Lux Log

Back At It...ROUND 2: Lux Europe

2009-08-01T15:34:00.000-07:00

Back at it.

Europe Aug 1-30, 2009: 1 mo, 9 lux cities

1. Glasgow Aug 3-7
2. Liverpool and/or Manchester Aug 7-9
3. Brussels Aug 12-14
4. Amsterdam Aug 14-17
5. Cologne/Ruhr Valley (Germany) Aug 17-20
6. Milan Aug 20- 22
7. Naples Aug 22-25
8. Rome Aug 25-27
9. Barcelona Aug 27-30

Made it to London today and spent a nice day with buddy James Moed in his neighbourhood, London Fields, hanging at a pub and touring his adorable farmers' market (with a stop at the home made ice cream stand and the candy store for some fizzy pineapple candies). Though my head is still floating around a bit in the remote seas of Alaska (where I was traveling recently for 2.5 weeks) I am reminded how I do love England and that the skills to navigate a city are still well in my blood. Off to get some rest and then on to Glasgow come Monday to get this set under way. 9 more cities. 9 closer to Lux in monograph form...

Lux: LINKS

2007-01-07T13:28:00.000-08:00

While figuring out how I ended up having connections in almost every one of the many cities I've visited these last few months I realized that most of my closest friends (plus my new buddy Nobu) are doing amazing things. Every one of them has been incredibly supportive, so in kind I've giving them seriously deserved press. Listed below and on the side bar you will find links to:

Gayle Brooker Photography: www.gaylebrooker.com

Neeta Madahar: Julie Saul Gallery

Saturate Design: Saturate Design

The Curiosity Shoppe The Curiosity Shoppe

Nobuyuki Tachibnana: Nobuyuki Tachibnana

Ethan Murrow: big paper airplane

Mike Seely: Open Signal

Doug McGray: www.douglasmcgray.com

Flingco: Fling

Noe Dewitt: Exposure Agency

Paulina Berczynski @ FluffyCo: FluffyCo

Amadeo Lasansky: Amadeo75

Peter Coffin: Andrew Kreps Gallery

Check em out.

Lux Japan: THANK YOUS

2007-01-07T12:28:00.000-08:00

I am amazed at the web of people I connected to around the world through so many generous folk. I want to thank everyone who helped me make this particular trip happen:

Steve Clark (no pict)for helpful ideas and advice pre-trip;

Kevin in Tokyo (above with G)

Mitsunori in Nagoya(above with G)

Bardwell Smith(no pict), for connecting me to Mike Flynn; Mike (no pict) for generously lending us your apartment!!!;

Alexis in Kyoto(above) for all assistance,

Gita in Kyoto(above with Alexis) for hanging out in a freezing mountaintop bathroom and taking an unexpected death-defying night hike down a Japanese double black diamond slope:

Ethan,(no pict) for connecting us with Nobu;

Nobu in Osaka(above with us), for being up for the adventure and for taking us all the way back to Kyoto on the late night;

Dai in Yokohama(above with studiomates + G) for scouting and hosting us in all our exhaustion;

and Mari, for so much help navigating around Tokyo, especially to Kiddieland (cool toystore in Tokyo).

Thanks to my family for all support

and biggest thanks of all to Gayle for coming along and for much patience and help.

Lux Japan: FIN

2007-01-07T12:12:00.000-08:00

Post trip we stopped with my family in Berkeley for some time to battle the crazy jetlag. I had the chance to get all my negs developed right away and to my great relief EVERYTHING CAME OUT even all the shots I though I lost were okay if not great and I have good options for each city we visited. I have to say I have had some incredible luck and some invisible help all along with this project. I have much thanks. It's amazing to look at the accumlation of light in the negatives and see details of the land/cityscape that we could not see with our naked eye. The images will be posted on my website in the next few weeks (see sidebar for link).

I have to say Japan was the cleanest, most efficient country I have ever visited. The people are kind, respectful and generous with their time and any help they can offer and the trains and planes and subways are always on time and pleasant to ride on. The landscape is gorgeous and every tiny detail of life and culture is mindfully thought out, beautiful and packaged perfectly! For us visual folk it is heavenly! I recommend it to anyone.

Lux Japan: City #6 Yokohama

2007-01-07T12:03:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Yokohama via train, then train again, then met my close friend Noe’s best bud from RISD undergrad and fellow photographer Dai, and caught another train to a train to his studio where we were to stay for the night. Dai had nicely set up a spot for us and I repacked my equipment before we took off to the brainstormed locations.

The first Harbor view was lacking so we walked up the hill a bit to the old foreigner’s cemetery my Japanese literature and film Professor friend Steve Clark’s had suggested we try. It was a nice option. First we tried to see if I could sneak over the low lying wall and set up on a little sort of landing that looked out over the skyline but I got caught by a worker! Dai asked the worker nicely if it would be alright if I photographed and reflective of the politeness of the culture, Gayle and I were sure it was a green light only to find out that the graveyard worker actually said a firm no. Oh well. I walked down along the wall of the cemetery until the path curved down some steps and found another great option. I set up the view over and sort of in a set of bushes, carefully cropping out all headstones and crosses (as not to bring a whole other dialogue into the work), and let the shot run for an hour. In the meantime Dai was off scouting another nearby option, a park where we ended up doing a second shot. It was also set up on a hill where, once I had scaled the back fence I could set up my camera on a ledge. It was not quite as interesting visually as the first but it felt good to get at least one more shot in as an option. Of course there were vending machines nearby so we snacked and drank our vended drinks and talked about RISD related experiences through the fence. We made our way back to the studio and checked out what turned out to be an amazing family run organic restaurant where Dai ordered us all kinds of interesting options including whale skin, and pigs feet (yeah whoa, different) and some AMAZING sashimi and other more familiar and seriously good foods! We stayed up late talking to Dai’s nice studio mates(Dai as the translator) and crashed on an air mattress around 2am amazed we had finished Lux:Japan rounds!!

