In most of the cases before taking a portrait I ask for permission. This let the person being aware of what is happening. In other words; because of their awareness my presence can be recognized from the portrait.

This woman has been asked before taking her portrait, she however showed up to be not interested in me taking the portrait. The result is untypical for my portraits, not directly a keeper but the difference with other portraits is obvious; it is me who is not there in this portrait.

Tomorrow I will show a portrait where my presence is more obvious.

As the photographs last days, this portrait is from the recent trip to Cuba where they have endless skills and time to repair things.

Yesterday's post showed the mixed feelings of a boy being photographed. Today another photograph which, causes mixed feelings for me.

While talking with his father this boy showed up in the door curious and happy to see some new people. Alejandro has various medial problems however, health care in Cuba is good and additional support from Spain is given.

I personally like the photograph but I had to think deeply if it should be shown here or not.

The photograph shows real life, it also says something about health care in Cuba. Finally, I decided to publish it in the blog and not exclude it because of my mixed feelings.

From the technical point of view this photograph is not perfect, the eyes of the boy are slightly out of focus...

... it is the boy his expression which, compensates the technical flaw. The boy is highly emotional somewhere between being sad, proud and afraid. Mixed feelings are the richness in this portrait.

... quite a lot of (photographic details) have been changed since I returned from Cuba. Work from there is no longer only in square format, the format is chosen more related to the content. Besides this, the subjects of my photography are also street shots and the sepia toning disappeared.

Bellow another "street" shot:

Quite a lot of changes, I feel comfortable about them, what do you think?

I am having a cold these days, already 5 days.. maybe the change of climate between Cuba and Central Europe caused it. Today I could not sleep anymore and had some energy to produce this photograph of a boy I saw in a local shop in Trinidad.

I am back home from Cuba, lots of RAW files are there to be processed. As usual it is difficult to start working on the images possible worth to be shown. For the moment a first image which, was taken in La Habana at the Malecón.

During this trip I not only have been taking portraits, I also experimented with street photography.

We are ready to go ... and I do expect to come back from our trip with some new work. Till then a simple subject.

Due to the fact that last big trip is a year ago the number of photographs to be published became rare. We currently are organizing last details for our next trip to Cuba. I used the time to reduce some content of the site while keeping in mind that less might be more.

One of the things that has been removed is the news section. Maybe it was useful for some visitors but there are sites that focus on industry news while the focus of this site is my own photography. For the moment it is removed from the menu bar, with the next site update the page itself will disappear.

What do you think, is less more?

.. these are two of the few portraits I took in Barcelona...

I am looking back at a productive photographic year, after Mali in 2007 I continued to take portraits in India and Europe. Next year will start with a trip to Cuba, probably a good place to take some photographs.

I do wish all visitors a wonderful 2009!

I am leaving now to Barcelona, as usual I will take my camera.. maybe I come back with some portraits.

Meanwhile you could have a look at some older work in the galleries or at some other photographers listed in the links.

I do wish all visitors a nice Christmas!

Update December 24th 2008:


As every year a christmas painting by my mother: here.

Today I completed the final part (flash with sound or html) of the series with portraits from India.

This is the last slide show for 2008, a complete listing of all slide shows available on this website can be found in the "Slide shows" category of the blog.

These days it is gray and dark outside, yesterday we had first snow. The light that entered the window in the living room was perfect to take a photograph of a single rose in black and white.

As usual, feedback welcome.. however I am not going to publish a colour version.

Last days where busy, I however had this second slide show from our India trip beginning 2008 in the pipeline.

Today I had a few minutes to complete it and put it online.

As usual, comments welcome!

Photo-Vinc now is 100% black and white, today I have removed last colour work from galleries and Blog. I hope you like the more consistent style!

This afternoon I found some time and produced a first slide show of portraits from our last trip in India.

Yesterday afternoon I was at the "Herbstmesse" in Basel - Switzerland. I had my camera with the intention to take some portraits.

When I arrived there, I was surprised about how silent it was. It was totally crowded but no music, no people laughing. I expected more noise, more action.. I came home with just one shot.

Yesterday, I was browsing my RAW files and found this portrait from Mali which, I did not process.

This man is Hamadi Mama Cisse, Chef de Village of Sénossa close to Djenné. We were invited in his house had a chat and had an intensive look at his collection of post cards from all around the world. After a while time was right and I asked if I could make some photo's, Mr. Hamadi was more than pleased and was willing to move a bit to have a nice background and being lit by the light shining through the door.

More portraits from Mali can be seen in the slide shows:

• Faces of Mali, Part-I
• Faces of Mali, Part-II
• Desert Road Crossing

more on the website of Just Jazz.

Last 2 weekends I have been visiting the unique junkyard in Kaufdorf (Switzerland).

The junkyard is open till Sunday Oct. 12th, for information and coordinates in German click here. These are the last days till closure which, probably will be a final closure.

The results of my visit can be found in a slide show on this website.

Some impressions not (yet) in the slide show:

Some of the portraits from Mali will be part of an event in Brasilia in November 2008. The announcement slide-show:

Portraits still are my main passion. This afternoon, on a short walk in the village I met this man. I saw him more than once before, warm or cold; always with a hat and a jacket.

He was sitting on a bench in front of a white wall. I said "bonsoir" and tried to speak some french. I asked if he wants to be photographed and his answer was clear. When I took the camera he was so proud. I took two photographs, the first one was not sharp and promised him to give him a print next time I see him.

In the blog entry of September 24th I have discussed about the limitation of having only a 50mm lens. Today another photograph of that experience:

Spain - September 2008

again, 2 photographs from my trip with just a 50mm lens in the bag.

I am productive these days. Yesterday I was in a junkyard in Switzerland where cars where "collected" since 1933. The result can be seen in a new slide show.

another photograph from my short visit to Barcelona:

Last months I re-discovered my 50mm lens. To use that is a refreshment with inspiration rather than a limitation. I will try to explain what is happening and give some idea about my experience. Last week I have been in Barcelona only with the 50mm lens in the bag.

Photography is about seeing and recognizing the subject. Having a camera with a zoom lens the eyes of the photographer also are in "zoom mode".

When using only 50mm lens for weeks the eyes will be adapted to non zoom mode. The effect of not zooming with the brain helps to see the scene better.

Sure, there is always the question, what do I put in my bag.. leaving home with only a 50mm lens can be a bit scary. In the beginning you will feel that you missed opportunities because not having zoom lenses in the bag. After a while you don´t have that feeling anymore....

Making the composition in the viewfinder with the limitation not beeing able to zoom requires more concentration but with less parameters focus gets even stronger on seeing.

No zoom means, one parameter more to play with. I found this gave place to another parameter while taking the photograph. Since I started to use 50mm almost exclusively I am much more aware of apenture and the resulting DOF.

It seems with the 50mm lens to master technique became more easy and the burden to find subjects is lower since eyes are not zooming in and out. I can recommend to get a 50 mm lens and see the world in a much simpler way.

"Castells" is a Catalonian word that means castles- they are a cultural phenomenon particular to Catalonia and consist of erecting human towers. This tradition originated at the end of the 18th century in Valls, Tarragona, when rival groups of people called "colles", began to compete in constructing the different kinds of human towers that we recognize nowadays.

I am leaving for a short visit to Barcelona, the photograph above was taken in 2005 with a bag full of equipment. This time I take just a DSLR with a 50mm lens.

Finally I found some time to process some photographic material and produce a new slide show. No people this time but an abandoned factory in France.

Candid photography is not what I do normally, these are an exception.

My portrait taken by my wife Montse:

... one more from the "orphanage"