The Newslarder #4

Edited mobile shot / random tunnel is Aarhus

First two contributions in State of the World Visual Address are out. Apparently, that has inspired others to jump in, so we might have an ongoing thing on our hands. That sounded almost dirty, if not oddly romantic too. There’s a possiblity that we might look into charity. Both me and MJS have a soft spot for youths in dire straits, so, why not?

We are still interested in contributors in general, but we are just not the kind of people to chase after you, beg you or kiss your ass. The idea of a collective and a synergy where we use each others circles to get further out without doing much SOME, is still a sound one. Too much art languishes in the dark because there is too little trust artists between. I am talking about artistry here - other photographers are still ‘a problem’, and unless you are a teacher leading students, I do not understand photo walks. But that is NOT to say artists cannot band together. They should - and we should be honest with each other. Way too many fence sitters concerned with ‘keeping up appearances’ ruin our chances of having a real, fruitful discourse. Just be fucking real instead of always trying to position yourself, or be something you are not.

That is my main grievance with people. Fly your flag, claim your divinity, but back it up with skills. Nobody wants to hear who your friends are, or that you had coffee with the 3rd cousin of Banksy in a London pub only three people know of. Seriously, cancel poser culture. And be interesting - not coy, not reserved, not arrogant etc. - interesting, suspenseful, confrontational, passionate, alive, awake, in love - be those things.

We will try and monetise this a bit, maybe for charity as well as the daily run of it. But there is still a lot of work to be done. I wish you all a nice weekend.

Remember to check the contributions for ‘State…’

Zaar Riisberg (Zaarchasm) // La Vie

I recently moved to a new city. You need your own haunts when you come to a new city. There’s a little café in the city - it’s called La Vie, and yes, the owner is a francophile. But his genuine wish, is just for people to talk, mingle - boheme, comes to mind. Libertines would frequent the place as well. Interesting conversations, wine, pastis and art on the walls. Martin, the owner, tries to let local talent exhibit - and often, the air is thick with discussions on literature and art. I’ve not spotted absinthe yet, but there’s probably a bottle somewhere.

I had gone by the place a few times, and always stopped to check it out. But it turned out a friend of mine was good friends with the owner. The first time I visited, I lost track of time, got slightly drunk and was discussing novels, thinkers and the general shit state of the world. It’s the sort of place that chokes out your inner nihilist, and makes you want to be part of a group again.

Not surprisingly, a place like that has been hit hard by the corona. So they did some nice artwork as ‘shares’ that you could buy. I was kind of decided on this becoming ‘my place’ to hang out, so my fingers are crossed. Now, La Vie has been allowed to open again - so if you ever visit the city of Horsens, make it a point to visit La Vie!

Au Revoir!

Zaar Riisberg (Zaarchasm) // Puddles

I had been dumb enough to register a desk at this place called ‘Grisk’ to be in an environment with other creatives. Trouble with modern creatives is their greed and willingness to exploit others, even harvest them, for their own gain. Grisk was just another place with people that were less than genuine - and in the end, not very creative.

But this story is not about them. Grisk was close to where the homeless hung out, and in the months I was there, I saw things get progressively worse - and now we are even passing a law, so they can be removed from places so ‘good people’ do not have to look at them. This law would serve better if it stopped ‘event marketing’ in the streets - you know the assholes who stop you and want money for a cause or indeed wants you to change phone company or some other trivial crap, so a CEO somewhere can make more. Those, apparently, need to be here, as they are important to society.

One day when leaving Grisk, I checked out a reflection as I sometimes do. This time a fresh puddle of rain. As I experimented shortly with perspective and distance, I started getting looks - anyone that shoots street and abstract know what I am talking about. You will get people trying to see what you are seeing, looking at the same place or in the same direction - and they see nothing. Which always makes me chuckle. This is what I saw:

I hear a voice behind me ‘you should take a picture of me’ - I go ‘sure’ and turn around and click to see a rather surprised man. He was clearly homeless. He could not grasp why I was pointing the lens toward a puddle. I asked if all he saw was the puddle and not the reflections in it. He looked a bit befuddled, then smiled - I am sure he was not used to people reacting to him this way, which is just heartbreaking. Sometimes it is the simplest things that opens a whole new world for someone - and we need reflection - we need to reflect on why some people end up on the streets, why a lot are poor, why we let fat cat CEOs run away with it all and why we elect the people we do. Now, I, in all fairness, did not open a new world to this guy - but I interacted with him, I ‘saw’ and ‘heard’ him and I gave him a little bit of myself. I hope he gets off the streets.

…well, you kind of asked for it ;)

Both shots are unedited if memory serves. I normally have qualms about shooting the homeless or destitute. It seems invasive to me and as an empath, I do not find it very easy to depict people in squalor - because my brain screams ‘why’ at me. If you are not an empath, I do not know how to describe it to you.

Zaar Riisberg (Zaarchasm) // A Touch of Comfort

I took this shot on a whim - and it was taken at least 2 years ago. Still, I remember a certain feeling of endearment which was possibly why I took it. And I was right. As I edited it, I see the woman on the right had put her hand in a classical position, trying to signal comfort. A lot of people would not see that detail, evident as it is, because they would be focussing on their clothes and the horrible notion, that islam is the biggest threat against Western society. It is not. Stupidity is.

It is a shot I am very proud of, as it is one of my signatures to capture emotion. Here, I must have sensed it, as I was passing, because the hand was initially obscured. I will be putting more up of my earlier high end stuff, and pouring my mind into it. People scream at me to be an author or a writer full time. I will do both then.