Stuttgart

Well it’s all over!

My stay in Germany that is. I head back to NYC tomorrow and I have to say that I am very much looking forward to spending a few weeks in my hometown. Fear not, I have sixteen freshly processed rolls of film that I will edit, scan and post over the coming month so you do have something to look forward to. Bis bald!


Back to where it all began... © Damaso Reyes

Stuttgart

Well it does feel good to be back. I spent the afternoon at the sauna and feel much better after my long train ride from Vienna. Of course as I left Vienna the clouds rolled in and the rain began. As the sun dawned I thought to myself “Ah, I really am back in Germany!”

In all seriousness it is good to be back here at Solitude. I have gotten to see a few of the old fellows that know as well as the staff. I am looking forward to doing a great deal of editing as well as some shooting. Back in America Tuesday is a big day for politics as Texas and Ohio vote for the democratic nominee for President. In the meantime here is your HCB Quote of the Week!


Asylum seekers for Obama. © Damaso Reyes

Avoid making a commotion, just as you wouldn’t stir up the water before fishing. Don’t use a flash out of respect for the natural lighting, even when there isn’t any. If these rules aren’t followed, the photographer becomes unbearably obtrusive. - Henri Cartier-Bresson American Photo", September/October 1997, page: 76

Vienna

It is my last day here in Wien and I am already missing it! Well I still have a few more hours but the weather has been spectacular during the past week and I have really been very productive, so much so that I still have to do some packing. But don’t worry, I will get it all done in time. I really hope I have a chance to come back soon to continue the work I started here. Time, as always, will tell.

In the meantime here are some images of asylum seeker, teacher and university graduate Alisa and her three daughters. She came here almost ten years ago from Chechnya and has been trying to make a life for herself, against all odds, ever since.

“I wish that just once I could feel like a human being.”


A strong woman.© Damaso Reyes


Still happy. © Damaso Reyes


A hidden truth. © Damaso Reyes


Edges. © Damaso Reyes


Living history. © Damaso Reyes

Zürich

Yep, I’m in Zurich for the weekend for a meeting and a little downtime with my friend Philippe. I haven’t been blogging much because I’ve been in the darkroom every day this week processing film. 48 rolls down, less than 20 to go! Of course I still have to scan and edit all that. Plus next week I think I will finally get to start working on the immigration theme of my project, something that may very well take up the rest of my time in Vienna.

While I was in NYC back in December I got to shoot some of the new Tmax 400 film from Kodak. Here’s a snap of my hometown to go with your HCB Quote of the Week!

In photojournalistic reporting, inevitably, you’re an outsider. - Henri Cartier-Bresson
"American Photo", September/October 1997, page: 76


23rd street looking north. © Damaso Reyes

Vienna

Hallo vom Wien and happy new year!


Memphis celebrates in Brooklyn. © Damaso Reyes

I left JFK international airport on the last evening of the year with some reservations. As some of you know traveling does stress me out, especially when I am going to a new city and country. All the unknowns and things you can’t predict tend to weigh heavily on my mind; not to mention trying to get everything done before I head out. I also had a great month in New York. I got to see friends that I had been separated from for a year and spend time in my hometown. I was getting really comfortable but time waits for no man and so I got on my SwissAir flight and took off into the unknown.

The flight itself was fine though I didn’t manage to get any sleep. I landed in Geneva where I had a short layover and then took a tiny turboprop that was so small my head touching the cabin ceiling to Vienna. Snow streaked the runway as we touched down and I already knew from checking the weather that it was going to be much colder than in NYC but I was prepared. The taxi ride into town gave me a chance to glimpse the industrial landscape on the outskirts of town which looked quite peaceful covered by snow.

It took a while to find the right entrance but I finally made it to the MuseumsQuartier where my apartment is. The guard on duty looked a little flummoxed but after consulting several sheets of papers and signing various documents I got my keys and was shown into my apartment. Again I didn’t know what to expect but it is well lit and spacious, I will be very comfortable for the next two months!

Once I unpacked a bit I wandered around the complex, checking out the territory. One nice thing about this fellowship is that I will be in the heart of the city, where in Solitude I was surrounded by natured and had to commute to the city. I am looking forward to doing as much street photography as I can, though it will be pretty cold.

Tomorrow I will go shopping and run some errands so I hope to give you a little better sense of the city. Until then, bis bald!

Brooklyn

It’s like slipping on a pair of old gloves, being back in New York. As I mentioned to a friend it’s nice to walk around a city where you don’t need a map to find your way. Seeing friends and family has been a lot of fun and I feel that I am right back into my comfort zone after spending the better part of a year as an “auslander.”


In living color. © Damaso Reyes

The night before I left I was describing New York to someone who has never been there.

