The world of Photography

Since I can remember I have been into photography in some way. The only thing that has changed in the past few months though is the fact that today I am no longer only interested in pictures but the act of taking pictures as well. I have become really envious of people that are capable of capturing beautiful moments in even more mesmerizing pictures. Not everybody can show off with having the ability to do that. I have only ever tested the waters of photography a handful of times, but right now I would really love to get deeper into the world of photography. And there is nothing that will stop me from trying.
      One of the most amazing photographers that I have come across so far is called Tyler Shields. He started his career on MySpace and after finding recognition in the media he has become a highly coveted photographer. People like Lindsay Lohan, Zachary Quinto, Emma Robert, Nina Dobrev, Michael Trevino or e.g. the whole cast of Revenge were already perpetuated in photographs by him. And currently people seem to finally become more and more aware of his talents
      One of my favourite series that he published is called the “chromatic” series. As a part of this project he took pictures of people or objects that were either splashed with coloured powder or right in the middle of being covered with it. You can't imagine how incredible the images are! I think they are unique because of the strong colour contrasts and the capability of  the colours to change the whole “mood” of the pictures. And even though they are only a tiny factor, colours can undeniably change the whole meaning of a picture very strongly.
     A major part of his pictures though is very provoking, controversial and criticised by the media but in my point of view this capability to provoke is not a bad thing at all. To my mind, provocation is the one message a picture should be able to convey. Just because it isn’t someone’s cup of tea or not his personal opinion, doesn’t mean it can’t be the exact opposite for someone else.
      I consider Photography to be a hobby but I still understand the difficulties and the challenges that lie within the profession. How much effort you need to put into developing an idea as well as into realizing it. For that reason I have a great deal of respect for everybody that pursues this kind of career. Therefore everybody who would consider such a profession should definitely not try to talk himself out of it because you might never know. And who would be a better example than Tyler Shields? For him it all worked out brilliantly in the end.

I didn't really want to add any pictures to the text because of Copyright issues. If you're interested in Tyler Shields photography though, you can either go to his youtube channel or his website www.tylershields.com

The summer season is the "Kirchtag" season !

As we are now getting closer to June/July , I think it is time for me to introduce you guys to a really important part of my life. Every year in July a group that I am a part of (the "Konta") organizes a 4-day event called….you might have guessed it..a “Kirchtag”. When you hear the word “Kirchtag” though, people might think about loads of beer and having a booze-up. This of course depends on whether you have to organize this event or if you’re the one attending it. If the first is the case, you have a great deal of work on your plate. You have to book the band, buy truckloads of beverages, pitch up the marquee, actually making sure everything will work out perfectly. We already start planning everything in May, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to get it all done in time. But what makes this annual fair so special are the traditions like “Kufenstechen” or the “Lindentanz” that are being kept alive thanks to our Kirchtag.

         The most important part of this Kirchtag  though, is the traditional clothing we wear on Sunday (3^rd day of the event). Both girls and guys wear traditional clothing for that day, but the women’s dress is definitely the more spectacular one. The “Gailtaler Tracht” is a heavy and very complex dress that consists of about 8 different parts. Each of them need to be put on with a lot of carefulness because some of the dresses are already very old and were handed down from generation to generation. Also, it is very difficult to dress yourself without any help and I am lucky to have my aunt that gives me a hand every year.
In order for you to get an idea of how really complex this dress is I’ll talk you through the dressing process I have to endure every year. Get ready my friends:
         Okay: The very first thing you need to do is putting on a pair garter belts to fasten the white stockings. Then you put on a pair of cotton underpants that should reach your knee and next a short straight skirt. As a little eye catcher you hide a red garter just underneath the lace of each trouser leg of the cotton underpants. A pair of black leather shoes is next, which is basically the only comfortable part of the dress. I think none of us girls would be able to get through the day if they had to wear any other pair of shoes.
       

