life's snapshots

The last days I've struggled, with all my power, not to fall in the despair that surrounds me. Regardless of what happens in the world, in your country, with your government, at work, on the way home, I've realized that one has the choice to be thankful and to try to make the best of his life or... not. Don't mistake this kind of attitude with naivety, futility or ignorance. It has nothing to do with that.

"Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is beauty, admire it. Life is bliss, taste it. Life is a dream, realize it. Life is a challenge, meet it. Life is a duty, complete it. Life is a game, play it. Life is a promise, fulfill it. Life is sorrow, overcome it. Life is a song, sing it. Life is a struggle, accept it. Life is a tragedy, confront it. Life is an adventure, dare it. Life is luck, make it. Life is too precious, do not destroy it. Life is life, fight for it." - Mother Teresa

the parisians

“Every city has a sex and age which have nothing to do with demography. Rome is feminine. So is Odessa. London is a teenager, an urchin, and, in this, hasn’t changed since the time of Dickens. Paris, I believe, is a man in his twenties in love with an older woman” – John Berger, English Painter

What’s the conexion with the image? None in particular. I just like the quote. Those of you who have been to Paris might understand it better. Or, on the other hand, maybe it’s just me..

the most sought after solitude

"I owe my solitude to other people. "
Alan Watts [british philosopher and writer. 1915 - 1973]

sol-i-tude. spelled pronunciation sol-i-tood, -tyood
noun
• the state of being or living alone; seclusion.
• remoteness from habitations, as of a place; absence of human activity.
• a lonely, unfrequented place.

origin
Middle English, from Old French, from Latin sōlitūdō, from sōlus, alone; see s(w)e- in Indo-European roots.

synonyms:
1. retirement, privacy. solitude, isolation refer to a state of being or living alone. solitude emphasizes the quality of being or feeling lonely and deserted, while isolation may mean merely a detachment and separation from others. loneliness. 3. desert, wilderness.

please note that this is image is selected from the Solo Photo Book Month. you can find, watch and comment my SoFoBoMo project at http://www.sofobomo.org/2009/books/skinnydipping/AfterSun/

long gone summer days

“To me, photography is an art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place... I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.”
Elliott Erwitt [advertising and journalistic photographer. born in 1928 in paris]

please note that this is image is selected from the Solo Photo Book Month. you can find, watch and comment my SoFoBoMo project at http://www.sofobomo.org/2009/books/skinnydipping/AfterSun/

things that define us

this is the second image that I selected from the Solo Photo Book Month, that is still available for everyone to see and comment at http://www.sofobomo.org/2009/books/skinnydipping/AfterSun/

still, this time, I've chosen another processing, because my soul is duo toned this morning. beside that, my thought for this moment sounds like this..

“We must not allow other people's limited perceptions to define us”
Virginia Satir [american psychologist. 1916-1988]

music bath in plaine street

Nikon D80 | 1/50 seconds | f 5.3 | ISO 200 | 58 mm

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"An artist, in giving a concert, should not demand an entrance fee but should ask the public to pay, just before leaving as much as they like. From the sum he would be able to judge what the world thinks of him - and we would have fewer mediocre concerts."

Kit Coleman [born Catherine Ferguson. Canada's Pioneer Woman Journalist. 1864 - 1915]

binding waxed pages

Nikon D80 | 1/30 seconds | f 16 | ISO 200 | 62 mm

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Today was the first day – out of three – of StreetDelivery Bucharest, a local street event that “closes the streets for the cars and opens them for the people”. Although the activities were programmed to begin at noon today, when I arrived there the image was quite disappointing. But.. I didn’t loose my hope.

Anyway, from the few things ready was the booth where will take place a workshop about bookbinding. There I took the picture above. Not an extraordinary scene one may say. I agree… not for momentousness I decided to post it, but for the roots of that word… “oracle”. So follow me if you please…

Oracles are the old “memory books” that we used to make in school. I remember that I had my first one when I was in eight grade (this is like a year away from high school in accordance with the romanian education system). It had a deep blue cover and the pages were burned on the sides, wax was dropped here and there and lipstick fake kisses were in the corners.