Lux Japan: City #5 Osaka

2007-01-07T10:00:00.000-08:00

Alexis met us to catch a train or two from Kyoto to Osaka where we got on the subway to meet our guide/helper Nobu. My talented painter friend Ethan became friends with Nobu, a jovial Japanese baseball-loving sculptor at Bemis, an artist residency out in Nebraska, and kindly connected us. About an hour and a half trip from our apartment later we arrived in the outskirts of Osaka close to Nobu’s studio space. He has access to his uncle’s land where he conceives and builds impressive giant playful metal sculptures. Nobu and his black lab Engine, met us at the station. Nobu impressed us immediately with his diligent determination to practice and improve his English. His tactic was to say everything out loud in Japanese first and then follow it with his English translation. Very successful and fascinating for us to hear both versions. (I had such a hard time wrapping my head around the language in Japan and mostly used the words for “excuse me” and “thank you” over and over again so was impressed with Nobu’s skills).

Our new artist friend seemed up for any adventure that was for the sake of art and though we sadly had to drop off Alexis to take a train home because she wasn’t feeling well, we ventured on to a mountain Nobu had described to me earlier over email. I had no idea what to expect but had described what I needed, so about 40 minutes later we arrived at the base of a park. We paid a fee, got a map, and wound our way up. One side of the mountain faces the city Nara and the other the sprawl of Osaka.

Our first Osaka-side-turn-out was perfect, another swath of Japan blanketed with light. I set up a shot with some of the hillside included and Gayle and I shared our usual picnic of Japanese snacks in the car with Nobu and Engine; fun times talking art, life and baseball. It began to sprinkle and for the last half hour I sat out with the camera in the cool quiet, sheltering the lens when short spells of light rain fell. Around midnight we packed up and figured out we had probably missed our last train. Our unbelievably kind new buddy insisted on giving us a ride all the way back to Kyoto. At 1am Nobu pulled away from the drive of our apartment toward Osaka. So appreciative of the ride home we gladly hit the hay.

(Check out Nobu’s website on the sidebar under link.The sculpture up top is his.
This is his pup Engine:)

Lux Japan: City #4 Kyoto

2007-01-07T09:38:00.000-08:00

SHOT 1

Through a professor of one of my favorite classes in college (also a recent colleague from teaching at Carleton) I was connected to another Carleton professor stationed in Kyoto for the fall semester. Because he had plans to be in Tokyo during our visit to Japan he asked if we would like to come to Kyoto while he was away and use his apartment. It happened to be the time of year EVERYONE (no really) visits Kyoto to see koyo the changing of the foliage. Hotels would be scarce so it was an serendipitous offer. Serious generosity! He also asked one of his students if she might be willing to help us for a small fee navigate the city and do a few shoots.

Alexis, a very nice Oberlin student met us in one of the more confusing train stations I’ve ever experienced and guided us to our new lodgings. After settling into the apartment we decided to head to Kiyomezu, the most beautiful temple I have ever visited. Unfortunately all those other tourists I mentioned above also decided that evening to visit Kiyomezu but upon arrival it was not surprising to see why. The temple is a series of buildings set along and down a hillside full of yellow, orange and red maples all lit from below and all of which overlook the city. A completely stunning scene ideal for contemplation if it weren’t for so many sharpened elbows.

I have to say as gorgeous as it was it was my basic nightmare for a shoot. Imagine trying to set up a tripod and a large camera in a herd of cattle. Pretty much. So after opting out of a spot on a wooden deck (which with all the cattle movement would end up blurring) we found a railing along a paved path where other folk were taking quick picts. I set up with Gayle on one side and Alexis on the other to keep people from potentially knocking the camera. Just before opening the shutter I did have one man literally put his entire 35mm camera with a flash in front on my camera and take a picture. Basically due to the chaotic situation all photographing etiquette seemed to be out the window. 40 mins into the shot an employee of the temple came over and told us there were no tripods allowed so I had to close the shutter early and pack up. Though relieved to get out of there I have to say my stress level was high! I had such a limited time and needed to get a something. We had plans to climb another mountain the next night for an alternate shot of Kyoto so at least a plan B was set in place.

We walked along the ridge near the temple and I found some Octiballs for dinner (what I named the balls of batter with onion and octopus in them covered with BBQ sauce I ate) while Alexis and Gayle went for the eggs and ham in batter made in a fish shaped waffle iron. Before giving up we walked through a lovely park in old town Kyoto, really one of the most beautiful areas I’ve seen anywhere. Exhausted and I will admit disappointed (but hopeful the shot would come out anyway) we found our way back to Mike’s apartment.

