too advanced i will end up a mashed potato on the asphalt. 

Lost in the mist, stuck in the mud

Cantabria (Spain), June 2018

Since years it had not been so cold and rainy in nothern Spain at this time of the year. Well here i am, stuck in the mountains with cows and goats on a track leading nowhere. I missed the sign towards the appropriate mountain crest due to the thick mist. My sneakers dissapear entirely in the mud and the rain keeps drizzling on for hours. The only reasonable thing to do is walk back down the valley i had come from and try it again tomorrow as it is starting to get dark. Soaking wet and tired i arrive at my first hostel overstay during this trip. No way i would put up my tent tonight. Happily enjoying the hot shower and a warm bed, i thank my body to have kept me working without interruption but enough adrenalin, power and rationality. 

My backpack's content stayed dry under the protection cover and the plastic phantastic sneakers are washed easily. Did not take my heavy leather hiking boots along this time but very light equipment reduced to the max. I wont be able to climb up the 2500 meter high mountains of Picos de Europa in Asturias but enjoy the coastal walks of Galicia's lush and green landscapes. 

Not accepting dissabilities

Berlin, May 2018

A hairless cat called Lady has come to stay with us for a couple of days. She is a weirdo like us and adapts very well to our life style. Running around naked all day and seeking for cuddles whenever desire comes up and activ all night through. 

Joseph and i know very well about our limitations. He has to get focused in learning german where as i have to be more eager in following my goals. With age i lost the ease to learn and focused concentration without getting distracted. I blame myself alot for being lazy in mind amd brain and i admire Joseph 's smart ass master math's brain. How can i relearn to learn again? 

When off travelling i usually take a book with difficult content along as forced to read it if nothing else around and no connectivity accesible. Otherwise i'd be reading the news intensively.

Lady cat leaves us nothing but a pee in my bed when picked up by her owner.  

Heat and the City

New York City, May 2018

It has been a week of encounters. My stepfather and Guggi's real father celebrated his birthday in Queens and i came to surprise him. 

On the other hand i enjoyed my encounter with the bearded man by my side who was supposed to come and meet me in Sri Lanka a month ago. 

It is terribly hot in the street canyons as i discover entire Manhattan by foot. My physical condition is miserable due to unhealthy life style for the past weeks. In fact i am taking some artificial dopamin pills every now and then, which my neurologist prescribed me in Berlin a week ago. It had been the first visit after almost two years. I limp and don't know what to do with my left stiff arm. Usually carry a handbag or anything to keep arm and hand holding on to something. Desperately seeking for my hike in the wilderness of northern Spain soon and everything will be alright and back in its place again. 

I dont dare to sit down and play chess with the Pro's in Washington square as far too shy and not well enough skilled. So go on to the Lower East Side and hang around with the Puertoriqueños without theeth in their mouths. The day after, i observe the old ladies walking their dogs with golden collars on Fifth Avenue on my way to the Guggenheim Museum which is, unfortunately, half closed as being reformed for next exhibition. Mothers in inpecable dresses and hair styles pick up their lovely brats at private schools and black nannies watch over white kids in Central Park.  

I envy the numerous joggers passing by in the park so decide to have a drink instead with someone i met in the street. My hunger for enjoyment is insatible without regard to losses even if its my own health. 

On the flight back to Reykjavic the unconditional beauty of nature appears to be Greenland and i cry. 

Experimentalism

Donaufestival in Krems (Austria), May 2018  

Mirjam is great. It is our first trip we do allthough having spend already so much time together within the last years. Even ran a gallery for photography in a team which lasted for six years. 

We both share a high interest for experimental electronical music with jazz or classical influence. It was good to see how sober we could go through this three day festival and not missing anything. Amazing how habbits domain us and how easy it is to break them. 

Thank god that music is not danceable , at least during the day performances,  as it puts me in a very difficult situation. At night,  Mirjam dissapears in the crowd to dance on south african electronic beats where as i lay down on one of the few possibilities to it and watch the scenery. It is just like getting old i say to myself. 

