September 2012

I remember the flyer slipped in my door and my enthusiastic neighbor and her invitation to a joint trial hour in the newly opened dance studio.

I remember the place on the right side of the room, in front of the mirror, Latin music, stars in my eyes, a smile on my face and my desire to belong somewhere.

I remember morning Nia classes, yoga pillows and myself on them. Alien. Different and quiet.

I remember a woman in floorplay, flexibly bending forward and backward and beautifully lifting her arms. Her proudly raised head and her red hair. Gabi. She was the first to introduce me to the secrets of Nia.

As time passed, I began to look differently at this short haired blue eyed blonde with two brown spots in her left eye and a charming smile. She was never just that person in front of the mirror again. My love. Annette.

I remember Alex and our first walk together, full of her emotions, memories and regret. She gave me solace so often alone.

I remember Katy – crazy and bringing in all the colors of the rainbow. Her Easter breakfasts, organzized for all of us, were so touching. Thank you!

I remember a tall woman, uncoordinated, and her first spots in Spekrum. Her butterfly dance became more and more inspired and light over time. Her curiosity and sometimes irritation stuck in my memory. I will not forget her lower lip biting and her powerful Taekwondo energy. Near the Copenhagen´s Little Mermaid, sipping coffee from a paper cup, I heard a touching story about her son´s illness and prayers in Freiburg´s Cathedral. Christina.

Angela, one of the few noticed a Nia teacher in me. Her zebra-striped pants, enthusiasm and joy were something special for me.  

I remember Katrin and her dark form who took so much light and color over time. Our interactions on the dancefloor are unforgettable.

So many great people: Alexandra the Natural Healer, Elka, Ilka, beautiful Maike, Helmut, Petra, Rudi und Inge, female Sandra flirting with her reflection in the mirror, Kerstin, funny Silke with a thousand freckles on her face, Maren the Lioness, Michael, Sabina, who always danced in the corner, Caro, Maria mourning the loss of her grandmother, Annett Julika´s mother and her neighbor of the same name, Karen with whom I rolled like pugs on the dance floor, Susanne, Laurence with her unique laugh and French accent and many other.

Sometimes people come into your life for a moment, a day, or a lifetime. It matters not the time they spent with you, but how they impacted your life in that time. No one comes into your life by accident, everyone that crosses your path serves a purpose.

Sometimes people come  into you life to teach you a lesson, or help you figure out who you are & or who you want to become.

Thank you to my teachers Annette, Gaby, Ann, Camilla and Cristina who have set their feet also in this special place. 

Spektrum will live not only in my heart forever, but only for me will be hidden in the meanings of the words FREE, GROWTH and GRATEFULNESS.

“I lost my Everything!!

Means!!

YOU”

– FaiSal

“He thought the fear of death was perhaps the root of all art, perhaps also of all things of the mind. We fear death, we shudder at life’s instability, we grieve to see the flowers wilt again and again, and the leaves fall, and in our hearts we know that we, too, as transitory and will soon disappear. When artists create pictures and thinkers search for laws and formulate thoughts, it is in order to salvage something from the great dance of death, to make something that lasts longer than we do.”

― Hermann Hesse, Narcissus and Goldmund

“No road will bring us together.”

“Don’t speak like that.”

“I’m serious. We are not meant to come together, not any more than sun and moon were meant to come together, or sea and land. We are sun and moon, dear friend; we are sea and land. It is not our purpose to become each other; it is to recognize each other, to learn to see the other and honor him for what he is: each the other’s opposite and complement.”

― Hermann Hesse, Narcissus and Goldmund

“Photography is all about secrets. The secrets we all have and will never tell.” ― Kim Edwards

“We went down into the silent garden. Dawn is the time when nothing breathes, the hour of silence. Everything is transfixed, only the light moves.”

― Leonora Carrington

Mandrake chilling out

“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.” ― Ansel Adams

31th December 2019 – Vitra Museum – Objectes of Desire Surrealism and  Design 1924 – Today

“You know what I am.” The words breathed out in an auguished whisper. “I’m part demon, Clary. Part demon. You understood that much, didn’t you?” His eyes bored into her like drills. “You saw what Valentine was trying to do. He used demon blood-used it on me before I was even born. I’m part monster. Part everthing I’ve tried so hard to burn out, to destroy.”
― Cassandra Clare, City of Glass

Mythological Triton

The sculpture of a mythological Triton, the half-man and half-fish monster, symbolizing the allegory of creation of the world. Fernando II (King of Portugal and Arist) designed the Triton Gate as an allegorical creation of the world and unites both land and sea, which is most likely a dedication to the Portuguese feats during the Age of Discovery.

The “Allegoric Gate to the creation of the World” was created in the 19th century and is located in the Pena Palace in São Pedro de Penaferrim (Sintra, Portugal).

The pessimist, the optimist and Devil

21th August 2019 – The Öresund or Øresund Bridge between Sweden and Denmark

The Öresund or Øresund Bridge is the longest combined road and rail bridge in Europe. Total length is 7,845 metres. It connects Amager and Oresund in Denmark (on the island Zealand) with Skane, Sweden. The idea to build the bridge was first conceived all the way back in 1936. Construction of the the connection began in 1995 and in 1st Juny 2000 opened the bridge. The structure has a mass of 82,000 tonnes. It is 204 meters high and it’s range is about 490 meters. the Golden Gate bridge is almost three times shorter than the Oresund.

On the Bend

“We are strong enough to stand tall tearlessly, we are brave enough to bend to cry, and we are sad enough to know that we must laugh again.”

― Nikki Giovanni

A touch of summer in winter

“You don’t make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.” ― Ansel Adams

6th September 2020 – Cabo da Roca, Portugal

The rocky headland of Cabo da Roca , 40 kilometres southwest of Lisbon (PORTUGAL), has the distinction of being the most westerly point of mainland Europe and the Eurasian landmass. The stunning view from the 144 metre-high granite cliffs takes the big open sky and the crashing waves of the seemingly endless Atlantic Ocean. These windswept place were believed to be the edge of the world up until the 14th century.

The Vitra Hause Visit

“Because the world is so full of death and horror, I try again and again to console my heart and pick the flowers that grow in the midst of hell.”

― Herman Hesse, Narcissus and Goldmund 

“And if there come the singers and the dancers and the flute players, buy of their gifts also. For they too are gatherers of fruit and frankincense, and that which they bring, though fashioned of dreams, is raiment and food for your soul.”

– Khalil Gibran, The Prophet

“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, “Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.”

― Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Through the Looking-Glass

“Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… It remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.”
— Aaron Siskind

The hand that awakens Love …

“There is always someone in the world waiting for someone else, whether in the middle of the desert or in the heart of some big city. And when these two people’s paths cross and their eyes meet, the whole of the past and the whole of the future lose all importance,and there only exists that moment and that incredible certainty that everything under the Sun was written by the very same Hand.
The Hand that awakens Love and creates a sister soul for everyone who works, rests and seeks treasures under the Sun.
Were it not for this, the dreams of the human race would make no sense.”

― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

A life
Its story told
Day by day
Face by face

“I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride; so I love you because I know no other way that this: where I doesn’t not exist, nor you, so close that your hand on my chest is my hand, so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.”

– Pablo Neruda

Poppies

“Love is the spectrum of feeling, with all the amplitudes in which life strikes.” ― Madeleine Alizadeh