Sonntag, schönen Sonntag

Photographer - Fotograf | Berlin | Germany

A Morocco Preview

Is a preview, of Morocco.

Photographer | Fotograf | Berlin - Germany

The Hoff

So it was that yesterday, as promised, David Hasselhoff came to town. The man is something of a hero here after he sang 'Looking for Freedom' at the Berlin Wall on New Years Eve 1989, not long after the wall came down.

Part of the longest remaining section of the wall, at the iconic East Side Gallery, is slated for demolition to provide access to luxury riverside apartments. After recent protests against this development and planned destruction of one of Berlin's most-loved memorials, 'The Hoff' took to Twitter to voice his concern, and throw his weight behind calls to preserve the wall. Respect.

A sea of people turned out to see him; I've never been in such a crush. Hasselhoff was squashed up against a wall, and eventually made it to a truck from where he sang to the protesters, and they at him. The photos below are all of the same thing: David Hasselhof. Maybe by repeating the subject (like saying "David Hasselhoff, David Hasselhoff, David Hasselhoff" for several minutes without pausing) it'll make the events of yesterday seem more real, or strip it of its intensity somewhat. Either way I hope it makes it a bit less weird. I never expected to see David Hasselhoff anywhere, let alone go out of my way to see him. But that happened, I did. And I must live with that knowledge - as must you.

Photographer - Fotograf | Berlin | Germany

Hood I

Photographer - Fotograf | Berlin | Germany

Winter Hipster Olympiale

Featuring some kind of tandem ski effort, moustaches (real and imagined), Club Mate-soaked ice-cube mouth erotica, and a vinyl shooting gallery.

Photographer - Fotograf | Berlin | Germany | Dominic Blewett

Event Photographer - Fotograf

UNICEF

Some recent UNICEF posters using my images from the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam:

Humanitarian Photographer

Photographer - Fotograf | Berlin | Dominic Blewett

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

These shots have been ready for a long time but I've been keeping them close to my chest for various reasons. Posting them now, so soon after the Pope's resignation is purely coincidence. I had nothing to do with it.

Last Easter I visited The Philippines to photograph the Easter Processions. It's bloody, very bloody. I assume it's the only time I will ever be able to get onto a crowded bus covered in other people's blood and have no-one call the police. Everything gets spattered; all of the people, the streets, the cars, and the street food (if it's not covered up quick enough). My camera bag still has dried spots of blood on it.

From dawn until night, groups of (mainly) men walk barefoot through the streets, some of them carrying crosses, ohters whipping their cut backs to make the blood flow. When they arrive at the chapels on their route they prostrate themselves, and children wash their whips in buckets of water and beat them on the legs and arms with sticks.

At the end of the festival, people dressed as Roman soldiers and characters from the Bible parade Jesus and the two thieves through the town, before nailing them to the cross. They really nail them up there (through the hands, their feet are tied) and the nails are huge. One of the main shots I wanted to get was a close-up of a nail being driven through a palm, but, alas, it was not to be. Photographers were corralled into an area in front of the crowd but not close enough to the crucifixions for the shots I wanted.

To be honest, as visually interesting as the Festival was, it's easily my least favourite among the religious events I documented during my time in Asia. It seemed to be purely theatre, and reliant more on machismo than mystery for its rituals. Granted, all of the other festivals I photographed have an element of both theatre and machismo, but there also seemed to be something else, something intangible under the surface that made them fascinating to be a part of. Not so the Filipino Easter Processions; worth seeing for sure, but mysterious, no.

To see the full gallery, click here.

Photographer - Fotograf | Berlin | Dominic Blewett