SHOT 2

Okay so mountain #3 in Japan. Luckily for my project they have a lot of them near major cities. We met up with Alexis in the afternoon at the Golden Temple (the entire temple is actually painted with gold leaf) and also met up with a friend’s friend at the train station at the bottom of the mountain. 4 up we headed to the tram station where we caught a tram half way up the slope to a ropeway that took us to the top, another good-looking ride (when are gondola rides not cool?). At the top it was a strange sort of scene with no clear view options, a bunch of radio towers and construction so since the halfway mark was high enough we took the ropeway back down. Alexis had once hiked up to this point and had remembered a viewpoint, which we found off to the left of the tram station. There a crescent moon was setting over a hilly view of the valley that cradles Kyoto.

Another COLD night and I had some trouble deciding how to frame the shot. In the end I included the slope of the mountain to the left and centered the setting moon. A long hour and half we spent in the tram bathroom to keep warm (the tram had closed down for the night but luckily there are vending machines EVERYWHERE in Japan. We’re talking at the top and middle of mountains AND they give you cold and HOT drink options.) We all got a bit caffeinated trying out the sweet milk teas and coffees in the machine while waiting and I distributed the usual lollipops and other snack rations we had brought. I have to say all were troopers in the cold bathroom on a mountain in Japan but I will say the team got in even more of a trooper mode for the hike down the mountain.

While all other mountains had had a somewhat easy going downward movement to the base, this baby was no joke. With a few flashlights and some cell phones used for light, equipment on my back and a lot of darkness we followed a badly marked and sketchy trail full of boulders and roots and a steep decline into the forest blanketing the bottom half of the mountain. I will say there was something exhilarating about adventuring to that degree in the dark at night but I am certain it was unnerving for the rest of the group who had much less invested in my work. We did make it down safely after about 2 hours of intense hiking (I grew up going to Yosemite every year so this was not girly stuff!)! All feeling accomplished and exhausted we all quickly found our respective ways homeward.

Lux Japan: City #3 Nagoya

2007-01-06T20:53:00.000-08:00

A few days in Sapporo and then we flew down to Nagoya to meet up with my father’s language teaching friend Mary’s husband Mitsunori, a friendly and very well spoken host for our stop in Nagoya. Upon arrival Gayle unfortunately had a serious battle with the airport sushi we’d eaten (though gorgeous and tasty) so it was a tough beginning. She managed to recover enough to head out that evening for the shoot. No seriously, full on trooper.

Mitsunori lives on the 11th floor of a 14 story building (Soon his wife and two boys will be joining him but in the meantime we got to benefit from the unused space). From the landing outside his apartment I could see a few hills poking out from the city and pointed towards one. He told me there was a small castle a top that we could probably walk up to. Since it looked like a perfect option for a closer view of Nagoya we set out for it in his car. After overriding the GPS directions that took us right past the castle on the hill we found our way to the parking lot and up a mostly paved, sloping, spiral pathway to the top. I am not one to get nervous but it was an incredibly creepy walk in the pitch dark, mostly due to the flock of cawing ravens diving into and rustling the treetops. As we were silently ascending with our flashlights Mitsunori asked if we had seen the Blair Witch Projects. That about sums it up. Creepy.

Once at the top we found a rebuilt traditional Japanese Castle all lit up but the options looked slim in comparison to the last two mountain top views. After accessing a few breaks in the trees I started to get really excited about one shot of city framed almost completely on all sides with trees (except for one small opening on the upper left). I set up the shot and Gayle used her new super cool 35mm digi to show me what the shot would generally look like. While passing the time I got out the traditional Chupa Chup lolipops for all and we asked Mitsunori about his upbringing. It turns out somewhere in his past he became an expert at making origami cranes so I whipped out some paper and we had a lesson.

3 cranes and 3 lollipops and a lot of trying to stay warm later the shot was done. We packed up and were off to a mall near the apartment for one of the best buffet dinners ever. As a curious eater it was heavenly though Gayle let me do most of the testing! WE LOVE JAPAN!

Lux Japan: City #2 Sapporo

2007-01-06T20:45:00.000-08:00

If you look at a map of Japan you can see that it is shaped like a dragon. Sapporo is a city on the northerly Island called Hakaido, the head of the dragon. After one of the easiest and most relaxing travel days I’ve ever had I realized how stressful flying in the US (and in most of the world) has become. Sapporo is around the same longitude as Canada so we were rightly prepared for some cold.

We had another mountain to climb for the Sapporo shot and luckily there is a serious slope just on the southwest edge of the city that offers the perfect sweeping view of a sprawling and brilliantly bright city. From our hotel we took the subway, to a bus, to the Ropeway (Gondola), that would take us up to the top. The ride up was gorgeous, as the sun had sunk below the horizon creating a pink backdrop behind the accumulating luminance of city lights. At the top once through an impressive souvenir shop (which we heavily patronized) and up a spiral staircase is a roof deck complete with speakers blasting cheesy soothing positive tunes to accentuate the view. I set up the camera in a far dark corner where few would frequent and let the shot run. The temperature had drastically dropped and Gayle and I, after about 20 mins and seriously frozen toes took turns going inside to warm up. After 40 mins my numb self accidentally tripped and gently bumped the camera. AAAARG! I stopped the shot in order to keep a ghost image from forming and stuck in another film holder. This meant another hour of the frozen roof deck. I really don’t think I have ever been as cold in my life even in Minnesota (only later to find that somehow in my jetlagged state I had not loaded the 2nd shot’s film holder. I spent the rest of the trip praying that the first shot was long enough!!) Post 2nd hour we warmed up at the mountain-top restaurant and ate our first western style meal along with a my favorite beer, Sapporo of course,looking over the city before heading down again to find our hotel and crash. Gayle is a frozen on top a mountain trooper!

