In life there’s often places that give you a feeling of deja vu, you keep coming back to them and they have a special importance to you. I would like to talk a little about one place that have, more than anything else, had a profound effect on my life. In fact, everything I do and half the people I know seems to have some connection to it. For instance both my current better half, and also my former, were students at this place. This is kind of ironic, because I remember that when I graduated I did to a certain extent want to distance myself from it, to move on with my life. It wasn’t about dislike or anything like that, but I was ambitious and had very clear ideas of what I wanted to be and do and that was sooo much more than just this. Ah, youthful ignorance and arrogance! Ironically, in retrospect I think the conclusion would have to be that every single one of these grand plans ended up face first on the ground so hard it made the asphalt sing ;) Life!

The place I’m talking about is my old upper secondary/high school, Briskeby, where I spent three great years back in my late teens. It is a school for the hard of hearing and also an educational centre that do courses and otherwise try help hard of hearing people with many different conditions to a better life through mastering, understanding and coping with their condition. It’s owned by the norwegian association for the hard of hearing (HLF), yet financed by the government. The school is unique in Scandinavia because it focuses on the auditory, or “oral method”. That is, the very core philosophy of their educational method is that spoken language and not sign language, if possible, must be the primary means of communication.

Before I get decapitated by a horde of angry deaf, there’s nothing wrong with sign language at all, in fact it’s a fantastic aid and tool, but it is indeed kind of hard to function in the world of the hearing if you don’t speak their lingo. Besides, it’s kind of a shame to lay waste to whatever hearing people have, even if they have a quite substantial hearing loss. The wast majority of hard of hearing people are in fact just that and not deaf as the public seem to believe. Hearing need to be used too, in order to keep those parts of the brain active and functional, if a child (with a hearing loss, not deaf) grow up in an all-deaf no-sound community, it do not develop the ability to hear and speak orally and this cannot be fully mended later, exposure to sound and speech has to happen at the right and corresponding stages of the development of the brain.

Also, it is difficult for a deaf person to learn to write properly and within the regulations. Sign language is very much just that, a unique language with its own grammar, expressions and nuances, it is not just a rough adaption of spoken or written language. When a person with normal hearing learns to write, he has a lot of support from the spoken language he already know, obviously some fine-tuning is required and grammatical rules need to be learned, but even a heavy regional accent and variety of spoken Norwegian is a lot closer to written Norwegian than Norwegian sign language. Clearly, as we live in a world where most people work in offices, being able to write is kind of important. Not saying deaf can’t write, pretty much all can, and some very well, but their learning process is much more demanding and their written language is on average less adequate than that of the hearing person.

At this point I need to clarify the term “hard of hearing”. You see, it is sort of an umbrella as it include both people with a hearing loss, but also people with other conditions related to hearing such as Tinnitus or Ménière’s disease. Hard of hearing people are in fact a much more diverse group than most “normals” know. It’s also a very large group, actually, in western industrialized countries it is often suggested that 10 to 15 percent of the population somehow fit within the “hard of hearing” term. In other words, the hard of hearing are not just some weirdos in the corner flapping around with their arms speaking with their hands, they are a huge and substantial part of the society with needs that have to be addressed. That’s basically what my old school and centre of competence is all about. Giving hard of hearing people of all ages some of the tools they need to live, function and flourish in a world of sound.

Now, It’s been ten years since I went to Briskeby as a student, I’ve worked and studied, I’ve had my ups and downs, gone through a few relationships and hit the wall too, both figuratively and literally (hey, I’m almost blind, walls do get in the way from time to time!). Basically, I’ve been living, breathing and experiencing. Yet, now I’m back there, as an employee! Ten years is a while, but there’s still a lot of people I knew around, both teachers and other employees. Various specialists, for instance on hearing/sound constitutes part of the staff, but being a school there’s understandably a lot of educationalists of all kinds around.

Man, it’s weird! How do you deal with technically speaking being a colleague of someone that was your teacher back in the days? They were authority figures that through their skill and knowledge taught you difficult subjects and had considerable impact on the forming of your personality and academical foundation. Now, I bet it’s a new experience for them too, I don’t think they expected to have me back (dang, didn’t we FINALLY get rid of that bloke like ten years ago??) That said and a somewhat awkward or formerly-not-experienced social situation aside, more than anything else working at Briskeby is like coming home. Walking through that so familiar door is like entering another world, a different world. A world where being hard of hearing, being handicapped, is normal, where mostly everything happens on “our” terms. I guess it’s a feeling that can only be understood if you’ve truly seen society from the sideline, if you’ve felt how it is to be prevented from participating in the community because you’re different.

The tale of how I ended up back at Briskeby is one of many twists and turns, but it started with volunteer work back in the early fall of ‘09. Ever since I landed on disabilities I’ve been doing various kinds of volunteer work, I was a janitor at a children’s home, I made food for the homeless and so forth. It’s been a conscious choice as I knew I would benefit from keeping myself active and keeping my brain ticking. The combination of volunteer work and disabilities allowed me to work within my functional ability and still at least keeping a (tiny) toe inside work life. To make a long story short, I was put back in touch with the good folks at Briskeby, I had an interview and they graciously took me in as a volunteer worker. Since then I’ve mostly been working with various IT-related stuff such as web-development/design, for instance their student blog. It’s not really my absolute favorite cup of tea, making web-pages, but I know a little about that process, it’s okay work and more important, I’ve got competence they currently lack. In other words, a win-win for both sides of the equation.

Obviously I must have been doing at least something right, because my boss started hinting of the possibility of ahem…”formalizing” my relationship to the institution and I sort of hinted back that I wouldn’t mind that (it might have been the other way around, details…details). Thus, they’ve offered me a position and I said yes. It’s obviously part-time, my condition makes full-time employment unrealistic and also I’m on benefits which means there’s a lot of rules regulating how much I can work and earn. A job is a job though, and working at a place whose purpose is to make a difference for people and not make money for a owner is a privilege. I can’t say anything else except that I look forward to being a small part of this place and make a tiny contribution to the very meaningful work they do. Yes, if there’s any doubt, I’ll confirm that I am in fact an idealist, although I’ve surely had my share of illusion-robbing experiences and accumulated substantial quantities of bitterness so far in my life.

