December 15, 2009

Poetry


December 2009, Patissia, Athens

Οι συλληφθέντες θα παραπέμπονται στην αστυνομία.

Wall


December 2009, Exarcheia, Athens

So don't tell me what to write
and don't tell me that I'm wrong
and don't tell me not to reference
my songs within my songs

~ Dresden Dolls, "Backstabber"

Switchblades preferred


December 2009, Exarcheia, Athens

Angel looks down at him
and says, "Oh, pretty boy,
can't you show me nothing but surrender?"

~ Patti Smith, "Land"

December 5, 2009

Ola lathos


December 2009, Iris, Athens

A lesson in common mistakes: burned, blurred, grainy AND out of focus. I'm so proud... Oh, and is that lens flare? Yes, I think we covered everything.

December 4, 2009

Right behind you, I see the millions


December 2009, Patissia, Athens

You can't see nothing,
and pinball completes the scene.
Here comes Uncle Ernie to guide you to
your very own machine.

~ The Who, "We're not gonna take it"

Quadrophenia


December 2009, Patissia, Athens

I can't sleep and I lay and I think
The night is hot and black as ink
Oh God, I need a drink
of cool cool rain

~ The Who, "Love, reign o'er me"

Ghostwalk


December 2009, Patissia, Athens

Imagine a past
That you wish you had lived
Full of heroes and villains and fools
And you will see the end

Imagine a soul
So old it it is broken
And you know your invention is you
And you will see the end

~ The Who, "Imagine a man"

Tommy can you hear me


December 2009, Patissia, Athens

Do you hear or fear or
do I smash the mirror?

~ The Who, "Smash the mirror"

November 29, 2009

I can see for miles


November 2009, Attiki, Athens

I've always said that street photography is simply not my style. Not that I don't like it, of course. Hell, I can spend hours looking at other people's street photos with nothing short of a pervert's glee. But I don't like my privacy being invaded by a stranger's camera, and I don't like invading the privacy of strangers with mine. The fact that lately, hesitantly, this is exactly what I've been doing means one thing: Expect some crappy photos. This is utterly new to me.

Nouvelle Vague


November 2009, Nouvelle Vague @ Gagarin 205, Athens

I got 96 tears
and 96 eyes

~ The Cramps, "Human Fly"

The future is unwritten


2009

November 20, 2009

Sachs IV


November 2009, Patissia, Athens



“What care I for my house and home
or even my wee baby?
What care I for my own true love
for I love the Gypsy Davey.”

~ Fotheringay, "Gypsy Davey"

Sachs III


November 2009, Patissia, Athens

“How could you leave your goose feather bed
your blankets strewn so comely-o?
And how could you leave your newly wedded Lord
all for a raggle taggle gypsy-o?”

“What care I for my goose feather bed
wi' blankets strewn so comely-o?
Tonight I lie in a wide open field
in the arms of a raggle taggle gypsy-o”

~ The Waterboys, "The raggle taggle gypsy"

Sachs II


November 2009, Patissia, Athens

Meanwhile, cropping remains the most frustrating thing I've ever had to deal with. I just can't get it right. I'm guessing this is because it involves conscious decision making. The horror...


"Go saddle me my black mare,
the grey is ne'er so speedy.
And I'll ride all night and I'll ride all day
till I overtake my lady.''

~ Fotheringay, "Gypsy Davey"


Sachs I


November 2009, Patissia, Athens

Gypsy laddie come riding through the wilderness
Singing so loud and merry-o
His voice rang out through the green green trees
And he charmed the heart of a maiden-o

"How old are you, my pretty little miss
How old are you, my honey-o?"
She answered him with a tee-ha-ha
"I'll be sixteen next Sunday-o"

~ Elvis Perkins, "Gypsy Davey"


November 17, 2009

Hey Ho


2009

What can you do?
With a brat like that
Always on your back
What can you lose?

~ The Ramones, "Beat on the brat"

P.S. Apparently, you can lose the brat.

