While Waiting for Godot.

Berlin Black and White. Screenshot.

While doing a bit of waiting for Godot, I have set up a new blog Berlin Black and While. Please visit.

Maybe you have noticed that I have quite a lot of photographs from Berlin on barebones communication already? Why is this so since Berlin is not even my home town?

The answer is simple. Of all the cities I have visited Berlin is definitely the best I have found for photography. (And, by the way, it is not that far away).

Berlin is large enough to still explore every time I go there. Both spaces and places are really good, but most of all are the frictions of history still very much alive there. You can see that in the architecture  and you can sense it when you move around in the city. You can see it in the people.

Say it briefly: Berlin is an extremely photogenic city. My cameras love it. Very much so.

This is why there now is a special photo blog on Berlin. Black and White it is.

Enjoy.

Ah, and I want to show you this one.

Art on Art. Copyright 2010: Knut Skjærven.

Ah, and I want to show you this one. One of my absolute favorites. When I walk around in museums I sometimes find that there are two sets of sculptures: those who stay on a more permanent basis, and those who come for the day .

I am astonished to see what, with a portion of luck, visually can come out of that. You also need a flair for doing nothing since photography is mainly waiting.

If you are a speedy reader you will probably not have a clue about what I am talking. If you are a slow reader you may well understand. Which one are you?

Please read these posts as well: Headless or Mindless? And Try Deep Reading a Photograph.

See what I mean?

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These photographs come in a very high quality/resolution. Want to buy a print, then send me a line.

Headless or Mindless?

Jam Session. Copyright 2010: Knut Skjærven.

Exactly. You may want to deep read this photograph. Follow the links in this post before you do. You will then learn that deep reading has to do with having a portion of control over what you do more than just slowing down your reading of a text. Visual, verbal or other.

In this photograph, a deep reading may suggest that there is a conflict of interest between the real works of art in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, and the people visiting.  Note that there is no visual contact between the two as the works of art are headless, and the people moving seems to be mindless. Sure, an analytic approach combines with deep reading of this image may tell the whole story.

What I find interesting is that the fast reading vs. slow reading is suggested to have psychological, sociological and even political consequences. Read more about that here. Below is a quote from the text at the end of that link:

Wikipedia: “The importance of personal control over the speed of reading is echoed by Pullman (2004) who argued that slow reading is needed to reinforce democracy in America. Part of its democratic nature is that the manner of reading is not determined by someone else: “we can skim, or we can read it slowly”. A similar view was stated by Postman (1985) who noted the character of the ordinary citizen of the 19th century, a mind that could listen for hours on end to political orations clearly shaped by a culture favouring text. Postman warns that reading books is important for developing rational thinking and political astuteness”.

Believe it or not. And, continue having a good day.

Try Deep Reading a Photograph.

At The Museum. Copyright 2010: Knut Skjærven

The Photograph is taken at Pergamon Museum in Berlin in March 2010.

Related to that information it is my pleasure to direct you to a group of abstracts from the Twenty Eight European Conference on Visual Perception held at Coruna, Spain. The conference was held in 2005, but that does not make the content outdated reading. The abstracts were published in Perception, volume 34, as a supplement.

The document is only 248 pages long. And it is good, hard reading for those who still read. Enjoy.

By the way, don’t only look at the photograph above. Try deep reading it. There is an exiting story in there. Try finding it.

Here is a link to what Wikipedia calls slow or deep reading. Ah, this old world is so full of good news. Try slow/deep reading the photograph and tell me what you find in it. Or tell yourself.

I know that deep reading, deep viewing and deep thinking have hard time in ages of tweet information. Don’t mind that. Have a go at it anyway.

Knowing about perception and deep reading could make you really good at the task of reading visuals. I am working on it . Often with a camera in my hand. Anyway, photography is mostly about waiting so you could always bring a book. Or some abstracts. All my cameras are slow viewers.

Have a good day.