Intense
Tough
Fast paced
Noisy
Occasionally smelly
Self assured
Crowded
Direct
Diverse
Unique

After listing the various attributes of my home town I suddenly realized that many of these same adjectives apply to me. While it shouldn’t have been it was a little surprising but I really am a child of this city. My rough edges annoy many people; my directness is sometimes seen as being rude; my self assuredness is mistaken for arrogance. Much like the city most people have very strong feeling about me, usually love or hate, there is very little in between.

And like New York I am okay with all of this. This is me, this is who I am. Yeah, I have my faults but I don’t want my life to center around pleasing other people. I think it is important for us to be who we are, after all wasn’t it Shakespeare who wrote:

“To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”

I remember first reading Hamlet in high school and how much my English teacher emphasized this line. The reason why we are still reading this more than four hundred years later is because the truth in it is so elemental. It’s not just that this is who I am; this is who I have to be. Like it or not I hope that you respect it.

Paris

Well my adventure here comes to an end! I am making my way back to Stuttgart this morning after an incredible six days here in Paris. I saw so much art, ate so much good food and yes, met so many nice people! Special thanks to Marie, Gregoire and Matthias for putting me up and showing me around town. I really feel a connection to this city and I am looking forward to coming back soon and often!









Cloud series. © Damaso Reyes

Paris


The River Seine. © Damaso Reyes

It’s hard to know where to start! First, I completely understand why so many American artists have fallen in love with this city, it truly is beautiful. You can tell the difference between Germany and France as soon as you step on board the TGV. A little nicer, a little more stylish, a little more comfortable, it was a smooth and pleasant three and a half hour ride. I was staying with some friends in the 13th Arrondissement, a very pleasant part of town. Yesterday the jury of the photo festival met and we spent much of the morning arguing about photos. We managed to narrow it down to about ten but we will come together again on Friday to pick the winners. This is the second jury I have been a part of an each time I feel like I understand the process a bit better. While it is great to have a diverse jury; on our panel we had photographers, gallerists and industry executives, it can also be frustrating. Most of the time the winners are more compromises than anything else although I think that we have agreed on the first place winner, which is very strong indeed.


Stained Glass. © Damaso Reyes


Cross. © Damaso Reyes


Candles. © Damaso Reyes


Brought to you by the letter H. © Damaso Reyes

I spent the rest of the day wandering about. I walked along the Seine, visited Notre Dame and just took in the place. One thing I love about Paris is that it truly is a walking city, much like New York.


Facade. © Damaso Reyes

Today I spent the day hitting several museums including the Louvre and the Pompidou, which left me exhausted. You could spend weeks just going to all the museums and galleries in this city. The more time I spend here the more I think it would be a nice place to live for a little while, assuming I could find a way to pay for it!

I also saw that big tower they have here…


© Damaso Reyes

Stuttgart

I am off to Paris for the first time this afternoon! I will be on the jury of the Aella Foto Latino festival as well as taking some time to explore and photograph the city. I look forward to telling you all about my adventures; have fun while I am gone!

Stuttgart

So I arrived back in Solitude yesterday after a nice train ride from Berlin. Some of the faces have changed since July but the house remains as I left it, warm and inviting and I have already managed a short walk in the woods! I am very happy to be back in this environment after a busy two months in Berlin. I hope the next two months will be productive, if a bit slower. I am still debating whether or not to head over to Munich later this week to catch the end of Oktoberfest, let me know what you think I should do. Tomorrow I will head to the sauna for some much needed rest and relaxation!


Back to basics. © Damaso Reyes

Leipzig


The View from a bridge. © Damaso Reyes

Well it has been a busy two and a half days here in Dresden and Leipzig! It was great to meet up with the other Burns fellows here in Germany, some of whom I hadn’t seen since July. Our time here in the east has been both social and educational but fun all throughout.


History, remade. © Damaso Reyes


Sword and Shield of the Party. © Damaso Reyes

On Friday afternoon we met with a representative of the Stasi archives, Michael Beleites. The Ministry for State Security, as the German secret police were known has files on a huge percentage of the East German population and when the East German government finally collapsed there was a great deal of discussion about what to do with the millions of files that the Stasi has not managed to destroy. A law was finally passed which allowed people to view their own Stasi file and learn who was informing on them and how their lives had been affected by the state. Nearly twenty years later people are still applying to view their files and the historians are still working to piece together those files which had been partially destroyed.

Later that day we went further back into German history and visited the Green Vault, one of Europe’s most amazing treasure chambers.


Saturday brought us to Leipzig by train where we heard singing in one of the city’s historic churches and then went to the Leipziger Baumwollspnnerei, an old textile mill which has been converted into shops and artists studios. While wandering around I stumbled into the workshop of Philipp Neumann, a young German guitar maker. His innovative handcrafted masterpieces have a sounds that has to be heard in order to believe and luckily for me two master guitarists happened to be in his studio and playing. I spent about an hour drinking wine, photographing and listening to great music. A tough life, I know but I am willing to make certain sacrifices for my work!