Brain kids


November 2009, Iris, Athens

I smoke two joints in time of peace
and two in time of war
I smoke two joints
before I smoke two joints
and then I smoke two more

~ Sublime, "Smoke two joints"

Csillagok


November 2009, Athens Concert Hall

November 16, 2009

And the drugs won't kill your day job


November 2009, Iera Odos & Kifissos Ave., Athens

Give the finger to the rock 'n' roll singer
as he's dancing upon your paycheck
The sales climb high through the garbage pail sky
like a giant dildo crushing the sun

~ Beck, "Pay no mind"

November 14, 2009

The ecstasy of gold


October 2009, Drakopoulo, Athens

No matter where I put my head,
I'll wake up feeling sound again.
Breathe. It's all you can.
Tomorrow smells of less decay,
the flowers greet this blooming fray,
be thankful. That's all you can.

~ Flogging Molly, "Float"

November 10, 2009

Eyrie


November 2009, Patissia, Athens

Σιγά μην κλάψω
Σιγά μη φοβηθώ

~ Γιάννης Αγγελάκας & Οι Επισκέπτες

....
8 seconds exposure with tripod this time. Not a very good tripod, mind you, just my old one. The mechanical parts can't keep the camera completely steady for so long, and it doesn't allow for a vertical position - which I wanted very much here. It's not perfect, but it was the best I could manage for an interior scene in the middle of the night: the only light source was the light from the computer screen. Especially since I decided that ISO-400 and higher doesn't satisfy me any more, and I'll stick to ISO-200 and lower from now on, unless completely necessary.

Or desirable? Sometimes grain is cool, right? Grain, yes. Noise, no. This is noise and, unlike a couple of months ago, it now annoys me to no end. It horrifies me to say it, but... I think I need a better camera. Crap.

November 7, 2009

Toys


November 2009, downtown, Athens

Happiness is a prison, Evey. Happiness is the most insidious prison of all.
~ Alan Moore, "V for Vendetta"

Injured part


November 2009, Patissia, Athens

The injured part is in my bed
and someone said they shouldn't touch me.
Can the surgeon cut it from my head?
If I couldn't hope, you wouldn't trust me.

Don't want to wake up far away
to hear them say "we found him".
Would I see there's more to me
than the shape I walk around in?

~ Edgar Broughton Band, "Hotel Room"

Muddy water IV


November 2009, Thission, Athens

The road is gone, there's just one way to leave here
Turn my back on what I've left below
Shifting lands and broken farms around me
Muddy water's changing all I know

~ The Seldom Scene, "Muddy water"

Muddy water III


November 2009, Thission, Athens

Mary, take the child, the river's rising
Muddy water taking back my home

~ The Seldom Scene, "Muddy water"

Muddy water II

November 2009, Thission, Athens

Things to say, you just can't take em with you
This flood will swallow all you leave behind

~ The Seldom Scene, "Muddy water"

Muddy water I


November 2009, Thission, Athens

Mary, grab the baby, the river's rising
Muddy water's taking back the land
The old-frame house, she can't take one more beating
Ain't no use to stay and make a stand

~ The Seldom Scene, "Muddy water"

For a minute there, I lost myself


November 2009, Thission, Athens

This is what you get
when you mess with us

~ Radiohead, "Karma police"

Witchcraft


November 2009, Thission, Athens

robs the rich
robs the rest
brings it all back home

~ Fairport Convention, "It's alright ma, it's only witchcraft"

Romilar D


November 2009, Thission, Athens

It's time we started to take photography seriously and treat it as a hobby.
~ Elliott Erwitt

October 31, 2009

Fags III : Immerse your soul in love


October 2009, Patissia, Athens

Cracked eggs, dead birds
Scream as they fight for life
I can feel death
Can see its beady eyes

All these things into position
All these things we'll one day swallow whole
And fade out again

~ Radiohead, "Street spirit (Fade out)"

Fags II


October 2009, Patissia, Athens

This machine will not communicate
These thoughts and the strain I am under
Be a world child, form a circle
Before we all go under
And fade out again