When this is all done a wide skirt made of 12 meters of cloth is attached. In order to make this skirt look as fluffy and wide as it does it needs to be starched beforehand. And that very process is a real piece of work indeed, which is why I didn’t do it myself yet (lazy, I know!). But this year it seems like  my mum and I are going to face the competition. The next piece in the dressing process is a blouse with hugely starched sleeves and a long collar. It is put on and tied up right before the “Leibkittel” (what we actually call a “Ras”) . After tying all these laces together as well two different kinds of aprons are tied around the front of the huge skirt. One of them is black and hid underneath the second one, which is usually colorful and nice. The purpose of the aprons is to cover the part of the skirt which is not covered by the Ras.
        Okay so we’re about to cross the finish line: The second-last step consist of attaching two scarves. One of them is attached to the chest with a brooch because the blouse doesn’t completely cover your chest. The second scarf though is worn on the head. The colors of both scarves are unimportant and can be chosen individually. Usually though, everybody tries to have two ones with nicely matching colors. Now, after about an hour of getting dressed, you’re finally ready to go but hang on!  The most precious part of the dress is missing! A handmade leather belt that withholds colorful ribbons which represent the number of years it has already been worn. Now the “outfit” is complete.

        Like I already mentioned at the beginning of the text, the fair takes place in July. Therefore it is usually also very hot outside and you need to be very careful to not get dizzy. Underneath all those layers of cloth, it is not surprising that some of the girls need to sit down from time to time. Drinking some water might solve that problem though, but then again going to the restroom with this dress on is a NIGHTMARE: The skirt makes it very difficult because you can’t reach underneath it. In the first year I wasn’t able to go to the restroom without someone helping me but by now I have already figured out a strategy. Still, it is a completion every time.
        Well now all of you might be wondering why I am bothering to go through all of this every single year. To be really honest, I love it. This tradition was kept alive in my family and I really enjoy wearing the garb because it is incredibly beautiful to my eyes. And if wearing it means having to deal with a few drawbacks, I don’t really mind. And all the people that organize the fair and partake in it are just amazing and I would never want to miss out on those 4 days of fun even if my life depended on it.

Festival of colors

Hey guys, does the world “Holi” ring a bell? If so, you will know what this post is going to be about. If not, keep on reading and you will find out about one of the most beautiful celebrations in the world.

Holi, also known as Phagwah, is the world-wide known festival of colors which is celebrated annually in India as well as in Nepal. It takes place at almost the same time every year (in February or March) and this year it started on the 27 of March. It normally lasts between two to ten days and is mainly celebrated in the North of India but it is still known under different names in other parts of the country. For Hindus, these days are simply the most special ones of the year. They honor the spring and the triumph of the good over the evil.

The most important day of this festival is the second day, when people use Gulal, which is scented powder or tinted water, to throw at each other in order to celebrate the arrival of spring and its abundant colors. In the past the powder was usually made of roots, flowers, blossoms or herbs but today it can be very harmful because it is produced synthetically. After the powder has been consecrated at an altar the Indians come together in a parade where they then celebrate by throwing powder through the air. Everybody takes the opportunity to celebrate because the social conditions, one’s sex and age all don’t matter on that day because it is a very important celebration for everybody.
 

The festival  has now spread itself out into the world and is no longer only celebrated in India or Nepal. The UK, South Africa, Fiji, America and a great deal of other countries have also started to organize the festival of colors. Also Austria has decided to stage this event for the very first time this year. I actually think that it is a good idea because it gives people the opportunity to experience foreign traditions and learn to appreciate them. For those who are concerned that people might only consider it as a day to party and get drunk: don’t worry! Luckily, it is forbidden to bring alcohol or any kind of drugs to the festival and so it can only be about celebrating spring.

“So what is it about then? What do you do?” some of you might wonder now. In my point of view it is the best opportunity to be with your friends and family and to try out something new and different from what we experience in our daily lives. It is all about the time you spend together with your beloveds and the beautiful pictures and scenes that will display before your eyes when everybody throws powder through the air at the same time. For me personally though, Holi is especially interesting because of the pictures one can take. I am very interested in photography and that is why I will most probably attend the festival when it takes place this year. For me it will all be about being with my family and capturing the perfect moment in front of my camera lens.

Animal testing

Ever since I was little I have always had a pet. When I was still a toddler my family had 3 dogs and as I grew older I had almost had every pet imaginable: hamsters, mice, rabbits, cockatiels and as for today we have 3 cats. So as you can imagine I have grown quite fond of animals and accustomed to a life with them. For me it has simply become unthinkable to live without them because I think that they somehow contribute a lot to who you become as a person. That is why I am also very passionate not only about my own animals but also about the rights and treatment of other animals all over the world.
      As we all know, in a great deal of countries animals are mistreated and considered worthless. In Italy for example, mainly in the South though, dogs and cats stray through the cities because they have no home or holders. That’s the case because most of the people that get themselves a pet seem to suddenly stop caring for their pets at some point. They abandon them and because most of them aren’t sterilized or castrated, the number of dogs and cats in the cities keep rising. People, whose fault it is in the first place, don’t want to deal with with the “nuisance” and so they just let them die, get killed in accidents or let the government take care of it. I just recently read for example, that the government of Sotschi (Russia ) has decided to kill 2000 stray dogs because of the Olympic games. They want their city to be “clean” and imposing for the games in 2014. As one can see, humans are so very capable of causing problems, but incapable of dealing with them or avoiding them in the first place.

