Category Archives: Photoessays

Photo Essay: Cliff Jumper, Galle Fort, Sri Lanka

June 18, 2020 by Stephan Russenschuck | 2 Comments

A run, a jump, and a dive into chest-deep water, more jumps from rocks lower down, and a climb back to the top of the ramparts of the Dutch Fort in Galle, Sri Lanka.

First, I thought it was a crazy idea to pay $ 20 for an attraction that would risk someone’s life for a photo. I have been doing this since I was 15, says Asanka, 26, who could almost be Bob Marley’s son. Other jobs are hard to come by, he says, while showing me his portfolio with the details of his jumps. And many people just try to sneak an image without paying.

Checking out the viewpoint and lighting, I took a number of portrait shots of Asanka and made an appointment for the next morning. No one had yet obstructed the jumper’s start-up track to the edge of the rampart. I had prepared myself to calculate the flight time and check the buffer depth of the camera.

The viewpoint was obvious, and after a quick test for focus and exposure, Asanka took off his slippers, sped up, and took off like an eagle. SR

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Altiplano Watercolors

May 19, 2020 by Stephan Russenschuck | 1 Comment

When the sun goes behind the clouds, many photographers pack away their cameras. But there is no bad light if only one finds a subject to match. Soft light is perfect for landscape photography during an overcast day or after sunset looking east (which implies shooting at “sunset point” in the morning*). Soft light is also beautiful for portraits, except perhaps for very rugged men.

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The Sheltering Desert

April 4, 2020 by Stephan Russenschuck | 0 Comments

From Ansel Adams and Eliot Porter to David Muench, many photographers have been attracted by the desert landscape.

The main reasons that I love the desert are its simplicity, quality of light due to low humidity in the air, and the ability to get away from the masses; if only you hike a mile. The absence of vegetation reveals the underlying geological structures; the bare bones of Earth laid out in front of us.

On a recent trip, we almost got trapped because of Covid-19 travel restrictions. For a second, I considered renting a campervan (aka RV) and hiding in The Sheltering Dessert. This is the title of a book by Henno Martin (1910-1998), a German professor of geology who, along with Hermann Korn and their dog named Otto, lived for two years in the Namib desert.

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The End of the Dollar Sadhus

January 18, 2020 by Stephan Russenschuck | 0 Comments

The Pashupatinath temple complex, located on the banks of the Bagmati River is on every visitor’s itinerary when stopping over in Kathmandu, either on the way to or from a trekking tour.

According to the legend, Shiva and his companion Parvati were so delighted with the place that they took the form of gazelles and enjoyed themselves in the hills by the river, thus the name Pahsipahti, which literally means “lord of the animals”.  Already in the 5th century the kings of Nepal took the holy place under their care and expanded the temple complex with the Shiva temple as the main sanctuary (access strictly restricted to Hindus), as well as numerous secondary temples, hostels, kitchens, hospices, and cremation sites (ghats). Nothing is more worth living for a Hindu than to die and be burned in this place, as it is said that anyone who is cremated here goes directly to Nirvana. The ghats upstream were formerly reserved for the higher casts, the lower casts had to use the ghats downstream of the bridge. Until a few years ago, pilgrims also took a bath in the river, but it is now so polluted that even the hard-boiled no longer dare to do that.

For the Hindus from Nepal, a trip to Pashupatinath may replace a trip to Varanasi in India. It is therefore also a place that attracts Sadhus, the holy men that are walking the earth, smoking marijuana and hashish to gain religious illumination and liberation from the reincarnation cycle. By default, they have no wishes, no friends, and no enemies. The Shiva followers paint three horizontal lines on the forehead, the Vishnu devotees paint three vertical stripes in white-red-white for the deities Ram, Sita, and Laxman. Others rub their body with ashes that represent their death to the worldly life.

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The Color Balance of the Night Sky

July 1, 2019 by Stephan Russenschuck | 0 Comments

Night sky over the Altiplano. Composite image of two exposures: One with and one without the star tracker. Nikon D850, 28 f/1.4 G at f/2, 30 seconds.

On a recent trip to the Altiplano of Bolivia and Chile I took along a star tracker. This was appropriate for a place, world famous for deep-sky astronomy, star gazing, and night-sky photography. The air is dry (at around 10% relative humidity), there is very little light pollution and the cold temperatures at altitudes above 4000 m prevent air stratification. In addition, the night-sky on the Southern hemisphere contains interesting objects, such as the Magellanic Clouds, and the Omega Centauri Cluster.