“What’s your name” or “if I’m not too indiscreet, when did you appear on this planet?” – were two of the not so inspired and shy first questions of the oracle. “What’s your favorite dish?”, “what’s your favorite movie?” or “what do you want to become in life?” and many more, followed them. But the best part of this foolish game was when a boy or girl that you liked accepted to write in your book. It was such an innocent emotional moment. Do you remember? Have you had such a book?

As years gone by, the oracles are less popular. Now we have messenger ids, we are frivol users of facebook, hi5 or some other mass online community and we have blogs, an erudite form of this memory books.

I wonder what will write the passing byes of StreetDelivery 2009 if asked so…

p.s. ii multumesc lui alin care m'a invatat cum sta treaba cu filtrele astea :P

imaginary game of hide and seek

Nikon D80 | 1/1000 seconds | f 5.3 | ISO 100 | 58 mm

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...hiding my thoughts behind an umbrella, in plain summer, it's what i do best.

damaged DNA

Nikon D80 | 1/80 seconds | f 4 | ISO 100 | 26 mm

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"A man's memory may almost become the art of continually varying and misrepresenting his past, according to his interest in the present."

George Santayana [1863 – 1952. philosopher, essayist, poet and novelist]

how to grow old with grace

Nikon D80 | 1/400 seconds | f 3.5 | ISO 100 | 50 mm
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seven reason why I like best old structures over new people:

*they don't invent stories to seem more interesting
*they know how to keep a secret
*they are proud about their age
*they know how to suffer in silence
*they know how to make you feel like home
*they have personality
*they aren't ashamed to see you naked all the time

the lemon tango

Nikon D80 | 1/4 seconds | f 3.8 | ISO 100 | 20 mm
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"The female nude – magical, erotic, aesthetic – has been modeled and painted since prehistory. Appearing rarely and awkwardly in the earliest art, she attained fulfillment and glory in ancient Greece. In their idealized treatment of the nude, The Greeks established a standard that only the asceticism of the Middle Ages ignored. The artists of the Renaissance and their successors of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries revived the nude, and by the 1930’s she was again a conventional form. It was inevitable that she should become a favorite subject of photography."
Peter Lacey [Introduction. History of the Nude in Photography by Peter Lacey and Anthony La Rotonda]

beyond appearances

Nikon D80 | 1/250 seconds | f o | ISO 100 | 0 mm [Lensbaby]
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"Photography deals exquisitely with appearances, but nothing is what it appears to be."
Duane Michals [american photographer. 1932 - present]

giving birth to rocks

Nikon D80 | 1/200 seconds | f 5.6 | ISO 100 | 48 mm
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“A pile of rocks ceases to be a rock when somebody contemplates it with the idea of a cathedral in mind.” Antoine de Saint-Exupery [french writer and aviator. 1900 - 1944]

time gap

Nikon D80 | 1/125 seconds | f 4.8 | ISO 100 | 44 mm
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it could have been just the same the mid-1960's, but it was last autumn in Lucca, Italy. they were a quiet frame on the usual uproar on the two meters puzzled streets. of course, if we would have been indeed in those years, they wouldn't smoke filtered cigarettes, their shoes would have been plain sneakers, not c*nverse, and the houses behind them would have been younger and cheaper.. but still, don't be fooled by the apperences, think at the progress and knowledge nowadays and there you'll feel the difference..

"Each generation goes further than the generation preceding it because it stands on the shoulders of that generation. You will have opportunities beyond anything we've ever known." Ronald Reagan [the 40th President of the United States. 1911 – 2004]

strange how Ronald Reagan's words sound like my grandfather's..

crossing the burning fields

Nikon D50 | 1/250 seconds | f 8 | ISO 1ooo | 55 mm
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Thinking about relationships I realized that we people like to have all for granted: someone's trust, someone's time, someone's thoughts.. but often we don't have the patience to discover the other person, to raise the "veil of weeds" and discover someone's real personality. So we have shallow friends and shallow experiences with people. I am not an exception. In my defense I say just that I lack patience. Also add some bad experiences with people.
I find easier to trust strangers.
These said, at somebody's suggestion I played a little game named "100 things about me", after all we are the sum of habits, memories, frailties, wishes and so on and so forth..
So there it goes..

