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Berlin

  • August 28, 2016/
  • Posted By : Douglas Vautour/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Travel

I love Berlin.

I know that’s probably commercial and trite to say that by this point in 2016, but I can’t help it. I just love the cute little bastard.

Berlin Pride - Fabulous

Berlin – Simply Adorbs

And I say bastard, with nothing but love, because really, it is the odd one out in Europe. It stands out from other German cities with its grit, from other European cities with its sense of order. It’s still at odds with itself, too, at least a little bit. East vs West weakly manifesting in street-light colour, trams and graffiti. A lot of contrasts. It’s usually super mellow but easily annoyed. It’ll drive a moderately expensive (and responsible) German car, but eat a 3 euro döner for diner. It can wear what it wants, but it always ends up wearing black.

It’s a bit complicated, but it’s always ready to put up with your or anyone else’s shit. It’s a good listener. You gotta respect that.

Park Graffiti

Park Graffiti

I’ll be the first one to admit that I’m late to the Berlin train, or even the Europe train. I’ve been mostly in Asia for the last 15 years, but from the few cities I’ve seen in Europe, I’d have to say Berlin is my favourite by far. For once in a long time, It made me feel like I could fit in, or that anyone could fit in if they just spent some time there. I spent three weeks in July/August 2016 sharing an apartment in Friedrichshain, on a quiet street, with a few bars and a park with a soccer pitch. Two doors down was an Wagenleben (Car living?) commune called Rummelplatz, that sometimes held shows to raise money for expenses. (Being German, they have a website, and a schedule posted online.) Next to that was an art gallery, and what I think was a tech company. Suits and dreads mixed with the occasional soccer team, and everyone seemed to be fine for it.

Just as long as you didn’t walk in the bike lane. That’ll get you yelled at, and maybe assaulted. Seriously.

Buchstabenmuseum - E

Buchstabenmuseum – E

In the city, there’s always something or someone to see. The above photo is from the Museum of Rescued Letters, a project documenting signs and signage fonts in Germany and around the world. It’s in a series of cubby holes under one of the S-Bahn lines. I wouldn’t have known of it without the help of Atlas Obscura. And the whole city is like that. Every corner has something new and weird. Like a store that only sells stuffed dolls in the shape of deli meats. (This is real. It’s on the south side of Boxhagener Strasse 1-3 blocks east of Simon-Dach Strasse.) Or a rail yard storage facility converted into a city of bars, clubs, and open-air movie theaters. (Cassiopeia is amazing.) Or play houses that only seat like 10 people.

Dörte, my music and photography connection, told me something to the effect of “Berlin sucks up all your energy, or you’re doing it wrong.” She’s right. I left exhausted.

Hopefully I’ll get to go back soon.

 


Why I Love Live Show Photography

  • June 11, 2016/
  • Posted By : Douglas Vautour/
  • 0 comments /
  • Under : Bands
Out of all the different kinds of photography that I’m willing to talk about in public, I’m most interested in shooting live performances. There’s something about the lights, the stage, the movement of the musicians, even the (absolutely magical) smell of the fog machine, that tends to draw me to the live halls of Seoul a few times a month.

Suhyun Kim - DTSQ

Suhyun Kim – DTSQ

But the Smell of Cancer Future aside, over the last few years, I’ve learned a lot about myself as a photographer and my reasons for liking it. Here is a list.

1. Awesome & Not So Awesome Lighting

Live halls spend all sorts of dosh on making an inviting (or at least tolerable) environment for guests which, along with the terrifying logistics of bring a lot of gear into a room of drunken revelers, really simplifies your workflow for taking interesting photos. At most shows, I quickly figure out how often I can use a flash without annoying the performer, and then roll with what I have. Places with a lot of light make smooth and gooey black and whites, darker places make you appreciate grain for what it is.

Grey Watson and Ollie Walker looking silky smooth.

Grey Watson and Ollie Walker looking silky smooth.

Learning how the lighting of a place interacts with your camera takes time and it also an fun little road trip in itself. At Freebird, a club in Hongdae with an advanced LED light system, or any show with stage projection, higher shutter speeds will interact with these lights and projectors in unintended ways. The way some modern DSLRs work at high shutter speeds, the top of any high speed photo taken actually occurred a fraction of a second before the bottom. With LED lights, the color of light may change over the course of the exposure causing horizontal bands of differently coloured light to appear on the screen. With projection, high shutter speeds will cause a rainbow coloured blur with no trace of the original projected image. Really fun to mess around with.

Led Lighting

Led Lighting

Projection

Projection

2. It’s a challenge, or it’s super easy?

Street photographers, along with people like brain surgeons, French pastry chefs, and emergency first responders are the people I look up to the most in life. On the street, no one knows who you are, or what you do. No one owes you anything, and you have to really work for each and every shot you want to capture. I mean, take a look a this guy. This guy is amazing. He has to be on the bus/train every day in Zhengshou, probably to and from work, taking photo after photo to get these amazing shots. It’s him against the world, and he’s doing it up right.

Angie - Wasted Johnny's

Angie – Wasted Johnny’s

In concert photography, it always seems to be one of two extremes. Either the crowd and the performers are playing to you so you can get a few good shots, or it’s kinda like being on the street, but where everyone and everything is actively working to destroy your shot (read: hopes and dreams). A night with a memory card full of focal misses, misplaced mic stands and poorly anticipated movement is my worst nightmare, and has happened on more than one occasion. I should be clear though, just like on the street, no one, especially in the crowd, owes you anything, and you really have no right to demand anything from them. They’ve (likely) paid for a show, and that’s what they should get. So, I stick to the shadows, or to rowdier shows where no one cares about what the photographer is doing.

3. It makes you part of a community.

I never really thought I would continue to take photos of the Seoul indie community for as long as I have, but it just kinda stuck. I enjoy it, I’ve made friends with a number of musicians and venue owners, and people generally seem to enjoy what I take. (Generally.) In fact, I’m constantly amazed by how awesome the music and art communities in Korea have been. It’s probably the main reason why photography has stuck when other activities didn’t.

Well, that and the wish that we may one day be cool enough to be on Vice.

One day.


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Douglas Vautour Photography - All photos CC-BY-NC 4.0 unless stated otherwise.