Lux Japan: City #1 Tokyo

2007-01-06T20:28:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Tokyo at 4:30 in the afternoon following a surprisingly smooth and painless 11 hour flight and deliriously watched the sun go down on our hour bus ride into the city. With ipod tunes in our ears we watched Tokyo morph into the sea of lights it is known to be. We decided to splurge a bit for our few nights in Tokyo and stayed at a nice hotel and man was it worth it!! At my friend Doug’s adamant suggestion we struggled to stay awake until 10pm the first night to train our bodies toward the new schedule at which time we dissolved into our lush hotel pillows for some much needed rest (Thanks Doug! Very helpful!).

We took a day and a half to explore and get on track before embarking on the first shoot. Our first close up shot was from Ueno park where we met up with Gayle’s friends Laurie and Peter and I did a shot down a Times Square looking street.

Kevin (who we were connected to through Tri one of my brother’s best friends), joined us on our 2 hour trek on a web of about 5 trains to Mount Takao just outside of the Tokyo limits the next night where we were to find quite a view of the vast spread of the city and it’s burbs. Thanks to another new and fast friend Mari (who my good buddy Lauren Smith used to work with) we had all kinds of clear maps and directions (translated into English) to navigate our way to and from the mountain (Thanks Mari!!).

In Japan there are few problems with being in parks after dark and everywhere is seemingly safe and clean (I will say this was very impressive and comforting as a female carting around expensive equipment in the dark). So around 6pm we took the last tram up the mountain and found a building with a deck that offered the view I needed but it was unfortunately locked. A good thing the gate went up to about my waist, so since all I needed was a place to set up my camera I just scaled it and surveyed the possibilities. Kevin and Gayle handed over my equipment and I set up a 2-hour shot on the deck overlooking the sloping mountain and what can only be described as an ocean of manmade light with layers of hills poking up here and there. In the meantime since we had stopped at a convenience store on the way to the mountain (which in Japan is like heaven! Gayle and I lived in them)

we had many, many snacks including a few unusual Japanese specialties Kevin insisted we try; dried teeny salty whole fish (tastes like fishy salt, yes, an acquired taste), sour and salty dried strawberries, potato sticks (ummhmm) and some soju, a dangerously tasty vodka sort of alcohol made from barley (and sometimes sweet potatoes). After many snacks, learning how to count in Japanese, and finding out that Kevin is randomly one of my oldest friends, Amy’s cousin (tiny world craziness!!!) the shot was complete. I took down the equipment and since the tram was now closed down we found the path extremely helpful Mari had looked up for us, to follow down to the base of the mountain. Luckily it was a paved road and we were equipped with flashlights and warmth from the Soju. It was a fun and steep winding down in the dark past a few shrines and one fellow late nighter (This project makes me realize how much I love being outside at night!). Jet lag started setting in on the 2nd train back to our neighborhood so we sadly bid farewell to Kevin, thanked him and made our way back to our pillows in Shiba (our neighborhood). Shoot one complete!!

Lux: JAPAN

2007-01-01T14:18:00.000-08:00

So after a month or so of recovery from the Lux trip to Europe I embarked with my close buddy and housemate in Brooklyn, Gayle, to Japan to photograph 6 cites in 12 days.

Lux W Europe THANK YOUS

2006-10-13T12:31:00.000-07:00

This entry is solely dedicated to thanking everyone for all their help. A seriously appreciative THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!! to;

Neeta in Scotland (Roslyn in this pict),

Neeta and Andrew in Birmingham (at Lickie Hills),

Cristina, Fernando and Vicky in Madrid (and a serious extra thank you to Fernando for helping me get back on track after the airport theft!!!),

Min in Rome,

Helper/host Nat in Berlin,

Katie and her cousin Markus in Cologne,

helper/host Gerhard (at 11 and at the Movenpick) in Amsterdam,

Laura and her mom and her boyfriend in Liege, Belgium (with the new door),

Pascal in Brussels,

Mariette and Serge (at Sacre Coeur) in Paris,

Herve and Catherine Le Dret Meudon, France,

AND my UK family, Neeta and Paul in Hampstead Marshall, England EXTRA EXTRA THANKS!

Lastly to my lovely camera (I know I'm a dork)...

and thanks for checking in.

Lux: FIN

2006-10-13T11:09:00.000-07:00

Made it back to England and had the expected come down from Lux madness. A lot of quiet and sleeping and distracted time with Neeta and Paul. The first thing Neeta and I did upon my arrival in London was drop off "the box of potential" at the lab. This is what I had come to call the 4x5 film box that contained the accumulated 20 shots I had taken over the previous 3 weeks, basically my most precious posession. I came back into London a few days later from Hampstead Marshall where Neeta and Paul live to see some art and get back the negs.

Victory! Though I am now back in Brooklyn and still processing the images and on some deeper level am not sure how I feel I have to say I am one lucky soul. ALL the shots came out. Though Milan has some serious reflections from the lit up hotel window, I may edit it out as it is one of the smaller cities and less interesting. The rainy shot in Amsterdam that I was worried about, did reveal the reflections of the raindrops but is really beautiful. I won't be able to use it for the final series though I would like to use it for something and do have two other options for Amsterdam. Cologne is the only place I will have to reshoot. The trains passing over the bridge behind the shot I believe caused the camera to move and a ghost of the skyline is visible. Frustrating but considering all that could have stopped me from getting what I needed in all the cities I am thoroughly thankful and honestly amazed! It won't be too difficult to reshoot (I just have to get back there...)