Philipp, master guitar maker. © Damaso Reyes


Herr Jochen shares his passion. © Damaso Reyes

To wrap this up today we had a tour of the Museum in der “Runden Ecke” which was the Stasi headquarters in Leipzig. It was incredible to hear about how they operated in the very building we were standing in, less than twenty years ago. We saw the equipment the used and how they systematically observed and oppressed the East German people. It is a true wake up call for those who might be tempted to glamorize that period in history.


Father of the Revolution. © Damaso Reyes


Inside the house of terror. © Damaso Reyes


The Map. © Damaso Reyes


Prison Cell. © Damaso Reyes


No place you wanted to be. © Damaso Reyes

This week will be quite busy for me as I try to wrap up a few stories that I have been working on for Vanity Fair. I only have two weeks left in Berlin and I will try to make the most of them!

Berlin

Tomorrow I head out with the other American Burnsies to Dresden, where we will have our midterm meeting. It is a chance for us to talk about our fellowships, compare notes and make suggestions. We will also have a chance to see a bit of Eastern Germany and the city made famous in Slaughterhouse V. So I will catch up with you guys over the weekend and let you know how everything went…


No time for sleep, Dresden is waiting! © Damaso Reyes

Kassel

Is modernity our antiquity?
What is bare life?
What is to be done?

These are the three questions that the curators and organizers of Documenta 12 say the show is organized around. I think you can guess what my response was.


Stuffed Giraffe anyone? © Damaso Reyes

I spent most of today wandering around the five different sites of the show with my friend Anu, who is in town from San Francisco. At least I wasn’t alone in my disbelief and disappointment. Ever since I was a fresh faced undergraduate art student in New York I had heard about Documenta, the fabulous art show held every five years in Germany which broke new ground and introduced the world to artists who would change the art scene.


Shiny art is my favorite kind. © Damaso Reyes

If Doucmenta was ever like that it certainly isn’t today.


You will respect my authority! © Damaso Reyes

If the artists weren't dead or the art wasn’t made twenty, thirty or forty years ago, then the work was almost universally bad both in execution and content. While we were walking through yet another gallery filled with pretentious post-modern art, Anu proposed the theory that the curators were displaying so much bad politically inspired art to subvert the good art that is being created and thereby reinforce what is currently popular in the art world.


Bad Art! Bad! © Damaso Reyes

I can’t say that I disagree.


Harvey Keitel makes an appearance, for no good reason. © Damaso Reyes

Of course there were some very good pieces, but they were few and far between. Anu and I were in agreement that much of the best work was by artists from the developing world. Most of the new work from American and European artists was either derivative or badly made. Most frustrating for me was the fact that there was a good deal of work by artists who were either already dead or who gained fame decades ago. The show seemed to be more of a celebration of the sixties and seventies than of work inspired by today’s world.


Finally we find something we kinda like! © Damaso Reyes

A few people seem to agree.


Compared to the giraffe, this is pure genius, don't you think? © Damaso Reyes

All of this left me with some very mixed feelings. On the one hand I feel like what is en vogue in the art world today is very different from what I am producing and that fact will make it even harder for my work to gain anything resembling acceptance. On the other hand so much of the work I saw in Kassel was God-awful that I feel like there must be space for well executed art that is rich in content.

One can only hope!


I can't believe our long national nightmare is finally over! © Damaso Reyes

Berlin

So tomorrow I head down to Kassel for a few days to check out the Documenta art exhibition. Hard to believe that I have already been here in Berlin for a month and only have thirty days left to go. It never stops seeming strange to me how time can move both so quickly and so slowly. On the plus side I will be working and hopefully wrapping up a few stories for Vanity Fair this month and I will make sure to keep you post with all the details.


Protestor. © Damaso Reyes

Since you won’t be hearing from me for the next few days I thought I would post some images from my trip down to New Orleans in February 2006. This weekend of course is the 2nd anniversary of Hurricane Katrina hitting the Crescent City and I traveled there six months later to document the first Mardi Gras after the storm and the state of the city. Below you will also find links to some articles I published as well.


Mayor Ray Nagin. © Damaso Reyes


A destroyed sports car. © Damaso Reyes


Dancer. © Damaso Reyes


Derek Beard, a Mardi Gras Indian.


Read the Articles

After the Storm: New Orleans in Transition

Black Small Businesses Struggle to Survive

New Orleans and the Death of the American Dream

Berlin

So Thursday I head back to Solms!

Yes, I will be going back to Leica HQ, this time to interview Steven K. Lee, the CEO of Leica Camera for a profile that I am doing for Vanity Fair Germany. It took a little convincing but I am glad that my bosses decided to go with the story; it should be pretty exciting to talk with the man at the helm of one of photography’s most important companies. As a recent member of the Leica club it will be an exciting opportunity to check out the view from inside…


© Damaso Reyes

Let me know if you have anything you want me to ask him!