I have to brag about the  people that work there, because they are fantastic, very friendly and truly into what they do. It’s really inspiring to be around people like that and I enjoy it very much. Of course, working at a place like this is more than just a job for me. It’s something I can’t say no to because I so honestly believe in what they are doing and know from personal experience the importance and necessity of their efforts. Hence, 2 1/2 hours of traveling time per work-day don’t stop me and I maintain a tight sleep rhythm by getting up at 06:30 every bloody day, even when I’m not working, in an attempt to function more or less okay on the work days (I’ve had sleep issues for more than a decade).

What the future will bring I do not know, there’s still many different threads that need to be tied together for the  tangled bunch of fibers that is my life to become a rope, and it won’t happen with the blink of an eye. I always think of it as finding a balance between my skills and abilities, my medical condition and energy level, quality of life and some participation in professional life. I have a definite need to do something constructive and productive, yet it need to balance with actually having a life too. All work and no play, makes the blind ‘ol bat Mac a dull boy. I do feel healthier and better than in many years, I live with an amazing woman and my photography is certainly a creative outlet, a general focus and who I am. I can’t beat the realities of my severe medical condition, but I can most definitely live with them (got no other choice, do I?).

My latest foray into the ever expanding world of social media related services, I choose to make from sort of a photographic perspective. What can social medias offer for a hobbyist and enthusiast photographer like me that don’t do this for profit? My first venture was establishing a presence on Flickr, kind of the obvious place to go if you’re a photo nut. It’s the largest dedicated image hosting place on the Internet and offer a lot of different functionality. Ironically, I can’t say I care overly much for the browsing and picture viewing functionality of Flickr, I find it tedious and poorly designed. The discussion forums, groups, search function and ability to comment are however priceless functionality and very effective for building communities and connecting with other photographers and artists. All things considered Flickr is a great package, but it seems somewhat…contrived in certain areas, the functionality is not always that obvious or user friendly.

The next pass I made towards Facebook, which I do know from a couple years of use. I made a custom Facebook page which is a different beast from a personal profile or a group. A Facebook page allows me to separate the private snaps of my profile from the more “serious” work, while still being able to easily share it with others on my friends list. Also, a page allows others, that for some reason is interested in my photography, to keep an eye on my photographic efforts without having to be included in my small group of “friends”. I guess you could say separating business from personal life. I’ve seen a number of other photographers using Facebook pages and also some stating on forums that they are useful for their businesses, they get some extra customers and exposure. Considering the fact that Facebook, unlike Flickr, is not entirely populated by photographers, that seems very likely. There’s obvious potential in these kinds of medias.

Now, what if you cut this FB vs Flickr thing down to a purely user/visitor perspective? Well, I do find it’s easier to browse images on Facebook compared to Flickr and if I, who am rather computer savvy feel that, no doubt others do too. On the other hand, the low resolution (604×404 I believe) and heavy jpg compression of Facebook is brutal and seriously massacre many images. Frankly 1280px width/height is a bare minimum to get a rough idea of the technical quality and sharpness of an image and that is also what I generally post in the galleries here at Mind Over Madness. Even a 0.3mp cellphone picture can look nice if presented on or in a low-resolution screen or media. Yet, if you’re like me, always trying to achieve the best possible technical quality within the limitations of gear, skill and ability, these things matter. When you spend days, months and years dressing down pixels and looking up their most private and sensitive places, you tend to get very vary of the various flaws. JPGs are no matter how you put it, a format that compresses files, thus throwing away information. For most people though, low resolution web images are just fine and dandy. Facebook is thus likely the easiest for Joe Sixpack to browse, especially if they already use it and know it’s “logic”. There is no doubt though, that Flickr is the best network for photographers wanting to connect with other  photographers, with dedicated photography forums such as DPreview as a minor and not completely comparable exception.

Despite of the various quirks of Flickr and Facebook, they offer more arenas to show off my work and more chances to funnel people to my blog. Of course there’s a chance that my horrible photos will give them mental scars for life, but hey, what’s the point of having stuff on the net if you don’t want and try to show it to people? Admittedly, I don’t work very hard to promote Mind Over Madness, nor do I religiously update it twice per week and talk about subjects easily accessible to the great masses. I don’t have the surplus energy nor any interest in doing that. I write when I have something I need or want to say ;-)

Anyway, to speak more generally about social medias. However you put it, they are simply tools and frankly, I love tools, I’ll take all I can get! Social medias can be used for great benefit, or gloriously abused, I’m sure you know that, and the examples of both cases are numerous. One should approach them with care and common sense, think through what you post, say and link to. Don’t let the risks scare you away though!  These things ain’t going away, and trust me, you don’t want to be left out of the game. Likely both for personal and professional life, it is a good idea to at least understand what the fuss is all about. So, if I’m to make any statement to some old-school sceptic reading this, it would have to be that you should at least consider putting some time and energy into learning these things. With knowledge comes ability both to utilize but also connect the dots and see new possibilities. I’m not overly enthusiastic about social medias and the “always connected” phenomenon of modern life, but I reckon that if you know something ain’t going away, you’re best off figuring out a way to live with it.

Lately there’s been an ongoing debate in Norway on the social security system and the various social benefits. This debate seem to pop up every once in a while and is not exactly new under the sun. Living in a more or less free and democratic country it is also necessary, you have to question the validity of your current system and occasionally measure it up . Being young and disabled I am directly or indirectly one of those whose condition and ability are in danger of being discredited and whose living conditions may very well be affected.

I was one of four disabled people featured in an article attempting to give those that is the statistics a face, so to speak. Obviously things don’t get much more public than this and I feel a need to explain some of my personal perspective on the debate. This is not really why this blog exist, but it is the only available and unedited medium I’ve got ready access to and if someone Google my name they are likely to find their way here.

The Faces Behind The Statistic
One of the three large national newspapers, the conservative Aftenposten (fairly liberal by American standards), have published a number of articles over the past few months, highlighting various sides and arguments concerning both a major ongoing reform in the social security system, the unemployment rates and grim sick leave statistics. I’d say it’s been good and healthy series of articles and generally speaking quality journalism, even if it’s hard to avoid a certain tendency to social pornography when featuring those affected by the social security system.

Earlier this week I was contacted by the Norwegian Association for The Blind on behalf of Aftenposten,  looking for people currently living of social benefits (we have a number of variants). They explained that Aftenposten wanted to do an article to sort of show the faces behind the statistics. My daily bread and butter is financed by a form of disabilities pension and I sport the lovely diagnosis Usher Syndrome resulting in the medical and judicial definition “deaf-blind”. A definition that is difficult to comprehend without inside knowledge of the medical and practical aspects of a condition such as mine. I am severely hearing and vision impaired, but I still have some hearing and sight left, my world is not completely black.