      Another gruesome truth that too little people are aware of is Animal Testing. Do you know that almost every dish detergent or washing powder is tested on animals ? Or are you aware of the fact that almost every cosmetic or hygiene product we use is tested as well? Axe, Fa, Dove, L’Oreal, Maybelline, Neutrogena,…etc. All of those companies test their products (and in some other countries also their components) on animals in order to test their tolerance. Now this might sound harmless to some of you, but I can tell you that the opposite is actually the case: Mice, hamsters, rabbits, guinea pigs, birds, sheep, cats, dogs and even monkeys or cows are victims of the cosmetic industry and others. They suffer from diseases or dreadful infections until they "finally" die, just to be replaced by another animal. I don’t see a point in testing them because if there weren’t any harmful substances in those products (as it should be) it wouldn’t be necessary in the first place. I don’t want to be living with the burden to have caused a great deal of animals to die because of some cosmetic product that I could have easily lived without. I don't want to have their blood on my hands.

      Happily, there also exists a variety of make-up or hygiene products that aren’t tested on animals and some of them are even vegan. I for my part buy about 90 % of all my cosmetic stuff or hygiene products from brands that don’t do animal tests. If you also want to know more about what products are vegan or produced without animal tests, I can recommend you an app called “Wer macht’s?”. It gives you a pretty detailed overview of a lot of different brands and labels and their attitude towards animal testing. I have to admit though, that it is not always that easy to find good products that aren’t too pricy as well but I have always loved a good challenge. And maybe, so do you.

For those little daredevils out there....

During the last few years I found out something really interesting about myself. The little coward that I was (and still am concerning some matters) has obviously meleted into thin air when it comes to one certain thing: adrenaline. This feeling of pure fear and excitement that runs through your veins every time you face a challenge and scares the heck out of you has become my drug. I can assure you though that I have my limits and I am not going past those, but there are a few certain experiences and I am ready and willing to face.
       My reason for being appealed by this certain hormone was triggered a couple of years ago. For my confirmation I could choose to either go paragliding or flying in a powered glider, which was what I eventually chose to do. It was actually an extremely exhilarating experience, flying in loops and dropping from an unimaginable height at extreme speed. The feeling you have when the plane drops is scary, uncomfortable but altogether just really fun. Paragliding though was still a bit too much for my first time adrenaline rush. I think that at that point I was still too young and too scared to even think about trying it out.

       Today I would immediately jump at the chance. Apart from that though, there's another thing on my bucket list: sky diving. I’ve seen a few people do it and heard from a few other people’s experiences and it just sounds enthralling. And I can’t help but wonder what it must feel like to be in this tiny plane thousands of feet above the ground and to look down. What does one feel when you sit on the ledge of the plane’s entrance door with you feet dangling in the air? Your pulse rate must be exploding until you finally – jump – and fly through the air at about 180 km/h. I really just can’t imagine how REALLY terrifying and thrilling it must be.

       So this summer I am going to face a smaller challenge, which I am really looking forward to. In July my dad, my sister, two of my cousins and I will go on a rafting tour. That might sound really dull compared to skydiving but it is actually really cool. You first of all have to jump off a bridge (about 4 or 5 m high) and then you get put into your groups and boats. You can either sit in one of the big rafting boats which offer space for about 8 to 10 people, or a small kayak boat for two. More exciting, and even a little more dangerous, is definitely the kayak because it can easily be overturned. And if you’re really lucky you may also get the chance to rappel down a waterfall. Altogether it is without any doubt going to be a great day. I really can’t wait for it.
       But I really don’t want to talk big here. Who knows whether I am really going to be as brave and daring as I hope? And I usually am really scared when trying out something new like the things I mentioned above. So who knows? But I love the competition and with that, the overcoming of your own fear. So we’ll see what will happen and if I am really going to do it, but everything is always worth a try, now isn’t it?