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The Last Sheet of Quickload (Part 1)

June 25, 2019 by Stephan Russenschuck | 0 Comments

Linhof Technika with the last sheet of Quickload about to be exposed. Notice the envelope retracted from the holder.

On a view camera a sheet of film must be loaded into a holder. This can be done in the complete darkness of a proper dark-room, in some odd, windowless hotel bathroom, or using a film-changing tent. After the camera has been set up and focused, the holder is inserted into the camera, the dark slide removed from the holder, and the exposure is made. The dark slide is then reinserted, and the film holder removed from the camera.

The standard (Riteway, Fidelity, and Toyo, among others) film holders hold two sheets, one on each side of the pressure plate. The Grafmatic holders held six individual sheets but they were not very reliable. Consequently, one has/had to carry multiple film holders, extra sheet film, the changing tent, and an empty box to store the exposed film. This kind of nuisance kept me away from the view camera for some time.

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Rust

June 14, 2019 by Stephan Russenschuck | 0 Comments

Cementerio de trenes, Uyuni, Bolivia

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy. Matthew 6:19.

Rust consists of hydrated iron oxides Fe2O3and iron oxide-hdroxide Fe(OH)3. With sufficient time, oxygen, and water, any object made of iron will convert entirely to rust and disintegrate, because the porous surface layer provides no protection to the underlying metal parts.

Rust is also a metaphor for more general forms of decay (such as in “Rust Belt”, denoting an area of the American Midwest that has experienced economic cutbacks) or it may be associated with (an image of) faded glory.

Having photographed an abandoned whaling station in South Georgia, the train cemetery in Uyuni, Bolivia, wracked cars, and rotten steel doors, yielded a body of work that merits its dedicated gallery; “Rust” in the Themes section.

Check it out here.  SR.

 

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Animitas

June 11, 2019 by Stephan Russenschuck | 0 Comments

Case study 1: Animita, San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

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Animitas are abundant along Chilean highways. These shrines to the victims of car accidents are not graves but mark the spot where the body was separated from the soul.* It is believed that the souls may still wander around and therefore be able to interact with the visitors to these sites.

Animitas combine Christian symbols with secular memorials and other artefacts, in some case the wracked car. There are also animitas for marking other types of violent death, and for this reason the Catholic Church does not officially recognize animitas.

As animitas are often seen shoulder to shoulder, they indicate that it be very dangerous to travel on the roads in Chile and speed limits are taken as mere recommendations. Indeed, the WHO estimated death rate of 12.5 per 100 000 population per year is the highest rate among the OECD members; compare that to a rate of 2.7 in Switzerland.

I captured this small series of images around San Pedro de Atacama, where long steep grades allure drivers to speeding, while the break pads are overheating.

* The word animita comes from the Chilean word “anima”, that is, “soul” in English.

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Portraits of the Revolution

March 2, 2019 by Stephan Russenschuck | 0 Comments

Portraits of the Revolution, 2016

The northern districts of Havana are an architectural treasure of colonial style, neoclassic, art deco, Spanish baroque, modernism and, surprisingly little brutalism. The 50 years of neglect have preserved Havana as a unique place without the architectural atrocities found so often in our modern cities. This architectural heritage, the abundance of American cars from the 1950s, and the life and character of its inhabitants make Havana one of the visually richest and photo-friendliest places to visit. At first sight, one has the impression that nothing ever changes; some of your images may have been shot last week or fifty years ago. But change happens, some of which I was, unintendedly, able to capture in a series of images.

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Two Photo Matrices

December 1, 2018 by Stephan Russenschuck | 0 Comments

Baywatch. Miami Beach, Florida, USA. Click to enlarge.

This post is not about linear algebra in digital-image processing, written as matrix operations, but matrices of images of a similar subjects, texture, or color; a special type of conceptual photography.

Some genres of photography, such as macro, landscape, architecture, and sport are easy to identify. Portraits are more difficult to categorize, coming as head-shots or environmental portraits, candid or arranged, as part of the street photography genre or as studio work for commercial purposes.

Conceptual photography is an even more ambiguous concept. A photo is said to be conceptual if it is used to illustrate a specific idea, helps to communicate a message, and tells a story with a single image.