I felt I had to make myself available for this presumably good cause. Especially the young and handicapped need to be heard and reckoned with, although no-one seem to really want to hear us out. I’m not a spokesman and I hardly think I’m suitable either, but I am a conscious individual with the right to join the choir. In Norway, as in most countries, you seldom hear the voices of the poor and otherwise less fortunate. They seem to be a boring political problem and in many cases human shuttlecocks of the bureaucracy. My experience is that in particular the young and disabled are neither politically correct nor vocal enough to warrant any serious or constructive effort from the law-makers.

To make a long story short, I was interviewed, photographed and videotaped, together, but not at the same time, as three others in similar situations as me. The article appeared in the printed edition today, Saturday, as well as both text and and video on their website. The journalist and her photographer and videographer all behaved in an exemplary manner. I was also given the chance to correct my part of the article before publishing. The end result is completely acceptable, although I wish it was more in-dept, but there are obvious limitations when they feature four different “destinies” so I make no complaints. I’m no more overly exited of displaying my questionable mug in national media today than I was when I appeared on TV a few months ago.

The Luxurious Life On Socal Benefits
The finance crisis is the spark that set off this current round of debate concerning our welfare system. Although Norway have fared way better than pretty much every other country in the world, the effects are still noticeable, we experience increasing numbers of unemployed and individuals on long-term sick leave. Recently that last phenomenon have been in the spotlight, because these people can receive fairly generous sick pay and some feel there are a lot of frauds and swindlers among them “taking a holiday”.

From this and also earlier debates you get the impression that there seem to be a kind of “bright” idea in certain circles, that there are no disabled people, they are only lazy. The reality is of course a bit more complicated. I believe there are few people that willingly choose a “career” as a social benefit frauds. The result of living on social benefits, especially if you’re young, is social and economical ruin and in terms of general “life progress”, pretty much a suicide. You just don’t have the financial muscle to build a life, a home and a family and you loose out on the very important social side of a workplace. Everyone else you know progresses and build their lives while you’re left on the sideline to watch.

I’ll illustrate this by using myself as an example (what I make is not exactly a state secret, just standard rates). I pay a rent of about 1300 $ per month for a very modest 2-room apartment. Add power, Internet, insurance and the common recurrent expenses and you’re easily forking out between 1700 and 2000 $ per month. Food, clothing and so forth not included (easily 800-1200$). On disabilities pension I gorge myself in the jaw-dropping sum of 160-170 000 NOKR yearly, about 30 000 $, or some 2500 $ monthly. Since we’re two people and split the rent the wheels keep turning, but there’s not any financial overhead for me. This boils down to the fact that I haven’t got a snowballs chance in hell to get a house loan or otherwise “establish” myself. Only if my spouse get a decent paying job we’re golden (she’s about to finish her masters). Ultimately it’s pretty much hand-to-mouth as long as I live in a major city with high living expenses. Living in a major city is an advantage, some would say a requirement when you’re severely vision impaired, mainly due to public transportation, short distances and health services.

Clearly, the financial situation causes me a lot of concern. If a tooth needs fixin’ or the fridge goes kaput, I’m dead out of luck. It’s either borrowing money from friends or family, or selling the few of my possessions that have some value. Say I wasn’t the marrying kind, or simply disabled in such a way so that I could not realistically hope to attract a spouse, then a life of potential social and economical misery would likely await me. Now I am lucky enough to have a spouse, a good one too, at least as long as she bother having a blind wreck stumbling about the apartment knocking things over. Yet, it is quite uncomfortable and really not very 1979 to be completely dependent on another persons whims for financial security. Nor is it a secret that divorce and breakup-rates are high these days. Even how well you get along, you sort of have to plan for the worst.

Now, do not get me wrong, I’m perfectly fine with being poor by Norwegian standards. In fact, ever since I “grew up” and moved from home (17) I’ve been more or less in the same financial situation and me currently being on disabilities pension is a conscious choice to ensure a minimum of financial security that I would not otherwise have, given my medical prognosis and chances to get and keep a suitable job (I don’t have a fancy education). I don’t ask for more money, but I’d like for arrangements to exist that would help me to a new fridge if the old one dies, without having to crawl on my knees before my family and beg. Small, interest-free (micro) loans with a flexible down payment plan from the state would be better than nothing for people in my situation. The state already have the muscle and weight to get the money back (IRS) :p

The Obvious Solution For Me..
…is that I should get a job, that’s probably what most are thinking when reading this. “Lazy brat” and so forth. Yeah, I know, but it’s easier said than done. I actually love working, I like feeling that I create something, do something worthwhile. The challenge for me is to find something that balances relatively acceptable life quality with amount of workdays/time. Being vision and hearing impaired I burn a lot more energy than the average healthy person just communicating and moving to and from places. It means that I can for short periods of time manage an a full-time job, but I’ll burn myself out in the process and basically have no other life than work and eating/sleeping before hitting the wall (been there done that).

A part-time job is the logical step for me. Unfortunately and despite of 14-15 years of education I’m pretty much qualified to do nothing. Even if I was and did get a decent paying job, what I would be able to earn from a 50 % position, is dependent on my pre-benefit income, which was very low. I would in fact not be allowed to earn any more than what I get from my current 100 % disabilities pension. Alas, I’m locked up by the rigid and not very flexible rules and regulations of the system. I have not even mentioned the difficulty of handicapped to get jobs in the first place. If you’re handicapped or your name is “Ali”, you’re going straight down to the bottom of the pile. There are laws against that, but it still happens.

I must make a point of the fact that I never planned to end in this situation when I was younger, but life tends to put you onto paths you never imagined or wished for. The path I’ve walked so far have been one of traumatic and difficult experiences with a trail of ruined plans and broken ideas behind me. A common suggestion is “more education” and I heartily agree on that. Education is always good (I guess you could say my life motto is “live to learn”). Yet, regardless of my own understanding of my situation, capabilities and capacity, as things are now I don’t realistically see me finishing a 3 to 5 year education either (likely longer, I doubt I could get through as a full-time student). My vision and hearing deteriorate, not very fast, but it’s not stagnant either, I’m likely operating with a time perspective of 5 to 15 years for my current level of functional ability. An education would also have to be something I could realistically work with for the rest of my life, and get a job with too.

