There was a time when a politician was a person you elected to lead your country.
You elected this person because of the ideals and principles she represented.
You elected this person because you wanted her to enact change.
At the end of the term, you re-elected her if you still believed in her.

There was a time when a politician was a person who wanted to lead the country.
She ran for election because she believed in ideals and principles.
She ran for election because she wanted to change the world.
At the end of the term she was re-elected if she had been true to her ideals and principles.

There was a time when being a politician was a vocation and a privilege.
There was a time when leadership was about doing what’s right for the country.
There was a time when fearing the judgment of the people made you unfit to lead.
There was a time when politicians were judged by their ability to lead.

What else do you need to know about your politician?

Getting to know Helle Thorning Schmidt

I have been a fan of Trey Ratcliffs for some time now. Trey is one of the pioneers of HDR photography, and he has been instrumental in making this sort of photography popular and known by the masses.

For a while HDR has been regarded as a sort of artificial or unrealistic school of photography.
It was frowned upon by the photography establishment and until now not seen as a legitimate form in its own right. Many such photographers thought that the extreme dynamic range possible with HDR made the photographs “unrealistic” and not true to reality.

Until HDR emerged, everyone was used to the fact that a taking a photo meant committing to a certain exposure. Anyone who has tried photographing outside from whithin a building knows that the final photo either shows a proper lighting of the interior OR the exterior. That is, either the interior darker details are visible and the outside is a white blur OR the outside bright details, clouds etc are visible and the interior details of the room are a dark blur.

Traditional photography means you have to chose. But in real life we don’t have to chose. The eyes adjust to the proper sensitivity according to where we focus. The combined experience is that we can see BOTH the details in the clouds outside AND the darker details of the interior room. HDR works the same way – you get the best of both worlds, and a photo that is closer to the experience that you actually had when you were there.

Trey is a nice guy with a mission to promote HDR photography. He runs a blog at stuckincustoms.com that has tens of thousands of visitors every day, but decided to help other HDR photographers spread their work and generate traffic to their sites. So he created HDRspotting.com which works as a traffic generation engine. It’s a community by invitation where members can upload and share their work.

I have posted numerous HDR photos to HDRspotting.com, and as a result thousands of people have now seen my photos of the fairy tale castles and landscapes that are so common in Scandinavia it’s almost hard to spot them. Here’s an example of what I mean: the lake pavillion in central Copenhagen. Visible from a unique angle this winter because of the prolonged frost that made walking on the lakes possible.

Enjoy!

As a result of Opposition leader Helle Thornings Schmidts tax scandal, her party has now lost 4 %-points (27,3% to 23,3%) in the course of a month. Before the summer holiday Helle stood to win the next election and oust the incumbent government. This ground has now been lost.
But fear not Helle, I am sure your party will be able to dig out some dirt on the incumbents.

I am moving ahead with the first of the contrafactual portraits of hypocritical danish politicians – the pillory series due to be finished next year. The series will feature the leaders of the major danish political parties.

As it is, the danish political climate is marred by scandals and personal attacks.
There’s little room left for politicians actually seeking to discuss POLITICS.
It’s a tragedy.

So much is threatening the wellfare of the Danish society: Financial crisis, unemployment, a failed public shool, crippled competitiveness in terms of exports and attracting qualified workers, a morally bankrupt immigration and refugee policy.

None of this is debated by the key “presidents” of each party as they fear losing their constituencies. Instead they focus on front politics meant to signal the party line and garner more votes and better polls. By the way, party lines are somewhat blurred now that every party is aiming for the middle ground.

I am revolted by the fact that NO SINGLE major politician has the discipline to adhere to principles and ideals. It has now become a battle for the lowest common denominator.

Stay tuned for more uncovering portraits as we move along the path towards the pillory.

I went exploring in Kings Gardens the other day, and found a nice view of the castle Rosenborg built by King Christan IV in 1606-1607.
Today it houses the crown jewels and the nearby barracks of the royal life guard.

Go see for yourself!

I took the opportunity the dig out some old footage from NYC the other day.
It’s a documentary series shot on 9-11 and the following days.

The photos were shot on my trusty old Canon APS camera and I haven’t done much but applying some levels and curves in photoshop to try and counter the inherent noise in the original processed negatives.

Not much of a good time to look at, but I had to share these images that still haunt my mind.

Yesterday afternoon i was out strolling with the kids in the pram and happened to pass by the gardens of the danish university of agriculture. A cafe has been set up in an old derelict greenhouse. I decided to have a local pilsner in the shade while the kids slept. Of course they woke up before I was finished standing in line. Classic.

As i leaned to lift the cover from the pram my beer spilled unto my pants. I had managed to drink one sip. Again classic. Todays HDR is from another more successful day in the palm house of the botanical gardens. Enjoy!

Staying together doesn’t just happen. It takes an effort to combat the threats that lurk in the corner. Whether external or internal, they still need to be fought.

Mundane issues become problems, questions become accusations, insecurity becomes certainty.
When it works, everything is rosy, when it doesn’t – hell.
Cognition is what separates us from cows. But God, they do look peaceful.

Working the 4th day of the pillory project

I have spent the past couple of weeks with my family in the little town of Vankiva in Sweden. It’s an idyllic little village in Skåne: a church, a pond and lots of cows on green pastures.
We have been relaxing with friends, delicious food and wine. Basically having a good time!

In the meantime alot has happened on the political scene, the danish opposition leader Helle Thorning Schmidt is in stormy weather over a tax scandal, and I took this a cue to continue my work on the pillory project which is due to be shown in february next year. The project is a testament to the everpresent hypocrisy of politicians everywhere. No need to look at failed states to find that.

The exact venue isn’t locked down yet, but will be in the coming weeks.
The current piece I am working on features none other than Helle herself. I started working on it before the tax scandal really gained momentum, and now Helle and the press are keeping themselves more busy than ever.

Enjoy the story unfold in BT.dk

Pillory project day 3

I’m using Rembrandt soft pastels for the new Pillory project. I like the dusty feel when I smear the color unto the canvas. Not like the greasy feel of traditional oil pastels.
Soft pastels create a dry look, almost silky, making it hard to resist touching the canvas.

I can blend the colors very easily by rubbing my fingers.
When I need a glossy area of color I use acrylic paint or an Edding permanent marker.
Coupled with delicate white lines, this creates a perfect shiny effect on the blurry background of soft pastel.

The result is a shallow depth of field – like shooting portraits with a 1,2f aperture: A super sharp and crisp face on a blurry background.

Todays soundtrack during work in the Studio:
Simple Minds
Talking Heads
YES
The Cult
Alice Cooper

I guess I’m still living in the 80s…
Enjoy!