(in)security

More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking questions
― Primo Levi

never again?

look around you,

and think,

when, would you,

say

no?

for wordpress weekly photo challenge – security
*shot with fujifilm x100f, fixed 23mm lens at f/2, 1/60s and ISO4000*

security

The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned
― Maya Angelou

for wordpress weekly photo challenge – security
*shot with fujifilm x100f, fixed 23mm lens at f/2, 1/60s and ISO3200*

(just) words

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words, obscured
by (razor) wire
and the (best of)
intention
words, unbidden
by careless
thoughts, and
inattention
words
just words
cause wounds
deeper, than razor

wire


it’s been a while, poetry 101 rehab

locked in

We all live in a house on fire, no fire department to call; no way out, just the upstairs window to look out of while the fire burns the house down with us trapped, locked in it
― Tennessee Williams, The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore

This post was inspired by a few things.

For starters, I’ve been working too hard and neglecting almost everything, and everyone, else. Apart from the obvious social clues, my Fitbit sits on my wrist admonishing me with a digital iciness of tone, pointing out that I am not exercising enough, and it has facts, and they are not Spicerian alternative facts, but hard, cold evidence. And, not so long ago, whilst walking in the street, I felt decidedly odd, numb fingers, a sense of unreality, dizziness and a general feeling of fading vision. Trust me, that is the universe speaking to me. I think.

Also, I have been using the theft of my beloved X100T as an excuse for not shooting enough, or writing about it.

In conversation today, someone made some kind remarks about my photography. I took this as a challenge, and so set about capturing my environment. This in turn was an act of rebellion about an environment that feels like it has captured me. Shielded from the world outside by double locked gates, security guards, razor wire and faithful drivers.

I’m not complaining. I’m lucky. I’m just rebelling, a little.

These shots were captured (there’s that meme again) with my iPhone. I used Analog Efex Pro 2 (Toy Camera 3) because the effect seemed to capture the way reality bends when in a certain frame of mind.

As for my camera, at least my Nikon is safe at home, and there’s always the X100F to look forward to.

A glass half full?

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belgradestreets in china

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Delighted to report that an image from belgradestreets was recently featured in the January 2017 edition of Condé Nast Travel Magazine in China.

My book belgradestreets featuring a series of my photographs of Belgrade, Serbia is on sale in bookshops and online.

Each year, royalties from the sale of belgradestreets are donated to charitable organisations caring for children in need in Serbia.

solitude

I want to be with those who know secret things or else alone
― Rainer Maria Rilke

for wordpress weekly photo challenge – solitude

path

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back

– Robert Frost

for wordpress weekly photo challenge – path

anticipation

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sting, oh salty tears

sweet, anticipation

of a day, on the water

once was,

and now

gone


anticipation for wordpress weekly photo challenge

How would it be, if everybody did that?

How would it be,” the police officer asked him severely, “if everybody did that?”
– Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt

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Douglas Adams may not be an established literary giant, but for me (at least) he has long been an inspiration. His original The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy series, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4, captured my heart and mind many years ago. Captured my mind as I was figuring out who I was, what I wanted to be. Gave me an early insight into alternative perspectives.

Made me think.

Last week, I (or at least my business alter ego) was privileged to be invited to speak at the Baltic Project Management Forum 2016. The subject of my presentation Cultural Diversity: Making the Project Fit the Culture.

In the lead up to the Forum, I was invited to give an interview to Simas Čelutka at IQ magazine, a Baltic publication affiliated with The Economist.

The questions posed to me, the contributions of my fellow speakers, the warmth of the welcome extended to me by the organisers of the Forum reminded me of those days long ago when the world stretched out ahead of me, waiting to be discovered. And so, again, I realised that no matter how rich one’s experience, there is so much more to be learned.
The interview I gave to IQ, transcribed below, reminded me of how lucky I have been, of the opportunities I have had, to learn more about our world, about how much more there is to learn.

Always.

For we can never stop learning.

Or sharing.
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