Now I am on to planning for Lux Japan. I am off with my housemate and good friend Gayle on Nov 14-29th and will visit and photograph 6 cities: Tokyo, Yokohama, Sopporo, Osaka, Nagoya, and Kyoto. In the meantime I head to Chicago and the Twin Cities next week and in December will photograph Dallas, Houston and Pheonix. I will then have; Atlanta, Philly, DC, Detroit and Seattle left for the US(Seattle maybe in Dec?).

I will keep you updated! Thanks for checkin into Lux Europe and for all support.

christina

Lux W Europe # 12 Paris

2006-10-13T09:49:00.000-07:00

The final stop! I arrived in Paris and after settling into my hotel in District 11 (Paris is broken down into about 20 districts that spiral out from the center. 11 is to the East and North a bit) I contacted Mariette (who spent years 3-15 in Berkeley and the rest in France) and her boyfriend Serge (a native), who turned out to be yet another team of exceptional helpers who happened to coincidentally live in the same district! (PP?) After a great French dinner at their local spot we took off in their car to explore a few places from just outside the city. Serge had arrived with 4 or 5 maps and had generously spent some time thinking of places that might work. Over dinner he also found Panoramic Street in one of the northern suburbs which sounded promising so we decided to see what we would find. We found a street lined with houses not surprisingly blocking the panorama but we noticed a path at its end. Rain had spotted the afternoon and clouds blanketed the night sky with the threat of more drizzle. We ventured into the muddy shadows of the path where after 50 yards or so we found ourselves surrounded by vegetable gardens and on our right the namesake of our destination street with the Eiffel Tower sparkling in the middle of the view (No really actually sparkling. For 10 minutes at the end of every hour the Eiffel Tower actually does sparkle

We came prepared with umbrellas thanks to Mariette and used them for 20 mins of the 1-hour shot as a slight shower fell watering our happy vegetable neighbors. Another peaceful way to experience a city with the smell earth and growth surrounding. Mariette commented that we could almost be in the Berkeley Hills with the damp cool air and the smell of trees and dirt.

Mariette and Serge generously offered to help me out on a second shoot on night two in Paris this time from somewhere within the city. Our first stop was The Sacre Coeur, a Basilica at the top of one of the few hills in Paris. Another perfect location despite the loud drunk tourists, the guitar playing french youth, a few sketchy men in the shadows and in a few cars and a few flame throwing jugglers. Yes in was 11:30pm - 1 am on a Tuesday eve. I set up the shot at the top of the stairs just below the Basilica and was actually happy that the E Tower was not easy to get into the shot so excluded it (I have been avoiding including obvious landmarks in the shots as to keep the images a bit more mysterious and to emphasize the interchangeability of what this excessive light means). The half moon was moving across the sky and at the last minute I decided to take a risk and include in the upper right hand corner this fluffy branch of a nearby lit-up tree. Something about this tree got me more excited than I've been in a while shooting. Shot 2, Paris, fin.

My last night I had been invited to stay with friends friends in a suburb called Meudon, south of the city. Catherine and her husband Herve came to pick me up after sadly getting rear-ended by a Cameroonian Diplomat on the way... Meudon has an especially good authentic french restaurant that Catherine wanted me to experience so I happily stuffed myself silly with escargot, duck, cheese, wine and sorbet before heading out for the final shoot. First to a terrace overlooking the city, another perfect shot much closer to the Eiffel Tower and with trees cushioning the view from the sides. A COLD hour of waiting. LAST SHOT FIN!!!

Lux: W Europe # 11 Brussels

2006-10-07T15:39:00.000-07:00

After a night in Liege, a 1 hour train ride east of Brussels, with the kindest souls alive, my new friend Laura and her mother, I was shipped back to Brussels to a worthy contact Laura had found for me; her friend's, friend's cousin Pascal. A Young hippyish Belgian who works for the World Wildlife Foundation, met me at the train station and we ventured to his apartment in an old Belgian style neighborhood in the northern part of the city via tram to drop off my stuff. Happy to explore another city by bike Pascal lent me his extra with some sketchy brakes and we took off to try to find some of Brussels' famous fries and a good view. Post fries and a Belgian pint we found ourselves overlooking another (well for me another) lighting storm contained in heavy clouds off in the distance just as the sun was going down. Truly beautiful.

On to another location luckily with no rain and an interesting view of a newish 20 story building with only one light on, a cathedral all lit up and the Atomium, a futuristic structure builit for the 1958 world's fair designed to look like an atom, in the background. Lighting flashed periodically throughout the windy 1 hour shoot (not sure how it will record or if it will be distictly visible at all?)Spent the whole hour holding this gorgeous pink/tan old umbrella Pascal had found discarded in his hood a few weeks earlier to block most of the wind from rattling the camera. Felt like a real lady. A really cold and struggling lady...
Got one shot...
on to Paris!! Last stop!!!