At the present time I am not motivated for more education, and I feel that the best thing for me is to be out among people and work while I still see and hear something. I guess a dream would be to work as a writer of some sort and/or with photography and image editing/processing. Some will perhaps suggest photo journalist and I’ve given it some thought, but without qualifications and with my condition it is unlikely that I could make it in a dog-eat-dog industry such as the media business is today, and surely not over time. I also doubt I got the balls for it ;)

For the time being I keep myself occupied with my hobbies and volunteer work with web development at my old upper secondary school (VGS), which is a school for the hard of hearing. I can take thing in my own pace and remain functional outside work hours while still doing something resonably constructive. I’m hoping opportunities will arise in the future, but for the time being I am where I am and my condition will not get better.

No More About Me (thank God!)
I’m going to close this post by saying a few things related to the ongoing debate on the social security system, yeah the general welfare system in Norway.

1. The way a society treat its weakest members is more telling of its quality than anything else.

2. Make no mistake, Norway have one of the finest public health and social security systems in the world and mostly we are very happy with it. It is sort of our idea that performing within ability and receiving based on need is sort of a good general principle, and you don’t have to be a crazy-eyed sickle-wielding freedom-hating fanatic to think that’s a good idea. However, just like any system, ours still have to be refined and tuned regularly, this is something everyone seem to agree on. What people do not agree on is how to do this.

3. When it comes down to getting more people off benefits and into jobs, no-one, nor I, think that is a bad idea. But how is an entirely different and very complicated question. Forcing people off social benefits through cuts in the very benefits is not a good idea. The number of people on social benefits are caused by a multitude of reasons, and you have to investigate and understand at least some of them before looking for suitable means to help the situation.

4. Our society have gone through massive changes and the great wheel have made many considerable turns over the past 150 years or so. In the last few decades we’ve seen the social structure of our societies changing even more rapidly than ever before. A lot of things are happening, and all at once. I guess one could say that  modern society have got rougher. Not necessarily in terms of poverty, violence and sheer brutality, but in more subtle ways. The requirements to efficiency, speed, competence and productivity are continuously rising with the result that work life have generally become more demanding.

In personal life there’s a focus on apparent success, on material goods, and perfectness. Young and old are bombarded by the idea that you have to succeed in life and engage yourself in mindless consumerism to be socially acceptable. Failing to do so, or the fear of, can be a considerable burden on it’s own. We’re born to the idea that everyone can, will and must make it and there’s no room for 2nd place.

Also, regardless of improved methods to  diagnose psychological conditions and illness, as well as better statistics, there seem to be an increasing number of people developing mental issues. If that is true, our society is no doubt at least partially to blame for that, all cannot be caused by pollution, diet or substance abuse. It’s likely that changes in the social structure, the way we organize our societies and what the  life expectations of people are (how realistic or unrealistic they may be), is one of the keys to understanding the increasing number of people on social benefits and why certain groups people in general struggle. I fear we’re creating society that is just as inhuman as the “barbaric” civilizations of the past. We seem to, even with all our knowledge and understanding, be even less adaptive to the many possible flavors of the human being.

Thank you for your patience. 

Panoramic view of Kjerkfjorden and the fishing village of Reine, on Moskenesøya island, part of the Lofoten Islands. Published with the permission of © Jack Brauer

I don’t have a habit of promoting of other photographers on my blog, really, I want you to look at MY images :p Yet, as photo hobbyist and enthusiast you have to know your limits. There are people that make images and then there are Photographers. So, in the name of  general education, enlightenment and beauty, you got to see this!

Jack Brauer is an American landscape photographer that travels across the globe. He works in color and with large format/high resolution cameras. His trademark is stunning landscapes with vibrant, fresh and pure color, often shot from the summit of mountain peaks and other perilous viewpoints.

Brauer is one of several modern photographers that follow in the footsteps of legends such as Ansel Adams, Edward Weston and other monumental classic (landscape) photographers, yet still with his own twist. Some part of his work reminds me of contemporary photographer and author David Noton, but where Notons work is more subdued and subtle, often shot in the late or very early day, Brauers photographs hold nothing back and show you the full splendor of the landscapes. His compositions are grand and the immense detail, resolution and technical quality of his images simply pull you in.

Romsdalen. The sheer walls of Romsdalshornet (left) and Trolltindan (right) both rise 1500m (5000 ft.) from the Romsdalen valley. Visible here as the long shadow on Trolltindan is the Trollveggen, the tallest vertical mountain wall in Europe. Published with the permission of © Jack Brauer

The most important quality all these photographers have, is the ability to get out, get up and be there. They climb that mountain side and they drag along that heavy gear with a single-mindedness and focus that my highly procrastination-prone mind envy them. They also have a profound technical knowledge and understanding of the medium they work with and all stages of the process, from exposing and composing to developing, processing and last but not least, printing their work. They are simply craftsmen and artists and the reason why billions of digital cameras never will or can truly overtake or throw the professional and highly skilled master photographer.

Now, I haven’t actually seen Brauers prints, but judging by the images on his site and their exceptional quality that is visible even in web-sized versions, there’s no doubt they look fantastic hanging on a wall. I have no doubts that a detail-oriented photographer such as Brauer, never takes shortcuts when it comes to printing. 

Brilliant pink fireweed and the Lyngen Alps, with Jægervatnet lake in between. Published with the permission of © Jack Brauer

One of the things that really got my juices flowing over Brauers work, is a gallery from Norway. As I’m Norwegian those images obviously hold a special interest to me, particularly because some of the shots are from regions well-known and dear to me. I’ve seen a lot of great photographic work from Norway, but his is clearly among the finest in the landscape genre. Not only do these images show how old Norway may look when she puts on her fancy dress and good moods (weather and light in Norway changes with the blink of an eye) but he’s even got the (weird) names of places and locations right. Tiny details perhaps, but it shows the effort this guy puts down in his work, many would just state general region and leave it at that. Also, the fact that he manages to show locations I’ve known for decades from a new angle and in a light and way I’ve never seen before just prove that once you get used to seeing something, you start overlooking what you’re actually seeing.

I would like to thank Mr. Brauer for his work and dedication, and also for allowing me to use some of his images to illustrate this post. I urge you to have a closer look at his work at his site.

This heavily manipulated image of a great white attacking a military helicopter in front of golden gate was a true Internet e-mail "hit" in 2001.

