it’s weird. with the beginning of 2013 I felt totally uninspired to continue doing this blog. I have posted more than 15.000 negative scans in my two blogs in the last 6 1/2 years. I don’t even want to start thinking about how much work and time this must have been. I literally spend half my life on posting blog entries.
this year I started thinking about that “service” I have been providing over the last years for free and by having a look at what else is being posted as “street photography” online, I felt almost pissed that I am doing this all for free. So I had the idea to stop blogging and make PDFs instead for purchase.
after three months not posting anything I kind of disliked the idea to stop blogging, but mainly because I wanted to keep documenting my life and archiving it somewhere. The thought that there would be a gap or a stop at some point made me change my mind again.
I will think of another way how to make money with my online work but I will keep this blog up beside. The feedback has been great and I really appreciate this too. All the work was never for nothing but life is getting more expensive and time is getting more rare.. so I have to change something.
That was mainly the reason for this long delay. Upcoming posts will feature New York and then India and then New York again and the story goes on!
guess what! Konica Pop.
pop in the sub.
now to some real art(ists).
another opening
some want to take it home.
weird thought shooting black and white there.
Toni, the man and creator of these paintings.
why so serious?
another premiere. gartenbau kino.
without knowing, I had taken a photo of one of the main characters of the documentary we then watched.
vienna international airport once again.
don't take headlines too serious.
bye bye british airways!
waiting at the gate.
how hot can you eat a yoghurt ?
arrived at weeks mansion.
Pop meets LA.
exposing the first negatives with my M6 again. (nocti 1.0)
perfect nocti playground
two manhattans and one tom collins
jamie looking good
nope, we didn't go there after.
preparing the car for the ride to SF
somewhere between LA and SF. such an amazing scenery and light... I almost felt raped by such landscape beauty.
the view from our hotel room.
went for some coffee..
and then probably one the best burgers I ever had.
next day. first walk with chris in the streets. some of these shots will be featured in our movie that is still in progress.
later at our main cafe.
more streetshots.
just how you would imagine the streets of san francisco
I kind of followed them to get this moment (will be featured in the movie)
man cleaning windows in china town.
at some point we went to get some truffles at xoxo truffels.
beside all the chocolate, Lalya was definitely the sweetest in the store.
not the typical I <3 NY sweater.
chinatown
wonder what he is meditating about
feels like england just passed by
he owned the street
a nice encounter
he was really friendly. he used to shoot nikon some years ago as he told us.
chris getting tagged or whatever hipster stuff.
my philosophy!
he was a real psychopath, running around, telling people that seemed gay to him to leave this area because this is a heterosexual area. I kinda provoked him with my little pink konica.
chris digging deeper for some equipment. sorry bro!
timeless guy
on a hunt.
pizza deliver guy on a skateboard in thoughts.
looking for something to eat I assume.
someone fell asleep. (6x9s from here)
beautiful light
ran into this guy, Janek Jarewicz. he did this music video and included me too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZU5zK5vn6WA
one of my personal favourite frames from SF. makes me think.
last frame with the 6x9
back to the hexar.
actually, I shot this by holding my camera out of the car window and nailed this. luck on my side!
we passed him and I used a chris weeks "technique" called "Sir!" so he turned around and gave me that expression and I took the photo. He turned back around and we left. that was quite amusing.
we parked close to this sex shop. I asked chris to drive a few feet forward so that I can get a better angle on the shot and waited for something to happen. literally going out of business here.
leaving SF again
she said hi.
a kind of self portrait.
met him at a fuel station. he was interested in the robo-hexar and I explained to him what I was doing and how it worked. I think I will add this scene to the movie too.
then we went to have some nice steaks at harris ranch where chris took the "soviet problem" shot as far as I remember correctly.
and some beer of course!
size doesn't matter, they say.
chris using the pop on me. I must say, the pink camera suits me better. there was a pretty gay guy passing us a few time. he owns some designer store or something right there. guess two guys with a pink camera got his attention. haha.
funny enough they were waiting at the "dog house"
usually I would take a photo like this one with the 6x9 or at least the hexar... but pop once more didn't disappoint
now I remember what day I took that photo.
I like to hunt hipsters with my pink hipster camera. guess that makes me the blade of hipsters?
one of my favourite frames from LA with the pop.
i love when this happens.. (look at the man in the background)
same baby as in the photo above. creepy!
back at the house, some dog love.
we hooked up with one of my favourite LA-ians Michael Hacker. nice dinner with great company.
having some decent berlin currywurst
always weird to get reminded of christmas, when you are used to ice cold fucking weather at this time of the year.
they were on something, pretty sure.
behind the scenes. dealing files in LA is probably more serious than dealing drugs.
at LAMI, our favourite coffee place.
if you wonder why chris is on the phone with the fuji.. you will find out sooner or later in the movie.
meeting up with Mr.Jackson at LAMI. (where else..)
looked like a blind date to me.. but probably that is my European perspective.
this is where I was sitting.
the other night we went to some gig of a band called Io Echo. yoga pants, It is an LA thing.
nocti playground
nike - this time he just shouldn't do it..
one last street walk in LA.
the ugg army. another LA thing?
another burger.. every time I am in the states I eat tons of burgers... back home I eat one in 3 months probably.
like that feist song.
bye bye cute dogs!