But Bernd and Hilla Becher are also ranked among the conceptual photographers. They are best known for their series or of images, for example, water towers, gas tanks, and blast furnaces, organized in arrays of 9 to 16 images. I have found this type of photography at the same time challenging and easy. Challenging, because it requires a family of objects that are sufficiently uniform to work as a series, and yet diverse enough to remain interesting. Easy, because each single image is not required to stand on its own, which in turn relaxes somewhat the need for composition and technical perfection, the latter simply because each of the images can be printed smaller.

The Bechers have said that they try to arrange shapes and render them comparable. To do so, the objects are isolated from their context and freed from all association. Consequently, their shooting style is based on strict procedural rules including a standardized format, frontal view, absence of human presence, and identical lighting.

Going not quite so far, what I denote as photo matrices has found its way into galleries and poster shops, for example, “Doors of Marrakesh” and “Cats of Santorini“. At a recent trip to Florida (USA) and Havana (Cuba) I could not resist. Now I just need to find some wall space and someone who tells me the brand and model of the cars. SR

 

Americans in Havana, La Habana, Cuba. Click to enlarge.

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Stacked Arctic Landscapes

August 22, 2018 by Stephan Russenschuck | 0 Comments

Balancing rock: Kollorsuaq, Greenland, 16 mm, f/8, stack of 6 images

I’m back from an expedition cruise to the Baffin Bay high up in the Arctic between Canada and Greenland, a trip that brought me back to the roots as a landscape photographer.

Landscapes have been my exclusive subjects for more than 20 years when shooting film with a 4×5 view camera. Landscapes require detail. A beautiful scene, matching light (there is no such thing as bad light as everything boils down to finding a subject that matches the light), a solid composition, and exceptional detail in both the shadows and the highlights can create another level of viewing pleasure; the finished print revealing more detail than was perceivable with the naked eye.

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Photoessay: Swiss Surprise Championship

July 10, 2018 by Stephan Russenschuck | 0 Comments

Swiss Surprise Championship

I know nothing about sailing, except that if the air flows along a curved path (sailing close-hauled), there will be a pressure gradient perpendicular to the flow direction, which together with the keel resisting the lateral forces, causes the boat to sail upwind. But there is theory and practice; in a once and never again attempt I drifted to the other side of a small lake and had to walk back.

Though it helps to know something of your subject (and the rules of a regatta) before taking up a photographic assignment, it can be fun to get out of your comfort zone. There is no such concept as slowing down, to which I normally adhere to, when you stand on an unstable zodiac, the subjects are moving, and you must compose and focus hoping not to be washed overboard with the equipment around your neck.

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Concours d’Elegance Suisse with the Nikon D850

June 30, 2018 by Stephan Russenschuck | 0 Comments

Under a far too bright sun (from a photographer’s point of view), the classic car competition “Concours d’Elegance Suisse” at the Château de Coppet attracted 85 historic cars classified in 15 categories, all defined by a Jury that is also involved in the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este in Italy and the Pebble Beach Competition in the USA.

While the 60th anniversary of the legendary Aston Martin DB4 and the Ferrari 250 GT Coupe Pininfarina were celebrated by two dedicated classes, the exhibition also included gems such as the Hispano Suiza H6B, Delage D8-120, Bugatti Type 57 S, and the Mercedes-Benz 500K, among others.

This event was a good occasion to bring out my new Nikon D850. Shiny cars in the bright sun are indeed a torture test for the camera’s dynamic range. Judged in many reviews as perhaps the best (last) DSLR on the market, it is surprising that the D850 is still not on stock everywhere. And with the recent QA problems, I had to wait until I could test the flange and sensor alignment in the shop – before pulling out the credit card.

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The Real and the Fake Fishermen of Sri Lanka

May 1, 2018 by Stephan Russenschuck | 0 Comments

Browsing for locations to photograph in Sri Lanka, one quickly comes across the photo by Steve McCurry, taken in 1995, which shows stilt fishermen off the Sri Lankan south coast. I am not ashamed to admit that this image put Sri Lanka on my bucket list.

As the world increasingly aspires to the same globalized modernity that diminishes cultural diversity, I am drawn to old practices and traditions and to see them with my own eyes/camera before they disappear.

Having visited some other locations in Asia (in particular in Myanmar) I know that McCurry has staged at least some of his images, though I am not sure if the stilt fishermen were already mere tourist attractions in 1995. Today, they definitely are.