“Photoshoped” have become a term bordering on an insult lately with the advent of digital photography. There seems to be a fairly vocal and widespread sentiment that altering and manipulating images is something fairly new, and a negative thing done by photographers and photo editors lacking scruples and integrity. Especially in fashion photography there have been numerous cases over the past few years with ridiculously retouched models looking more like something from outer space than real human beings. I understand very well the general scepticism, both from the general public and conservative old-school photographers. Yet, it also gets me thinking of what photography really is and I’m left with a feeling that many do not understand or comprehend the technical and physical nature of the photographic process, nor the properties of light. So I ask and try to answer -  to freeze a moment in time, to make a true and genuine replication of a scene, is it in fact possible?

The key term I think, is interpretation, because that’s really what this is all about, whether you see something with your own eyes, or view a photography of the same scene. Any photograph, regardless if it is created by digital or analogue means, is subject of many layers of interpretation, from the characteristics of the optical elements of a lens to the medium it is recorded on. Traditional film is made from light-sensitive chemicals that are placed on a piece of solid material that can be for instance plastic, glass or metal. Various combinations of chemicals give various characteristics to the film. It may be black and white, it may be color, it may be very saturated with strong contrast, or very low contrast and subdued hues/tones. To put it simple, the kind of film used strongly affects how reality looks like photographed. This is only the beginning, it only gets more complicated. How the film is developed, that is, what kind of chemicals are used, for how long and on what kind of paper the print is made, will also contribute to the look and feel of the final image. Further on, photographs can, after the initial development, be heavily manipulated in the darkroom by the skilled technician, areas made darker or brighter, unwanted elements removed, tonality changed and so forth. This have, would you believe it, been going on since the very infancy of photography, back in the mid 19th century.

Many of the more noticeable names in photography spent a lot of time in their darkrooms. For instance the highly praised American icon Ansel Adams, a legendary landscape photographer, was a true master of the darkroom and printing who could spend days and weeks over a single image to get it the way he wanted. A lot of people don’t really know about this stuff, as they was and is used to deliver their film to a lab and get it processed there, they never see or hear of the many tweaks and adjustments made even by modern and for the major part, automatic labs. When you’re not aware of what can be done with film in the darkroom, it’s no wonder you think that snapping the shots is all there is to manipulation.

A 150 year old example of photo manipulation, Abe Lincolns head stuck on another politicians body.

In digital image processing we see a lot of the old darkroom terms and phrases used for processes that give similar results, although the actual process is clearly vastly different, there’s no smelly chemicals in digital image processing. One example of an analogue technique and term gone digital is “unsharp mask” which is not really about blurring an image, but sharpening it (or to be technically correct, making the image appear sharper to the human eye from a certain viewing distance). Unsharp mask is one of the most common techniques used when preparing images for printing and web use.

Okay, so if that’s the deal with film, that image manipulation was so common and well known that phrases used in film manipulation have got carried on into the digital world, what is really the fuss with digital image manipulation?

One might now suggest, if ignoring key factors such as exposure, viewpoint and focal length as manipulative techniques, that a straight out-of-the-camera digital image, that must be a “true” image, after all no manipulation is done to it,  just downloaded it to a computer and viewed it, done no fancy schmancy stuff to it. Well, sorry to break it to you, but it’s a bit more complicated than that and just like film, the physics of the light-sensitive medium and the way it is constructed, affects the final outcome. A digital sensor haven’t got light sensitive chemicals, instead it captures and generates an electrical charge from the photons, which is the elementary particles that light consist of. This current can then again be converted to raw digital data. Now, the raw digital data is on its own pretty useless, it’s just a lot of data and it have to be further processed to become an image you can actually view. You might have noticed that your camera have “profiles” you can choose from, different profiles results in images with different colors, tonality and so forth. These profiles are in many ways just a set of parameters that process the raw data in slightly different ways to give final images with different characteristics. Older digital cameras may only have the choice between black and white and color, but it’s the same thing as the multitude of profiles modern cameras offer, a set of parameters that the RAW data is processed with. All digital cameras capture RAW data first and then convert/processes these 1’s and 0’s into a format that is viewable on a computer, most commonly .jpg. In this process a lot of information gets thrown away, because a format like .jpg is a compressed format, and it is not loss-less. This is why photo-enthusiasts and professionals often shoot RAW, as they have cameras with the ability to store the more or less unaltered RAW data. During post processing with the right software, they have more data to work with, something that theoretically results in better quality final images. Computers have powerful processors and the human mind and eye is more aware of nuances and details than the automated algorithms and parameters the camera work with.

This image of Fillipa Hamilton have been all over the news the last few weeks and the spark that have reignited the photo manipulation debate recently.

What I’m trying to explain is that the light that initially hit the sensor has already been subject of manipulation and interpretation even before you load it up in Photoshop. Also, even for images that do not appear manipulated, like documentary news paper shots and the likes, it is very common to alter contrast, often in certain areas of the image only, improve sharpness, enhance tonality and adjust colors. Why? It makes the images look better! For fashion and non-journalistic photographs the post processing may involve everything from cloning away an ugly mole or the power-lines ruining an otherwise beautiful landscape, to making a model slimmer with pearly white teeth. It is not uncommon for photographers to use hours and days working images that they used a few minutes to set up, plan and shoot. Manipulating images is almost completely necessary to compete in this industry, regardless if you’re just a wedding photog or an artist. It is commonly suggested that minor adjustments to color, contrast and similar, is “ok”, because it does not really alter the contents of the photograph. I’m forced to ask, then what is the limit?

If you convert a photo to black and white, you remove a lot of information and often completely change the feel and understanding of the specific scene. You change what the viewer feels when he examine the image. What is the difference from removing a mole or doing other manipulation and why should the removal of the aforementioned mole be a sin, while changing colors is all right? My point is this, digital or film, it does not matter, none are more “true” than the other, they are just slightly different means of capturing reflected light onto something that is of vastly inferior capacity compared to an human eye and memory. Analogue photography is not anymore “real” than digital photography, it is just an interpretation with a wide range of technical and practical limitations and pitfalls determining the final outcome. Heavily photoshoped images can be stunningly beautiful, just as the same scene shot on film. They will differ, especially in colors and texture of the final print, but none can be said to truly represent the scene as we saw it.