Lux: W Europe # 10 Amsterdam

2006-10-07T15:35:00.000-07:00

Arrived in Amsterdam exhausted, hungry, solo and with lots of work to do which made for a strange first experience of the city I had heard so much about, an experience that changed once I met up with my host Gerhard and had the chance to explore the city via bike! By far the best best way to experience that place! Got three shots in Amsterdam. Gerhard was on it. He had made arrangements at this crazy cool restaurant called 11, which was at the top of the old post office building, soon to be torn down. We entered through a construction site and then through a series of psychedelic (surprising) seriously good looking graffitied hallways to the elevator and ended up in this trendy open spaced restaurant/club with huge video screens above the windows with perfect wide sweeping views of all of Amsterdam. Anna, the manager was really nice and let us up onto the roof terrace where I could setup and leave my camera while we ate. Took shot one out over a few canals onto some funky looking blue lights coming from some kind of club. Not sure but expect it will come out in an unusual way. Shot one!
The next day after a slow start I checked out the museum of photography, Foam (that is definitely a place I would love to show) and met up with Gerhard again for round 2. Went to Osaka, a 20 story 5 star hotel with a bar at the top. They also very generously had no problem with my using their teeny tiny balcony next to the bar. They let me out onto another great view of Amsterdam and I set up with the half moon rising in orange in the shot and let the exposure run while we had drinks next to a distinguished white haired man who turned out to be the x-prime minister of the Netherlands. Heeeey!
On to shot 3 at Movenpick, a swank new swiss hotel in a newly developed area along the river. They were a little less sure what to do with me and my need to borrow a room for a few hours to shoot but the manager was very nice and I gave her my website etc and she offered a room on the 12th floor overlooking old Amsterdam and the train station (the Dutch really are very nice) the one view I really wanted to get! We had the best luck because once I had set up the camera a major thunderstorm hit and the most incredible lighting display began and persisted through most of the hour exposure. Absolutely beautiful overlooking the river and Amsterdam and so lucky not to be on our bikes anymore! The only potential problem was the rain building up on the window and all the light reflecting off of it. We shall see when I get the negs back... Amsterdam rocked! Too little time and a great city!

Lux W Europe # 9 Cologne

2006-10-03T05:10:00.000-07:00

Love the train! Arrived in Cologne and taxied to the Hotel where I had plans to meet my good friend Katie (who is living in Germany for 6 months) and found her with her aunt Crista and cousin's wife Miriam in the lobby! After a mellow afternoon, Katie and I took the tram to her cousins' who coincidentally live up the road from our hotel. Had the best meal prepared by Miriam who studied cooking in Italy before heading off with Katie's cousin Markus to scout out their friend's roof and the 5 bridges over the River Rhein (luckily via car). The roof was a bit too low and after checking bridges on each end of the city I opted for the park beside the southern most train bridge. A great and different view from the rest with the slivery river moving into the shot and a sky line that includes a good looking suspension bridge all lit up and the famous Dom. An hour shot and lucky for no rain. PP strikes again! Thankful for Markus and Katie's generous help! A good time!

Night two, Katie and I asked for the 10th time if we might be able to use a room on the top floor of our hotel for a few hours to shoot and if ever hotel staff wanted to feed into the German stereotype for rudeness these guys were on it. After some negotiating in German (Katie is fluent) and English we progressed from access for 10 mins to 30. Enough to get something on the film and to strategize. After setting up speedily on the 12th floor I asked Katie if she would go down and give the head staff rude dude my postcard, explain I am an artist from New York, and ask for half an hour more. Katie rocked the acting skills and went down as my assistant offering my card as a gift and implied I was basically famous. She got me the half hour!! When I was finished I went down to thank them and ask about a taxi in the morning and the guy was an entirely different person, gushingly nice. So funny! 2 shots of Cologne!!

Next to Amsterdam...

Lux W Europe #8 Berlin

2006-10-01T03:50:00.000-07:00

Made it to Berlin after a bag scare at the Rome airport (I found everyone outside when I arrived). No big deal just a chaotic start. Relieved to get to Germany and back to friends etc. So completely amazed by the changes to Berlin since I was there 20 years ago. Though I was only 10 I remember everything vividly. It is such a vibrant and bright city now! An impressive evolution. So on night 1 of 3 my host and brother's good friend Nat helped me scout out a potential hill to shoot from close to his nieghborhood. We treked to the park and wound our way up and up in total darkness along a cobblestone wooded path to find only a view of the tree tops and stars at the top. Not the worst way to be dissapointed. Plan B, Nat called a photographer friend and we got the skizzy on a roof we could access that belonged to a nearby apartment building. We found our way up and into a sort of attic with the remenant belongings of residents past and present, including objects that could easily create an intriguing narrative about life in East Berlin before the wall came down. Facinating and a little creepy. We did find the trap door to the roof but had no way to get up there. We brainstormed but to no avail. Since I had a few more nights and had a balcony lined up to shoot from, we decided to call it night for scouting. Night two I found out I could not use the balcony of my friend's cousins since they were out of town. But from research on Google via Images Nat and I figured out that a somewhat high natural point did in fact exist in flat Berlin in Viktoria Park south of the city. We U-Bahned our way southward, I then bought some lolipops for some sugar energy, Nat bought some beers and we found our way up to Kreuzberg (cross hill). Mini victory! There existed something I could work with. A lot of trees but true to the city terrain our vantage point was low. Postdamerplatz, a main square that was once a sprawling stark concrete plaza just on the east side of the wall, is now a built up area with a glittering tent looking structure and tall buildings that, peeked out from a clearing and lit up the sky in streaks. More trees and another clearing to the right offered a view down a street heading into the city. I let the exposure run long and hope for a dark dark silloutte of trees in front with a bright bright sky behind. We shall see...