1. My middle name is Dori.
2. My mom named me also Romina after the Italian singer Romina Power.
3. I had a blessed childhood.
4. My favorite game back then was hide and seek.
5. I wish I could time travel.
6. I used to play handball in elementary.
7. I was growing up my nick name was Dexter.
8. I prefer carbon pencils over pens.
9. I like black pens over blue pens.
10. Palatino Linotype is my favorite font.
11. I have a bachelor degree in journalism and a master degree in management.
12. My father wished I was an accountable. I hate math.
13. I relax myself cooking.
14. Every recipe I tried work out delicious.
15. I don’t know how to use the washing machine.
16. I own a stamp collection.
17. When I was young my parents made me take violin and piano lessons.
18. I don’t know how to play violin or piano anymore.
19. I can read musical notes.
20. Salman Rushdie is one of my favorite writers.
21. The last concert I went to was Koop Life in Bucharest.
22. I love to people watch.
23. I don’t have a best friend.
24. I have just a few friends.
25. I don’t trust people in general.
26. I have strong believes.
27. One of my grandfathers made jail time for his religious believes.
28. I don’t like to chat on the internet.
29. I am an extrovert.
30. I have 5 coffee mugs at work. I don’t drink coffee.
31. I don’t smoke either.
32. I used to be an workaholic. Not anymore.
33. I have premature grey hair.
34. I would have voted for Barack Obama as president if I was an American citizen.
35. I absolutely love to travel. I have visited five countries until now.
36. My favorites cities are: Sighisoara (Romania), Venice (Italy), Lucca(Italy) and Bucharest (Romania). Yes, you read it right: Bucharest.
37. My favorite website is www.amazingrace.ro – the guide of clever traveler as I like it to call it.
38. I like cats.
39. I really really like cats.
40. I don’t have cats.
41. Someday I will own a Mini Cooper.
42. I am allergic to coconuts.
43. I am not a big fan of “reality” television.
44. What I like most about television are the news and the politic talk-shows.
45. I like people that know about the major themes of the day in the world.
46. I am environmental oriented.
47. I never had earring holes.
48. I don’t look good in mauve.
49. Lots of my clothes are grey.
50. I don’t really like blue jeans.
51. Most of my wardrobe is bought from Mini Prix outlet.
52. I use to sell the clothes I don’t wear anymore.
53. I have 47 purses at current time. I had 64 a while ago.
54. I didn’t count yet how many pairs of shoes I own.
55. The other day I came home with one shoe, the left one, number 5 (37 in European numbering), and the other one, the right one, number 7 (39 in European numbering).
56. I am photophobic.
57. My sunglasses model is just like those in “Breakfast at Tiffany's”.
58. I like candle’s light.
59. I don’t trust credit cards.
60. I don’t currently own a credit card.
61. I love Christian’s Dior J’Adore fragrance. And Addict2 fragrance. And Gucci by Gucci. And Calvin’s Kleine Euphoforia Blossom. Oh, and Hypnose from Lancome.
62. I like to express my self thru writing and photography.
63. I own a Nikon D80. I secretly dream about Nikon D700.
64. My last camera gear acquisition was a Lensbaby Composer.
65. I spent an important part of my childhood in the darkroom.
66. My mother used to be a professional photographer.
67. I believe in emotional intelligence. I think most people lack it.
68. I once worked like a babysitter.
69. I don’t really feel the urge of being a mother yet.
70. I feel in my element in the water.
71. I like skinny dipping.
72. I don’t know how to scuba dive.
73. I like wild beaches.
74. I am movie addicted. I dare you to name one I didn’t already see.
75. Sex and the City is one of my favorite serial. It should be used like educational material in high school.
76. I don’t buy glossy magazines. Ever.
77. I am a moody person.
78. I have a scalpel scar on my left shoulder.
79. I like hand made things.
80. I like the subway.
81. I don’t give money to beggars.
82. I eat too much salt.
83. I like tomato juice.
84. When I was little I used to eat fresh snow.
85. My dog bit me when I was six years old. I bit him back.
86. I like sunflower’s flowers.
87. I have a driving license since 2001.
88. My first job was voice editor at one of the three main national televisions.
89. My first salary was something like 200 euros.
90. I like to play backgammon.
91. I am at day with my bills.
92. I laugh out loud.
93. I have a mobile modem.
94. I have the same mobile number since the beginning.
95. I like flying.
96. I was a Girl Scout.
97. I can’t whistle.
98. I dream a lot.
99. Nevertheless I can be arrogant, stubborn, pragmatic and self-indulgent, but also kind, intelligent, funny, practical, creative, loving, conscientious and realistic.
100. I almost quit on the way, but I made to 100. Must confess it was harder then I expected.