Another element in this whole shebang is the human one. Tthe human eye and the brain is also just a filter that subconsciously converts and conveys information to your consciousness. You’re probably aware that we only see a limited part of the actual light flowing all around us, infrared for instance, is invisible to the human eye. Our brains also do funny things to the light hitting our retinas, it notices and enhances certain things and ignores others. Cultural background (for instance various colors are perceived to have different meanings in different cultures) as well as deep-down fundamental instincts play a key role. It’s completely understandable that our brains will react to and highlight dangerous things that we see, it’s a result of evolution. Yet, it also means that what we see is not really as genuine as we might think, more like a limited excerpt of the full picture.

Nikita Krushchev apparently using his shoe to make a point in an UN meeting in 1960.

So, if our brains and eyes are not capable of showing us the truth, who are we to criticize manipulated images, especially when knowing that even images we would consider “pure” and “unaltered” are in fact not so? It’s a philosophical question and I don’t have the answer to it. But I’ll be so bold as to suggest we might want keep in mind that every image we’ve ever seen is the result of many layers and levels of manipulation. From the photographers choice of viewpoint, focal length and exposure to the medium and the development/processing of it. A photo that to your eye appears to be a representative and mirror-like remake of real life can only be so due to considerable manipulation of image-making technologies, and it only shows a resemblance that looks real to our human eyes and brains, which are, if ever so brilliant, equally prone to misinterpretation and subjectivity. Reality is very, very relative.

Elm Street

It’s pretty obvious, yes perfectly clear and totaly not-at-all surprising, but being vision and hearing impaired do introduce additional challenges to life. As both of my two readers should be aware of, I’m not exactly the human incarnation of the eagle in terms of optical prowess. I’m medically and judicially blind, yet in practical terms not quite so. An odd kind of juxtaposition with the fact that I’m also very interested in and fascinated by photography and the making and processing of images and graphic work. Clearly, my infatuation with image-making is closely linked with my life’s nemesis, the Usher Syndrome and thus dwindling vision/hearing. Making images is a pretty conscious way of overcompensating for what likely lies in store for me in the future. It’s pretty simple, if I do want to make images, I have to do it now. That also includes seeking venues that I, in the name of comfort, would rather avoid simply because they are not fitting for a person with my condition.

Last night I went to photograph my friends band, The Schmucks. They had a gig at Elm Street, a quite historical and even legendary rock club/pub/café in Oslo. Bands like Motorhead, Iron Maiden, Mötley Crüe,  Deep Purple, RHCP and many more have coated its walls with perspiration, so even if they where “only” the warm-up for the old-school British punk rockers in Peter & The Test Tube Babies, this was a great opportunity for a relatively unknown local band and I could not miss it. However, as at least one of you, my two faithful readers are aware of, places like this tend to be dark, tight and noisy. It’s the way it’s supposed to be, rock clubs being what they are, no complaints there. I’m sure those normal seeing and hearing bastards have a great time at such places, but for a mentally old fart that’s getting increasingly calcified veins by the minute and whose mind is slower than a snail on pot, it’s a massive challenge. You have to motivate yourself, tell yourself you’re gonna do it, because quite frankly, it’s scary, even without a possibly horror inducing name like Elm Street. You don’t hear anything but loud, loud, loud music (which I like, make no mistake) rendering any conversation a guesstimate from lip-reading and hearing a fragment here and there. All you see is multicolored spotlights and shadows, and maybe the twinkle in an eye every now and then. Add photographing on top of that, woooah! You silly pre-senile geezer, you should sit your fat ass down in the darkest, most remote corner to avoid doing or receiving any damage to or from the fixture or persons jumping around to the music, and pray for the noise to end and the light to be turned on so that you can run away and go into hiding.

Yet, like several times before, I didn’t. Living with a condition like Usher is like living with a ticking bomb, you’ve got to do things while you still can, while you’re still able to get something out of the experience. It’s pushing your limits and trying to overcome your fears, fears that might, for most people, seem silly and irrational, because for you the alternative is the unthinkable. I had a good time last night. The Schmucks did a very acceptable gig and showed some nice chemistry on stage, they enjoyed themselves and so did the listeners. I got a few shots too, although I got bumped around a bit by some very energetic punkers showing off impressive apparent lack of bodily control on the dance floor.  Would I do it again? Well yes, my medical and financial situation being what it is, not every week, but my love for music and photography remains and I got to try for as long as I can. A potential broken leg or a busted nose is a small price to pay to gather memories, experiences and photographic evidence to treasure when the gray-black fogginess finally overtakes my tired eyes.

As for The Schmucks, I’m happy they invited me, and  I hope I did not bother them too much with my quite literally speaking “flashy” appearance. They make some great punk rock and I sincerely hope they’re on their way to success and recognition! When I’m stumbling around at their gigs, at least they’ll have some photographic evidence to rememer it by.

Ps. Some pictures should be up in a few days.

Caption from my interview with NRK

Thursday the 22nd was a bizarre day for me, so unusual I simply have to blog about it now that I’ve had the chance to catch my breath. I ended up on the evening news and surprisingly enough, it wasn’t because I robbed a bank or threw a cake in the face of politician. I got to flash my questionable mug on NRK which is a national, state-owned TV-channel, basically a Norwegian version of BBC. Love it or hate it, the channel and its news is at least classic and not sensationalist tabloidish in style, they seem to try to keep a fragment of integrity and quality even these days. I was interviewed and brief excerpts where used in a case on a just released report on the condition of the social security system and a lot of other things. There where some heavy criticism, and I was apparently chosen to sort of give the victims of the issues at hand a face.

The quick and dirty story behind my role in this, is that I applied for disabilities pension back in 2007, due to my chronic and severe medical condition. This was the beginning of a personal kind of hell, an not-so-epic battle between man and the system. Basically “they” ignored my application due to practical bureaucratic issues internally in the social departement and certain political goals or ideas concerning who to give disabilities pension. I phoned, e-mailed and snail-mailed them to get some response and for a long time, was dreadfully unanswered or given very vague feedback always requesting more information, even if I’d already given them all they could honestly need. In fact I several times received a standard-phrased letter requesting the same information that I’d sent in several times before. Either they used this to drag out the case for a while longer, or they actually lost the papers due to internal mess. I must admit I wonder where these highly personal papers containing intimate details about me, got to..