Day 3, I called the Park Inn, the tallest hotel in Berlin, to see if I might be able to shoot from one of their upper floors but no luck. I also emailed a few NY friends with ties to Berlin last minute to see if they had any ideas. After a long but great day touring nearby Postdam with one of my mom's oldest and best friends, Horst, and after a tasty dinner with a German curator and his wife whom I had met at a Museum in May outside New York, I was unbelievably wiped out. Sadly I got back to Nat's to find 2 friends of one of the folks I had emailed had offered me their roof and balcony. Mad at myself for not finding a way to check email sooner it was just too late. Vowed to stay on top of things no matter how tired I got... Left Berlin with one shot. Seriously wiped out but wishing I had more time. Loved the city! Must return.

Lux W Europe #7 Rome

2006-09-22T09:50:00.000-07:00

Oh my god ROME! This place is crazy amazing. I'm sure for anyone that has been here you know what I mean but to explain further, down every cobble stoned alley you turn a corner and there is some monumentally unbelievable ancient structure. Trevi Fountain is not far from where I am staying and I cannot get over it. I am dumbfounded by this place at every turn and what a great city to wander through alone or with company...

I was a bit worried upon arrival that I would just not be able to figure out a way to shoot here. Mining my resources I met with Ezio Genovesi, a professor I had been emailing, who teaches part of the RISD Junior Year Honors Program in Rome, and Jan Baker, another faculty, who both offered some great suggestions including contacting the American Academy here (who apparently have an incredible view). No go with the Academy who needed more time to get me permission to access the building but further luck (Pink P?) offered me some help and I connected with my brother friends', Lila and Paulo's, friend Min. The generous and helpful native New Yorker, who recently moved to Rome to start a program in Industrial Design, was up for the random adventures my unique situation prompts. So we ate some great Italian food at a restaurant called "the Morgue" apparently because the tables are made of marble slabs, and then told a confused taxi driver to take us up to Gianicolo Hill, a beautiful park that looks out over the city. We found an empty slot on the Piazzle Girabaldi between many Italian lovers and took a foggy shot of Rome. Not sure how it will come out but have good hopes for it...Bed at 3am.
Covered the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps, the Vatican and Sistine Chapel today. Not enough time. Fly to Berlin tomorrow.

Lux W Europe # 6 Milan

2006-09-20T12:39:00.000-07:00

My arrival in Milan was a sharp contrast to the recent experience in Madrid. No cutoms and my bags were the first to spit out both intact and untouched. Must be the Pink Panther. On to a taxi straight to my 17 story hotel the Michelangelo. Arrived late at night and was booked into a room on the 14th floor. Unfortunately it looked out onto the dark side of the city. No, I'm serious, really dark... made me wonder how Milan had made the map...
Snuck around the hotel looking for possible alternate spots to set up and found a large outdoor metal fire escape\ staircase climbing the height of the building. It still only looked out over dark Milan. Standing out on the metal balcony on floor 17 a sideways drizzle started and I decided to call it a night. 12am. The next day I asked to change rooms and was placed in the perfect spot on the front corner of the 16th floor which offered 2 different views of downtown. One especially nice, looked out over the impressive train station and a giant piazza with Milan spread behind. After a run in the park and a lazy day recovering from Madrid, I stayed up until 2am trying 2 hour exposures for each of two shots to see if I can push the scenes a little. We'll see. Nervous to experiment but better to overexpose than under... [a photo chant]

BREAK: Off to Cinque Terre for 2 days on the coast between Genoa and Rome to relax.Then back to work. Rome next.

Lux:W Europe #5 Madrid

2006-09-17T12:10:00.000-07:00

Arrived at Madrid Airport at 4:20 to see my camera bag floating around the baggage claim belt. Off to get a trolley and it dissapeared. 2 hours later I finally convinced an unhelpful airline employee to look outside. He found it. My lenses and tripod and flimholders had all been stolen by someone working at the airport. Not a good start to the mainland journey. The following day my parents' friend Fernando, the kindest man alive, help me find replacements for the stolen items at the only place in Madrid that carries large format equipment. The only lens board that Juan Luiz, the large format expert at the store, could find that would fit my new lens has a small sticker in the lower right hand corner of a sleepy pink panther in his pajamas holding a candle. A strange added emblem for something usually owned by serious folk but the PP is the perfect mascot for the rest of my project as I am always in the dark and eventually exhausted. Hoping he will bring me better luck... From the camera store Fernando and I headed off to find a place to shoot. After a lot of brainstorming we decided to first try a park near Fernando and his wife Cristina's apartment and it turned out to be absolutely perfect!! The PP prevails! A few hours later I set up a shot on the top of a hill overlooking all of the city with good company; Fernando, Cristina and Vicky (a childhood friend of my good friend Yolanda, both natives of Madrid). Got myself two good shots with perfect cloudy weather. Could not have asked for more good luck inside the bad... on to Milan.