window of peace

Nikon D80 | 1/40 seconds | f 4.5 | ISO 160 | 38 mm
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…paraphrasing charles’s simic statement about poetry I might add that photography can be also “an orphan of silence. The words never quite equal the experience behind them”

p.s. happy 10.000 views anniversary! thank you all for visiting my place..

a worthy opponent

Olympus SP500UZ | 1/100 seconds | f 3.3 | ISO 100 | 15.8 mm
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“Most gods throw dice, but fate plays chess, and you don't find out til too late that he's been playing with two queens all along.”
Terry Pratchett [English Writer, b.1948]

... I don't actually believe in fate. I believe in God. But I like the irony.

reflections on a white bench

Nikon D80 | 1/400 seconds | f 5.6 | ISO 160 | 135 mm
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paradise on fire

Olympus SP500UZ | 1/125 seconds | f 5.6 | ISO 80 | 6.3 mm
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listening Ella Fitzgerald - Summertime and remembering Tunisia and the summer of 2006. i'm just craving for a glimpse of sun.

"Summertime and the livin' is easy
Fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high
Oh your daddy's rich and your ma is good lookin'
So hush little baby, don't you cry
One of these mornings
You're goin' to rise up singing
Then you'll spread your wings
And you'll take the sky
But till that morning
There's a nothin' can harm you
With daddy and mammy standin' by"
[Ella Fitzgerald. Summertime Lyrics]

behind door number nine

Nikon D80 | 1/80 seconds | f 5.6 | ISO 160 | 90 mm [left side]
Nikon D80 | 1/80 seconds | f 3.5 | ISO 1250 | 18 mm [right side]
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I remember as if it was yesterday. But it’s almost a year now. We were on the way to Sighisoara, beloved place of my next to come dreams. The lady at with we were suppose to stay canceled the reservation at the last moment, but with some help we managed to find another place to stay. At first, it sounded strange on the phone: “yes we have just one room and actually you we’ll be our first guests to sleep in it”.

After five hours driving on a not so welcoming weather we arrived at the fortress gates. We were told that it’s possible to enter on the narrow paved streets with our cars. And after just another five minutes, there we were, in front of door number nine.
Just one meter from it a little store inviting you to buy souvenirs. We met our host inside. She was a souvenir to take her self with a delicate smile and all so dressed in an original medieval outfit. The things became even stranger when she gave us the keys: two long rusted and heavy iron keys.

We stood now in front of the door number nine like we were in front of the rabbit’s magic whole. As we will have to find out later, the house was a historical monument and it had only three rooms, all redecorated recently. It was a family treasure and a family small business.

The door opened with an ancient voice in the background. We weren’t sure anymore of anything. The knotty wall seamed more like those of a cave. At the right a little garden carved in stone. It looked so intimate with that only for two bench and those half-melted candles.

We fallowed the winding stairs up to the first floor. There she was. Another era recreated in the smallest details. I should not unveil any of them. It’s not a place to be told about it, but a place to discover in person.

Shortly after this charming encounter I will have to return. I will have to have a prelude and an afterglow on the ledge of the bathrooms window. I will have to eat one of the best pies I have ever tasted and take in account that I’m not a very good friend with the sweets. I will have to climb the almost 200 stairs nearby the house until it will take my breath away. I will have to get married in the beautiful church up the hill seven months later. That special is this place for me.

“Every wall is a door.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson [american poet, lecturer and essayist. 1803-1882]