I have to mention that it’s not like my medical condition was anything new to them, I’ve been getting certain benefits (educational support and so forth) from them for a decade and they’ve got a thick file on me. Now this quicksandish affair went on far beyond the given time limits for reaching a decision in matters such as my application. Eventually, I could not be ignored any longer, the “noise” generated by me and those assisting me (I where lucky enough to have some great people helping me, you know who you are, thank you!) must have got too loud to stand. A meeting was called and a deal was worked out, not for the permanent disabilities pension I’d applied for, but temporary disabilities pension with a maximum lenght of four years. Obviously a compromise and quite ironic, as my condition only gets worse, not better. Yet, that was all they could give me and I was in many ways forced to reach a conclusion to this case, financial issues being what they are, terribly hard to overlook when you’re staring into an empty fridge. So I got my stuff worked out, sort of, for a time, it only took a couple years when it should have taken four months. I do not know if it is possible to describe how it is, living on the mercy of some names and titles without faces, waiting, wondering, worrying, counting pennies, for weeks, months and years, but quite frankly, it burns the joy of living out of your mind. Contrary to what some right-wing politicians and economical liberalists seem to think, it is not fun, you don’t do it because you want to, you do it because you have little or no other choice. Period.

Now, it turns out I’m not the only one that’s had problems with the social department over the last few years. Due to a massive reorganization process, planned to take somewhere around half a decade, there are also (not so surprisingly) massive practical, ideological and bureaucratic problems internally in the department. Something that does not only affect rare, special cases such as me, but a wide range of groups. The classic issues are cases/applications taking far beyond any reasonable time limits to reach a conclusion, money not getting wired when and where they are supposed to, a lot of general confusion, misinformation, papers getting lost and basically people in need of help, suffering. It’s sort of a problem when the very system that is in place to help people, generates more problems for those seeking help due to an inhumane bureaucratic process. Obviously this is not acceptable and over the past year, year and a half, reports in the media have become more and more critical and unambiguous, and more money and efforts have been poured into the social department(s) to rectify the issues. This report I mentioned at the beginning of this post, was sort of the final straw, complete and brutal criticism from an organ appointed by the parliament/government to evaluate the financial situation in the various departments, organs and businesses of the state. Frankly, reading it’s conclusions on the social department creates an interesting mental image of an elephant doing riverdance on top of the corpses of the politicians and bureaucrats responsible, pretty damn crushing. I am very pleased, not because this matters much for me, my case is after all, sort of closed, but I know there are tens of thousands of other people having major problems and struggling with this. There’s no doubt now, they have to sort it out, you can’t ignore a splinter in your eye the size of a giant 2000 year old  Redwood tree.

So, if you still haven’t fallen asleep from boredom, how on earth did I end up in that TV-news report? The day it all exploded I spent the entire day in a planning meeting for one of my volunteer jobs, this job is owned/run by the Norwegian Association For The Hard of Hearing (HLF). One of the participants in this meeting get a call from a formed employee, now working at the NRK. They’re looking for a handicapped person who’s spent a long time in queue with the social department, awaiting an answer to their application. I offer my help in finding one, thinking I’d find someone on Facebook easily. I was and is  pretty sure there’s several battling with the social dep. Unfortunately there’s not much time and I get no responses within reasonable time, so in the end I call the journalist and apologize that I could not find anyone, but I also mention that I’ve been through such a process recently. I quickly shave and try to find some half-decent clothes as I don’t have many, which is a concern when you don’t want to appear as a hobo. Due to a limited budget I mostly buy cheap, solid and “work” clothes.  A few minutes later I meet the  reporter and her camera-man in a nearby park and we’re on. I had no wish to appear on TV, I’m a pretty private person, but the decision was made easy due to the importance of this report and the need to have an Joe Sixpack giving the criticism a face. Excerpts from the interview was used twice that evening, both on the 19:00 and 23:00 news, but with slightly different points of view to the report. First one angled heavily on the criticism, second run more about the problems the applicants for benefits face when dealing with the social department.

Well that’s the story. I had hoped the interview would be run as a case on it’s own, but it’s hardly surprising that they try to squeeze all they can into a limited time-frame. I had some fairly heavy-hitting comments with good points that where not used, but all in all I did at least not make a total jackass out of myself which is obviously something you risk to do when going on TV. If you understand Norwegian here’s a direct link to the news-report in NRKs archives.

Direct link to the case on the 19:00 news, 22th of October ‘09 (Probably need Internet Explorer for the video to work)

Macro, July 2009

Well, we’re writing August. Another summer blew by and I didn’t get half the things I planned to do, done. I don’t if it’s because the summers are so short in Scandinavia that you never feel like you get around to use them to the max, or if it’s that simple fact that the weather tend to suck that ruin all plans. Ultimately it’s probably just the fact that I’m lazy ;)

I did however not waste the entire summer, I had a couple week-long semi-hollidayish trips, one up north and another one up in the mountains here in southern Norway. I spent some time with friends, had a few laughs, drank some beer and took quite a few images. Most of them crappy as always, luckily just enough keepers to not completely kill off my spirits and enthusiasm!

Back in January after the photo-mania grasped me, I acquired a Nikon D90 DSLR that have been following me around like a faithful dog ever since. I’ve made about 23 000 exposures with it so far and it’s probably my most treasured possession. Now, It’s just a camera, but it’s hard not to get a tiny bit emotionally attached even to a silly piece of plastic when you lug it around as much as I have. I’m sure I’ll eventually wear it out or break it, and in the future I’ll own even more fancy, lean and mean picture making machines, but that trusty D90 will be fondly remembered.

I still have the wonderful Panny LX3 that the missus got me for birthday back in late November and it’s got quite a bit around too. Funny thing is that this have become almost a cult-camera in certain groups, it’s gone out of production now, and a lot of people never got their hands on it because the production volume was so low. Actually, that seems to be a typical property of Panasonic’s most interesting cameras – delivery problems and simply not enough cameras made. I’ll hang on the LX3 and it will serve as a backup and lightweight solution for years to come. It IS a very sexy little machine.

That said, there’s no question about the fact that a SLR and a point ‘n shoot have different abilities and pro’s/con’s. If you’re really after learning and understanding the basics of photography, I believe that an SLR or any other camera that offers you real, direct control of the attributes of the exposure is the best way to go. At least that is my experience after owning and learning with the D90 and LX3 over the last 9 months.

This autumn will be interesting. I’m still doing voluntary work, and I’m likely to spend more time doing it. It can be very rewarding and at least you do something constructive. I will also continue my quest to learn more about photography and improve my skill and knowledge about this massive subject. I have a couple of long-term projects on a scale that I previously have not touched. I will probably write more about these later on as I get them rolling. I think it’s important to try new things and put your back into it, because the only way to become a better photographer is to put yourself in situations where you must utilize, refine and expand your knowledge and skills. At least that’s the theory ;) It might end with a great, big facepalm, but at least I can say “been there, done that”.