Angelo finally payed us a visit. We will feature him in our movie as well.
I let him use a 'real' camera for a change.
Angelo and his gorgeous girlfriend.
we ate at umami burgers.. quite nice but a bit overrated imo. the waiter looked like someone who wants to become an actor or probably is one already.. he definitely had the face for it but I guess that's not the exception in LA.
some christmas lights at 1/4th from the car.
last but not least chris made some steaks and bacon. he made an extra bacon for the (spoiled) dogs!
some last weeks-mansion impressions
this is where I had my coffee and facebook checks in the morning.
at the airport queue.
someone was thirsty.
more fast food.
brother and sister. priceless.
LAX, sleeping. dreaming of Africa(?)
Heathrow, sleeping.
end of the roll.
Hey Chris
Some real gems in this one – I always like your shots from over the big pond.
If you want to make money from your online publishings, why don’t you just slap a PayPal donate button on the top or bottom of every blog posting like this? I really appreciate your work, and sometimes when I’m scrolling through your posts, they seem to be a never ending source of inspiration. I always get a little bit more impressed once I remember this is all done on film, which makes the whole process many many times as exhausting as just uploading digital pics.
So yeah, I think many people would like to give you some coffee or beer money for these awe-inspiring posts. It may not amount to much, but it’s worth a try.
Have a nice Sunday evening
Comment by lurw — March 24, 2013 @ 1:58 pmLukas
ha, schön wiedermal :)
Comment by simon — March 24, 2013 @ 2:11 pmBrainfart – of course I meant to say hi Severin, not Chris. I was just checking out Chris’ blog. I’m sorry.
Comment by lurw — March 24, 2013 @ 5:22 pmGood to see you back.
Feels like an eternity since I’ve been in SF, even though it’s less than a year.
Your work is gold, some people enjoy flattr for this kind of stuff, thought about it?
Comment by Jonathan — March 24, 2013 @ 7:36 pmAwesome as always. Loved the airport pics.
Comment by akane — March 24, 2013 @ 8:03 pmI totally agree with what Lukas suggested above. I’m sure a lot of people who follow your photographic work would like to give you some money for it. Apart from PayPal there’s also the micropayment service Flattr (https://flattr.com/) which you could implement into your blog. I think we all underestimate, how many people would pay for content they like if they could, it’s just that so few people/artists allow their audience to do so.
Comment by Jasmin — March 24, 2013 @ 8:11 pmHi Severin,
Comment by Sanaa — March 24, 2013 @ 10:13 pmI almost died and went to heaven when I saw you have posted new stuff. I follow you on tumblr and I always find myself looking and studying your work. I suggest you put your material in a book format, because I would most certainly buy it. Please don’t stop blogging. Another suggestion is to close your blog to the public and have one that is invites only. This way your true followers can subscribe for a fee. i will now go and make myself a cup of tea so I can sit and enjoy the new pictures. Sanaa xx
Great to see you posting again and i honestly hope you keep posting, you are a source of inspiration to many people.
Comment by Edgar — March 24, 2013 @ 10:21 pmHi Severin,
I really do love your work here. And considering the amount of photos here, you should have way more than enough material for publishing your own photo book. Nowadays there are many platforms / services for self / semi pro publication. I would be happy to get a copy of your best selections in a photo book.
Anyway it’s great to see your continuing excellency in photography. Keep it up!
Cheers,
Comment by Scott Kim — March 25, 2013 @ 12:43 pmScott
Thanks for continuing this, Sev. It is a constant source of inspiration and knowledge for me and I’m sure many others. Good to see your work again, buddy!
Comment by Noons — March 26, 2013 @ 3:57 amThanks for posting again – some of us really do appreciate the time you take to do this. Your work – as contained in your blog – has been a constant source of inspiration to me.
That said, if you DO decide to publish a book, I will certainly buy a copy.
Comment by Joel — March 26, 2013 @ 9:49 amThanks for posting again! I have your blog in my rss reader and I really happy to see pictures popping up from time to time. I really like the pics in here and I can only imagine how much work it is to process them all before publishing …
Maybe you can combine the publish pictures here and earn some money – why not have a little paypal donate button on the right side or a “service” which allows to print out your pics … amazon affiliate links to books … or or or …
Comment by BrickBlogger — March 26, 2013 @ 10:06 amhi,
it´s great to see new entry, i have been checking for a new one every two days or so since january :-D
great photographs as always, and like all the commenters above, i´d also be willing to pay some sort of subscription (or whatever it can be called).
cheers, jakub
Comment by jakub — March 26, 2013 @ 8:53 pmI’m always impressed by your pictures! Being an pure hobbyist I do learn a lot from your way to see the streets and the way you write about your catches. Thanks for showing them.