Lux: W Europe # 4 Birmingham

2006-09-12T17:09:00.000-07:00

Up at 9 and ready for the 5 hour drive back down to the middle of England to get to Coventry early enough to have dinner with one of my mom's oldest friends and her husband and daughter and to make plans for photographing nearby Birmingham. Proud to say I drove most of the way, my brain managing to flip everything around successfully. Two things might have helped my ability to switch to the English side of the road; my being a lefty and looking at the world upsidedown and backwards all the time through my camera... Mid-dinner at the Adams' a serious thunderstorm arrived breaking a few weeks of warmth the brits have been baffled by. A relief from the heat but another bout of interesting timing for my shooting schedule...Rain hammered and poured off the greenhouse roof that extended out from the house in a series of relentless shoots. I just gave into the idea that this was a city I might have to redo at the end of the trip or next summer... I had plans for us to meet a contact I'd made through my friend Anna in Southwest Birmingham at sunset (8pm). Hoping the rain might stop Neeta and I decided to just head over. I called our new friend Andrew who was 30 min away and he said not a drop of rain was falling where he was in Birmingham which seemed so strange. Low and behold 10 mins before arriving at his house the rain was no longer pounding on our windshield! A very nice and generous Andrew jumped in the car and guided us to an overlook called Lickey Hills which offered a view of the sprawl of Birmingham. Not spectacular but definitely workable. There were quite a few sketchy groups about but we set up the cameras on this funny castle structure in the middle of the hill which allowed for a slightly higher viewpoint.

Again I set up a 2 hour exposure which had a few showers squeezed into it during which we all took turns holding large umbrellas over the cameras. To get the chills out of our bones around hour 1:30 we ran around the ''castle'' in circles to keep warm. A wet but nice night on a dark green hill with good company and the silhouette of flying bats set against the orange glow of the city. A nearly full moon peaked in and out of the rain clouds, too high to be in the shots but as always welcomed company. Shoot 4 done. Recover at Neeta's in Hamstead Marshall and on to Madrid wed...

Lux: W Europe # 3 Edinburgh

2006-09-12T16:29:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite cities of all, Edinburgh, is a stark contrast to the industrial aesthetic of Glasgow. It's castle is nestled a top a hill right in the middle of the city centre. Gorgeous Georgian architecture surrounds and nearby in Hollyrood Park stands Arthur's Seat, a tilt of a peak that over looks the city. After spending an unseasonably warm afternoon for a Scottish September walking along the Royal Mile, Neeta and I began scouting for our second UK shoot well before it was dark. We were determined to get some sleep. Via car at the end of the Royal Mile we followed the 5 mile loop around Holyrood park until we found a smaller one-way road weaving upward toward the Seat. After circling around the back of the park the road brought us back out toward a city view of spires, old buildings and the castle on the left and Athur's Seat on the right. There was no way I was going to find a better interplay of land and city for this shot. Relieved and happy to have found it so early we decided to take another lap around the park and just see what else was around. Within the 5 minutes we had made the loop back to the gate to our smaller one-way road, some how, unbelievably a fire had started and the gate was closed. Yes, A FIRE HAD STARTED. What are the chances? We had no way back to our spot...another pitfall. Luckily Neeta stayed calm and though I admitted I might lose my mind we brainstormed for a solution; we could either hike up the mountainous hill with all our equipment OR we could park by the exit gate to the road, wait until dark and drive up the wrong way to our lookout. We opted for the second. Around 8:00 we drove Neeta's Rav4 over a little curb past the gate and braved the one-way backward to our point. Luckily the park is open all night to the public which meant we could both shoot without a problem and but also that we were going to have some visitors. I set up the two cameras on an embankment sloping down from the road for another 2 hour exposure. So far UK cities are much dimmer than the US cities I've gotten used to shooting. The 2 hours should allow for some overexposure but this is a safer bet for getting enough information on my neg. It was a nice dry night with low clouds (which I like because they reflect the light I'm trying to record). Our only tense moment came when a jovial group walked by. Seeing the cameras one girl got curious and was about to climb down to see what they were. Both Neeta and I scared the hell out of her jumping out of the car yelling ''NO!!!'' A quick explanation curbed her curiosity and we all chatted a bit and laughed it off. Relieved for sleep we headed back to our B and B around midnight. No dew this time! Shoot 3, fin.

Lux: W Europe # 2 Glasgow

2006-09-12T15:25:00.000-07:00

A long lovely drive brought Neeta and I up to Glasgow, Scotland, from the small heavenly village, Hamstead Marshall, Neeta inhabits with her similarly helpful and generous husband Paul. A tired team, we ventured up into the Campsie Fells North of Glasgow, as seen here,

to scout out a spot for the first shoot. Having stayed too long in the fine company of our hosts for the night (family friends) it was already dark when we began. This both had it's advantages and disadvantages for reading the land and finding a good place to shoot. Finally, weary and a bit frustrated we stumbled upon a location. Cradled between sloping hills we found the west side of Glasgow spread before us with electric towers running their lines across the hills in front. I decided on a 2 hour exposure for the dim orange light of this industrial Scottish city starting at 11:30 and ending at 1:30am. In the weeds on the side of a surprisingly busy road for a Sunday night I set up my camera and Neeta's (which she lent to offer a second shot). Side by side they soaked up the light while we camped out in the car fading in and out of fitful naps in the cold damp night. At 1:15 I decided to cut the shot a little short and came to find dew had formed on both the lenses. Not good...I'll only know once the negatives are processed if they will be usable. A frustrating first night but who said it was going to be easy or fluid....A test I decided. A reminder I am not in charge... I have to work with and take what I can get. On to Edinburgh.

Lux

2006-09-04T15:30:00.000-07:00

So the travels begin... Western Europe: 11 cities in 34 days.

Last July, late into two summer nights and in one case well into the early morning, Lux was spawned on the London balcony and roof of two generous and curious friends of the great facilitator Neeta (http://www.purdyhicks.com/nm_images_1.htm) (The above image is from fellow photographer Stephen Gill's (www.stephengill.co.uk) studio roof).

Because London was technically the first shoot of the Western Europe segment, I begin with Glasgow, shoot #2...