Every now and then I also upload some of the pictures I make to this site and I try to show different things, mostly because I haven’t found my niche in photography yet and all flavours are interesting to me and subject of experimentation. I see no reason not to flexible!

Enough jabbering for today, time to snuggle up with the missus and watch an episode of Dirty Jobs :)

Duckling in the Royal Castle Park

Well it’s time to face it, or rather publish it. I’m not going to win any prizes for the most frequently updated blog, always pushing interesting posts on recent events. I suspect mindovermadness.org have slid into the “rarely-updated” category it shares with at least 90 per cent of all other blogs. While I seriously love writing and using words, writing is for me, an all-out process,  demanding, taxing and time-consuming. Also, since last November my life has been about two things, 1. The missus, and 2. Photography.  In fact the only part of this site that really have been more or less frequently updated is the photo galleries.

Now, I don’t really shed any tears over my “failure” as a blogger. Been there, done that, simply another experience added to my CV. That said, mindovermadness.org will be up and running, and chances are that I will change the layout and style of the site to a more photo-bloggish kind, whatever that is. I also cherish the ability to write a post every now and then, regardless if I’m the only reader ;) I hope to use this domain to show both some of my “serious” photo work, and some laidback, private stuff. I spend a lot of time making images, and I simply want to be able to show some of them to people, yet, Flickr and similar does not really tempt me. Especially not when I have a domain. I could perhaps gain a larger audience, but let’s be frank, my photographic adventures are not likely to win any prizes anytime soon.

I photograph because the art and trade fascinates me immensely, and, well to quote Gary Winogrand more or less correctly “..to see how something looks like photographed.”. It’s also that one little thing….far from everything you do, allow you to clearly see the improvements you make. That is one great big plus on behalf of photography in my book. You can (hopefully) see that your skill and vision improve! I think everyone should be able to treat themselves with the feeling of accomplishment every once in a while.

The path to the level of technical and compositional quality I want to master, is long, but still I am confident that even if I haven’t got the greatest skill or ability, I will be fairly technically savvy and accomplished in time. Likely not an artist, but at least a decent photographer. Given my present life situation, time is what I got a lot of and using at least some of it for positive things soothe my consciousness. Besides, we all need passions in our lives, otherwise everything gets pretty dull. Nothing is better than having something you feel is rewarding to focus your energy on.

Now, I’d like to wish my readers a nice summer and a good time. When I’ll be back writing here remains to be seen. New galleries will be added regularly when I have something I’d like to show people.

Yours (whomever you may be),

Sunset over Mjøsa, February 2009

Well, it’s hardly any secret that my blogging efforts have been sort of slow lately. Not because I’ve lost interest in blogging, or that I’ve given up this project, it is just that my mind have been very much occupied with the newest addition to my ever growing pile of interests – photography. Since I got my first camera “in modern time”, I’ve been in a surge of intense interest and fascination for the subject of photography. Countless hours have been spent reading books, forums and websites about almost any aspect of this trade and form of art. I’ve done all kinds of experiments and tests in an attempt to understand how cameras work. To see the difference in settings and techniques and to try to comprehend all the variables. There is little doubt that getting into photography  has awoken some of the more creative sides of my personality and given me a new meaning and focus in my life. I truly love making images and I don’t want to stop as long as I am able to see the marvels of our world projected through the viewfinder.

Now, I do not think, plan or wish to be some professionally acknowledged master of this trade, nor have I any desire to be an artist. For one I fear I’m too old, and also that my “eye” have never been one for design and composition. I’m more the kind of guy that throws stuff together to make a practical, functional solution to a problem. This means that I seriously have to rethink the general modus operandi of my personality if I wish to consistently make “nice” images. I do wish to learn and master the technical aspect of photography and hopefully acquire a minimum of understanding of composition and what makes a great image. Also, I’d very much like to make some images that I, myself find more or less acceptable in quality and beauty. Sometimes I make progress, and more often I realise that I need to go slower, think things really through and use my eyes and mind. I could of course excuse this on account of my poor eyesight but I know that wouldn’t be completely honest. Luckily, as a member of the human species, I share the same characteristics common to our race. I am able to learn and improve, yes I’m confident that there is no reason why I of all men, should remain static, unchangeable in thought and ability.

Lizard, Oslo Reptile Park, February 2009

I must mention that art, in the traditional meaning of the word, paintings, sculptures and so forth, have never really been my thing. Part of it is probably due to my own cultural background. I grew up in a quite average Norwegian middle-class family where art in the fine high-society variety was never a priority. Oh, I was exposed to graphic and sculptural arts such as my fathers and brothers wood carving, or my mothers truly exceptional needlework. The obvious difference from the abstract “fine arts” is of course that what I was exposed to was applied arts, stuff that was pretty and artistic, but still used in everyday life.

Ann Christin Kern, new years eve 2008

Personally, I have always been a man of words, and for me language contains beauty and nuances I can truly understand and comprehend, unlike the (for me) more abstract painting or figure. So, what is it that light my fire when it comes to photography? I think it is the fact that photography both has an artistic side, but also the ability to document and capture moments, which basically is preserving a piece of history. The single greatest interest in my life have been knowing things that happened, or simply put, history. I have have always been strongly attracted to the idea that by knowing the past, you can understand the “now” and perhaps even the future. The patterns and tendencies of history gives us vital clues to how our societies and world will develop. A hundred years from now, a simple picture of a city street with people hurrying off on their own business can provide information of our age and show neuances that by then would otherwise be lost. A picture of a sunset can perhaps give scientists clues on the changes in the atmosphere, but also show the grandeur and intense beauty of this particular sunset in a purely aesthetical perspective. A photo is an instant gateway to a precise and spesific moment in time and space, yet unlike a painting, a photo is more often than not, “realistic”, i,e, the lack of abstract shapes and colors means it is easier for most people to relate to. Simply put, it appears to be real.

Where my own, personal photograpic efforts will take me I do not know yet. What genre or type of photography I might end up focusing on only time will show. The great thing about owning even the simplest of cameras, is that you are free to take pictures of mostly everything. Be it nature and landscapes, animals, portraits, abstract and carefully composed “artsy” scenes or simply everyday life. At the present time, I wish to do it all, the freedom of choice is intoxicating and I constantly have to remind myself that the only limit is my imagination.