Comment by KUM — March 27, 2013 @ 4:12 pmMake a book make a book! :D
And then anohter, and another… you rock man.
Comment by Leo Carvajal — March 28, 2013 @ 5:05 amHello Severin,
Dont worry to much about making money from your blog, and as someone suggest there, maybe a donate button would help.
I have been following your blog since 2010 and I have to say that your work would be lovely if you make it into a photobook. I would really get one of your signed photobook especially those taken from Vienna and New York.
You have inspired a lot of people and hopefully you will keep on updating this blog as long as you can. Just dont make money as an excuse to stop blogging. :)
Comment by Kinoz — March 29, 2013 @ 8:42 amWow, auf den Post hab ich lange gewartet :)
Um das ganze zu monetarisieren….
… der Hamburger Fotograf Paul Ripke hat gerade seine 2012er Schnappschüsse als Buch rausgebracht. Bekommt man auf Wunsch signiert für 30€.
Der Clou ist, dass er unter allen Käufern seine Leica M9 verlost.
Comment by Alex Bach — March 30, 2013 @ 8:13 amZum Verkaufsstart noch ein paar Exemplare an die Bloggerwelt geschickt und die Publicity ist perfekt.
Beautiful as always – and I would also definitely buy a book.
Comment by a — April 2, 2013 @ 4:02 pmNice post, Severin. I was wondering if something came up – I know you don’t post very often – but I don’t recall seeing this large of a gap when I went through your archives last year.
Please, don’t stop posting on this blog. It has been a huge inspiration to me and many others. Your tumblr is nice, but it is more of a briefing on the work of Severin Koller. With this, one can really immerse themselves in the beauty of your work.
I think it’d definitely be worthwhile to have an option to donate to you through Paypal or some other service. But I think you should keep the blog open and free, particularly for those who may not have a lot of extra money around.
I also echo other people’s suggestions to publish a book of your best work, or even multiple books, there is enough work from the past 8 years of your archive for many amazing street photography books. I think many, including myself, would be interested in buying something. You could try something like blurb, or maybe there’s a local publishing agency in Vienna you could talk to, or maybe one of the bigger, international publishers would be interested. TeNeues in Germany has published many great street photography books.
Let me just re-iterate this, Mr. Koller, you truly are a modern classic for street photography, it’d be a shame for you to stop posting your great work.
Comment by tyler — April 6, 2013 @ 4:01 amHi! I started checking your blog last summer and I’ve been eager to see your new posts for this year. I enjoy your street photography style. Truly inspiring.
Comment by Graziella — April 8, 2013 @ 1:07 amThat being said, I am happy to see this new post.
And yes, try the donate to paypal suggestion or maybe sell a limited copy of some prints of your photographs or a photobook as some suggested. I’m sure they will be sold in a breeze.
Thanks also for still shooting film. Inspires me and a lot of us out there still shooting film. Thank you.
I agree your work would be good in a book you have some good work that should be heavily edited from the blog.
Comment by Lucy — April 30, 2013 @ 2:52 amAlways great stuff
Comment by Noah — May 3, 2013 @ 5:33 amI just found your pictures through tumblr and after taking a long walk through your website I am truly amazed. Your work is incredibly beautiful and inspiring and it just makes me sad reading this blog post. I believe that what you do touches many people out there, so I hope you keep posting and keep turning people’s hearts upside down.
The idea of donating is actually really good. I’ve watched recently Amanda Palmer’ Ted talk and I think she opened my eyes about the fact that people actually love supporting art and asking them for that could even make them happy.
Best
Comment by Aleksandra Patova — May 6, 2013 @ 11:58 amAleksandra
Holy shit that leica is huge. I feel like I’m struggling being discreet with my cameras let alone if I’d be shooting with that thing on the street.
Good set once again. If you do come up with a book, let me (and obviously everyone commenting) know. I’d buy one. And another as a gift for some friend.
Ads or donate button might also work out if you want revenue directly from the site but I don’t know how much you have traffic here. Some market man might suggest dividing your posts to smaller bits but more frequent so ads would work better. I suppose most readers wouldn’t like that though. Common way to read your blog seems to be like “fuck the world, I have a cup of coffee or tea and for the rest 15-60 mins I’m enjoying these photos.” :D
Cheers,
Comment by Pekka — May 15, 2013 @ 10:25 amPekka
Oh.. I meant “Leica” ;)
Comment by Pekka — May 15, 2013 @ 11:00 am