the start of a good goodbye in Barcelona

All things come to an end, and, as for modern electronics, life comes to an end very very fast to the demise of our resources, health, and overall quality of life. I have been using the first model of Leica's D-Lux since it was releazed and, for the past year and a half, the quality of this camera dropped incredibly. No one can tell me why. The camera just started to produce low quality images which are heavily pixelated, no matter how they are made.

In other times, cameras and other electronics were made to last. The consumer neurosis in which we exist today has made it so that companies produce products which are practically disposable, like this camera.

So, as I prepare for a trip to California, where I will (unfortunately) have to purchase a new point and shoot camera, I say my goodbye to the D-Lux in Barcelona. It's one more piece of equipment which has been doomed. Visible in its demise is the entire basis of our modern life. Garbage production and accumulation. I guess this all makes me a bit pessimistic.

Toni Bruna's trees

We found the location by accident, as serendipitous things usually happen. These trees stand beside a centuries-old church where the musician Toni Bruna used to go throughout his childhood and teenagehood. "Not to pray," he said, but to enjoy the energy and the view. From there we can see the beginning of Istria, his grandparents' land, which is now devided between Croatia and Slovenia, from what I understand. His family had to flee their original homegrounds to Trieste, Italy. Trieste itself has been fought over many times as well, at some point being a part of Austria. In this region it seems everyone has fled a war or two, something which is embeded in the culture and in the cool air.

Toni Bruna composes in Triestino, the dialect he was raised speaking. From what he told me, there are increasingly fewer people learning this dying language. It is a shame that, all over the world, languages are dying fast with each new generation. Losing a language also means the loss of a significant wealth of culture.

location scouting in a place of silence, part II

location scouting in a place of silence

What brought me to this region, on the seemless border between Italy and Slovenia, was a job. I was assigned to create images for the website of local singer-songwriter Toni Bruna. We spent two days going through the beautiful countryside in search of a location that "spoke" to his idea of the images and that was suitable to our art direction. Silence reigned in this place, and, being so used to the chaos of Barcelona, I was certainly pleased to hear my footsteps for the first time in months.

the line between Italy and Slovenia

A land that holds much history of the persecuted people from Istria. Beauty here is found in the smallest details of ages-old stone buildings.