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Photoessay: Semana Santa

April 8, 2018 by Stephan Russenschuck | 0 Comments

Semana Santa, Granada. Alhambra brotherhood.

Spain is famous for its Holy Week (Semana Santa) traditions. It’s a tribute to the passion of Jesus by Catholic brotherhoods, with processions on the streets of almost every Spanish city during the week before Easter. The brotherhoods have their origins in the Middle Ages, though a number of them were created later during the baroque period.

Elaborately decorated floats (pasos) with wood or plaster sculptures of Jesus and Virgin Mary are carried through the streets from their parish church to the cathedral and back. The Pasos can weigh up to five metric tons. In front of them walk the Penitentes, dressed in long robes, followed by women in black carrying candles, groups of Nazarenos, and brass bands comprising up to a hundred persons. Good Friday (commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus) is the climax, when the processions leave the churches at midnight and arrive at the cathedral at about 2:30 in the morning.

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The Colors of Mexico

March 25, 2018 by Stephan Russenschuck | 2 Comments

On a recent trip to the colonial cities around Mexico City and on the Yucatan peninsula, I was blown away by the colors in the cities and villages. In Europe, nobody would paint a house in saturated pink, blue, or orange, and in most places, this is even forbidden*.

Mexican culture, in general, is bursting with color, from vivid-colored textiles and folk art to buildings in a large color palette. But it wouldn’t fit if I simply posted some colorful images of a recent trip. There is almost always a technical aspect to discuss. This time, it’s the oversaturated colors due to wrong camera calibration and/or RAW converters serving the demand for vivid-looking images.

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Photoessay: Carnival of Venice

February 19, 2018 by Stephan Russenschuck | 3 Comments

Carnival of Venice. Model: Florine Houee

There are good reasons that 30 million tourists visit Venice every year. But one can avoid the masses by staying away from the Rialto Bridge and Piazza San Marco, visiting in winter, or strolling around between 4:30 and 8:00 in early June, before the monstrous cruise ships disgorge up to 40 thousand people into the city.

On a morning in the Cannaregio, Dorsoduro, and Giudecca, neighbourhoods remote from the congested areas, one can still catch a glimpse of the authentic way Venetian’s go about their business. But the expectation of serious overcrowding had kept me away from visiting the place during Carnival.

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Enhancing Image Quality by Oversampling

November 26, 2017 by Stephan Russenschuck | 0 Comments

Pantheon, Paris, France

Getting rid of digital noise in a single picture often leads to a loss of image detail. Noise is traded against smudge. On the other hand, astronomers have long been using computational imaging techniques for low-noise photography. What distinguishes the approaches in this area, versus techniques used on a single exposure, is the fact that adding and averaging data reduces noise without giving up on image detail.

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Photoessay: Iceland from Above

November 6, 2017 by Stephan Russenschuck | 0 Comments

River bed of the Tungnaa, Iceland.

Iceland has to offer the most abstract landscapes in Europe, short of some areas in the Italian Dolomites. The country has every photographic cliche and wonders you could want; mountains, waterfalls, river beds, glaciers, and lava fields. It’s a place of rugged beauty and extreme weather conditions, blessed with an amazing quality of light.

In August, golden light lasts for 4-5 hours* so that there is no rush. But it also means that you have to stay up late and get out early in the morning. At least photography doesn’t clash with dinner and breakfast.

There is direct sun but your prefer a cloud to create soft light? Just wait a few minutes. Dark clouds and rain add mystery to the landscape, while shortly after, they let some rays peak through to create a rainbow. There is good light almost anytime during the day.  Iceland is indeed a paradise for photographers.

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Fossography

September 8, 2017 by Stephan Russenschuck | 0 Comments

Gullfoss, Iceland. Nikon D810, Nikkor 28 f/1.4, at f/11, 4 s, ISO 50. Composite image with focus stack on foreground. 6-stop ND filter.

I never understood why waterfalls grab the hearts and minds of so many photographers. Go to any location that advertises a waterfall and it is guaranteed that there will be a large parking space, lots of cars, and buses with their engines idling. Masses of people, often out of shape, hike along a trail. The first action when the lookout point is reached is to pull out a camera and photograph the falls. In post-processing the images are cropped just above the pool, around which the fellow visitors had their picnic.

More recently, a popular thing seems to be “dying for a selfie”; people standing extremely close with their back on the brink of a fall, trying to get the best perspective of themselves leaning over the gorge.

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