~ Radiohead, "Street spirit (Fade out)"

Fags I


October 2009, Patissia, Athens

Rows of houses, all bearing down on me
I can feel their blue hands touching me
All these things into position
All these things we'll one day swallow whole
And fade out again

~ Radiohead, "Street Spirit (Fade out)"

October 25, 2009

Gaze


October 2009, Monastiraki, Athens

September 14, 2009

Early in the morning


September 2009, Athens

OK, this is ridiculous. ISO 400, and it looks like it went through the Impressionist filter. I knew that the LX3 has certain... issues in rendering low-contrast details, like hair. But clouds? How? Why?

September 12, 2009

Huh


2009

Still learning. I discovered that Exposure Compensation can work like setting the "wrong" ISO with a film camera. A technique I've rarely used (the Minolta detected ISO automatically and wouldn't let you mess with it, but the glorious Zenit would), and I'm only now beginning to grasp. Basically, if you know your camera's behaviour, with this little thing and Aperture/Speed Priority Mode or even Program Mode (having set your film mode and ISO of choice), you get the equivalent of full manual control - only much faster.

Of course, there are still scenes that need you to choose every single setting to get them right. I find that these scenes are becoming fewer and fewer. And I see nothing wrong with that. I'm still in control, only with a different method.

Also, I've learnt a couple of things about digital cameras in general. (Still a newb, you know.) The LX3's sensor is lacking, and that's the main reason why the noise of ISO-800 and higher can hurt my eyes. But that was almost inevitable unless I went for a proper DSLR - which was out of the question due to size. There is, in fact, a small camera which offers manual control and a DSLR's sensor (and therefore image quality) : the Sigma DP1. Unfortunately, since it's still a compact camera, I would be saddled with a 28mm F4 lens, very unsatisfying in comparison with the F2.0 Leica here.

So, though I didn't have all the data at the time, I still believe I bought the best camera for my needs. I like shooting with wide open aperture. An impromptu statistical analysis of the pictures I've uploaded here shows that 5 out of 7 have less than F4. These are the pictures I like to shoot. And I'd gladly keep that, even in exchange for a reduced quality. :)

September 6, 2009

Spear


September 2009, Patissia, Athens

If I conduct myself
with precision and grace
do I stand half a chance
of leaving this place?

~ The Astronauts, "Latin and Greek"

Who goes where


September 2009, Patissia, Athens

It's a shame
We could have gone sailing

~ The Killers, "Tranquilize"

A million miles high


August 2009, Patissia, Athens

Exodus, escape
or was it just for me to see

~ Edgar Broughton Band, "Evening over rooftops"

The Omen II


August 2009, Plaka, Athens

In the shadowplay
acting out your own death
knowing no more

~ Joy Division, "Shadowplay"

The Omen I


August 2009, Plaka, Athens

To the centre of the city
where all roads meet
waiting for you

~ Joy Division, "Shadowplay"

Upstairs


August 2009, Patissia, Athens

Go on and wring my neck
like when a rag gets wet
A little discipline

for my pet genius

~ Faith No More, "Midlife Crisis"

The walls have eyes


August 2009, Exarcheia, Athens

Fray


August 2009, Exarcheia, Athens

It's into the shame and it's into the guilt
and it's into the fucking fray
and the walls ran red around me
a warm arterial spray

~ Nick Cave, "Papa won't leave you, Henry"

August 11, 2009

Fuck off, human


July 2008, Hydra

That stuff inside your houses
And that stuff behind your eyes
Well it all ends up as stuff that you can buy

~ Chumbawamba, "On eBay"

The great undead


July 2009, Patissia, Athens

Oh my darling
will you be here
before I sputter out

~ Eels, "Novocaine for the soul"

August 4, 2009

Sink


August 2009, Souda

"Oh quarter, oh quarter"
Those pirates they did cry
- Blow high, blow low, and so sail we -
But the quarter that we gave them
Was we sank 'em in the sea

~ Traditional, "High Barbary"

Star


August 2009, Loutraki