Goodbye 2015, goodbye Luxembourg! It's been nice

I'm leaving Luxembourg in an hour and I can only say that this visit was what I needed to calm down and think things through. The snow, calm streets, and boredom around here are a blessing. Our family friends also. It's been fun, and filling and a good rest for the days that will follow.

One thing I've done around here is a bizarre sort of pilgrimage. I've recognized recently that I have an obsession with parts of my past, one that can be moving but also bothering, one that can't let you move on with your life at times. Take Luxembourg for instance; once I haven't come for a long time, I start dreaming about it. So, I'm trying to send away the tigers with what I know how to express my feelings best with: photography. I've followed a path that I loved to take and took photos on the way. And here is the series Kirchberg.

 

 

 

 

It's the start of a project I've named back road (though I think I might change it's name). It's very personal, for a change. And it will probably have a continuation. Because there are many tigers to send away. Plus, the memory that needs to be nurtured, based on, created from, killed. All of those in the same time. Ain't that wonderful.

 

Ps. My foul mood of the last month has greatly changed here. But, as a dearest friend says, problems don't magically disappear. You need to work on them. And I'm in the mood for that.

Shiny looks, empty contents

Christmas is the period where everyone tends to be a little showy. Shiny outfits, glamorous situations, cozy homes, perfect families, the best photo under the mistletoe. Even if you won't be able to spend the rest of the month, the turkey shall always decorate the table. And in the end, there's nothing more dreadful than the family table, full of people who are trying too much, who are exhausted from their everyday lives, who don't even want to be with each other, having useless fights.

I'm being quite the antisocial lately, I know. But if you get beyond all that showiness, you can arrive to things that really matter. Like, who is really close to you, who you can have meaningful relationships with and what makes you calm, what are the reasons for you to carry on.

I'm in the country where I grew up and I feel calm and collected. And preparing for what comes next...

Happy holidays everyone.

Nostalgia

The internet can be a bit shitty sometimes, especially when you haven't had it for so long. For me, it's been a trip to my memory's pits. And suddenly, you're back in primary school. The place you grew up in, your first heartbeats (and not only innocent ones), the scenery. Even though your body remains in Ermoupolis, Syros.

And thus, I realize that change also brings the need to solidify the basics. And that it's big time to visit the place that raised me.

Goodbye 2012. It's been nice.

As years go by and you get sceptical (and less presents) you start wondering if the end of the year is such a big deal. "So this was Christmas, and what have we done?". With the end of Santa Claus and school holidays and believing in strange coincidences you sober up. At least you're supposed to. Then why the fuss? Why did I feel that the world was ending and had to turn it all over (and don't tell me it's because of 21/12. I always knew it was bullocks)? It's a mystery to me. But if you've felt the same, share, please. So that I ain't the only one paranoid. Tomorrow will be another day.
So, in the end, how was 2012? not boring. But not nearly enough satisfying. We're not done here. So, happy 2013. And be sure that it won't be happy if you don't move your asses and do anything for that.

PS. Maybe this year I'll stop believing in new years resolutions and start doing them. really.

Home again

I've returned to the country I was brought up in for the holidays. I havent been positively anxious the whole night and utterly enthusiastic when arriving. But I feel like I left just yesterday, even though it's been two years since the last time I've been here. Even though I met beggars here for the first time of my life. Even though I ain't got my own house here. It feels like a warm, welcoming home. And for now, I want to do nothing but eat and sleep. Talk again after I've done that...

Thinking about Luxembourg

People that won't notice you

Street photography is a thing I've always been afraid of. To intrude in the privacy of other people. Even though I've done it in multiple ways (in good ways only). So even when I shoot in the streets, I try to be as discrete as possible. With my big strange cameras though this becomes an issue. So I shoot people when they don't look at me.

New year's eve

I normally wouldn't post this picture, but it challenges my eye. It is a posed portrait of a woman and her three daughters. The three of them look like her in a different way and they make a troubling sight, but a nice one indeed.

Luxembourg, the sequel

I developed one of the two rolls of film I shot in Luxembourg (plus some photos in my retina that won't appear in public if I don't find a light meter). The results were average : many whoopie travel pictures but amongst them some good ones. I completely love this one, without being able to define why.

There is a country, other than the one I currently live in, that I hold dear. It's the country where I grew up. Luxembourg.
There's a strange feeling that I have when I return there. Every time I see something changed, I feel disappointment. Regardless if the changes are for the best (which I don't think, anyway) I'd like it to remain the same as when I left. Seing the once bare fields filled with ultra-modern malls brings a frown to my face. And what about you? How do you feel when the place where you grew up changes?
I came here, having in mind to photograph this place, the things I feel here. But right now, I feel the emergency to do it. Because if I wait another 10 or even 2 years it will be less the place I used to know.
Be ready.