Bitter medicine

Sri Lanka, April 2018

It was not planned to visit Sri Lanka for an ayurvedic treatment. Initially i had a ticket booked for Tel Aviv to stay in Ramallah for an intensive arabic language course over two weeks. But things changed and there i was in Sri Lanka on the south west coast doing some surf in the indian ocean without wetsuit , scrubbing my tummy open on the board as i naively did not think about a long sleeve protection shirt. 

My host of the bamboo jungle room told me about this family run clinic in the backlands. I did not waste a minute and drove over there. It seems to me as no other tourist has ever put a foot in there. Communication is in pidgeon english and body talk. I am given a small and clean room with a view to the garden , where the herbs and plants grow to be treated for the ayurvedic medicine . Every morning i receive some of it without having a clue what it is besides being the bitterest thing i ever tasted. As long as it works i am fine and it does, though afterwords i have to devour the green and sweet mangos collected during the day when monkeys shook the trees for me.  

Home Work

Berlin, March 2018

I adore my job as a freelance photo editor and photographer. Been doing this since twenty years by now, going through stages of a hell alot of work chasing a career and lately doing much less. Quit all the side projects which used up alot of energy and time and got focused only on one source of income.

Have to stay away from the cold winter months as I shake like aspen leaf and can't move properly. Drink too much wine , smoke and sit around all day in the office's chair or on the sofa. Not good for Parki. I even start limping and only tiping with right fingers on the laptop's keyboard , keeping the left crampy hand hidden on my lap. Still nobody sees my deterioration. Getting up in the morning is the worst. Only tiptoeing as not able to unroll the foot, especially on a hang over day. 

Rumble in the Jungle

Rio de Janeiro, February 2018

What an amazing thing to have someting in common with the great Muhammed Ali. 

I usually choose the rainy days to go off hiking up Rio's particular mountains. It is less risky to get robbed or attacked by the criminal gangs of Favela's inhabitans nearby as they don't like rain. Neither do i see any other tourist walking around. The one important encounter on the track with a poiseness corral snake wont be forgotten. She would not leave me pass by and kept her black head lifted ready to attack if i come nearer. What a miserable way to die in Rio's outskirts , feeling sick and gasping for breath as the poison is paralizing the respiratory functions while the rain drizzels on the crampy body on the floor. 

I admire Muhammed Ali for his indurance of fighting against Parkinson until the very end, having been such a powerful and strong athlete. He became ill same age as me. 

Sistas 'n Ipa

Rio de Janeiro, January 2018

My sister Guggi is a tough cookie. She is back at work in the consulate running a strict schedule to keep up with life as a single mom of twin boys. She spends quite a bitof time cooking organic food for the boys. The freezer is full of daily portions in tupperware. And they eat a hell alot of those. My role consists in taking over the feeding at night shift  and washing them in the morning from top to bottom as the organic food comes out in masses again.

Every other weekend they spend at their father's so she has time to skate or run on the copacabana promenade, clean the house and wash tons of baby clothes. We like laying on the gay section at Ipanema beach to chill out peacefully and watch the scenery around us. 

If boys in bed we rock the house listening to german 80ties or 90ties Hop Hop music in the patio of the 17 store building. Sometimes the sound of bullet shots are mixed within as the next uphill path to one of the Favelas is not too far away.

Started to learn my fifth language, portuguese, as scared of loosing my mind. Demetia is a common secondary disease of Parkinson. 

Strange Days on Lanzarote

December 2017

It is the first week of december as i walk through the rough and silent Volcano landscape. I had been taken up in the air on a tandem paraglide flight and decided to learn how to fly, accepting this as the compensation to what i have lost. Can't run long distance anymore as Mr P is being more and more present. Left side of my body is slower and makes the right side work harder. That disbalance fucks me up when running. Pity, as i ran since teenager times all over the world.

Surfing is great here in Famara. But i am a slow learner and whenever the waves get bigger i cant catch a single one but gasp for air after being drowned in the waves like in a washing machine. I am too old for fast progress.