aliu olatunju

aliu olatunju is a contemporary dancer from lagos, nigeria and currently an artist in residency at the donau universitaet krems, austria. aliu is a blessed story-teller crossing any boundary with his presence and kind spirit. we recently took portrait and dance photos for a calendar project, scheduled for 2011.

life ball 2010

the annual life ball as the worlds largest fund raising event for hiv research just took place at the vienna city hall. most of the opening ceremony and the fashion show had to be canceled because of stormy weather. however, there are some new photos in the documentary section. enjoy ;-)

international choreolab austria

the international choreolab austria continues its cycle of interdisciplinary project modules with 'membrane motion_phonotope'. the goal is to bring academic foundation together with artistic practice, thereby designing a new, extended understanding of choreography. the second choreolab took place early july at the donau university krems. please click here for more information.

gnosis

I uploaded a small selection of photos of akram khan and yoshie sunahata for the production of gnosis. the photos were taken during the rehearsal period in london as well as in performances in copenhagen and rome. gnosis is very precious to me and I hope the photos provide you with a small insight!

chromolab

I like to spread the word about chromolab, an upcoming exhibition together with the vienna based visual artist victoria coeln and the dancers caitlyn carradine and ziga jereb at the donau universitaet krems. the curator at campus cultur, gerhard gensch, will open the exhibition and introduce our current project. a brief q&a is scheduled as well. the opening is part of the ongoing second international choreolab austria.

donau universitaet krems | campus cultur 1st floor
dr. karl dorrek strasse 30
3500 krems
austria
opening july 13, 2010 12 pm (through august 8)

melanie thierry

akram khan collaborated with the french actress melanie thierry in spring 2010 for a commercial video, introducing the new fragrance opium by yves saint laurent. I had the opportunity to document this project while working with akram on the production of gnosis. I uploaded a small selection of photos...

wunderland featuring alice

the enchanting french singer wunderland featuring alice recently per- formed at klub ost. we took the opportunity and met early one morning at the naschmarkt in vienna, just in time to see the market area empty and deserted. it felt perfect for a photo shoot. many thanks to caro and floh at headquarters vienna (you did an amazing job), sira-zoé for being such a great assistant and deli cafe for the free chai! more about alice can be discovered here ;-)

akram khan

akram khan, a dancer and choreographer born in england of a bangla- deshi family, effortlessly shifts across styles, continents and echoes. his work resonates from classical indian and modern dance languages and involves artists such as anish kapoor, nitin sawhney and anthony gormley. akram asked me in 2009 to document his artistic work as well as his life off stage for a future publication. I am involved in 'gnosis' and 'vertical road', two current creations of the akram khan dance company and so far have traveled to london and copenhagen. akram gives me the time and freedom to learn about his work in my own way and at my own pace. I find it a privilege and great joy to accompany an artist of such beauty and vision.

jooloomooloos

a few colorful jooloomooloos (small beings that live in clothes) made it to un|still. jonas, milli, neha, simon and viyana were the most amazing and patient models ever ;-) the post production was made possible with the expertise and generous support of gabriel moinat. many thanks for being part of it!

soho ottakring

soho in ottakring is an off festival in a district of vienna with a specific socio-economic and cultural situation. ottakring stands for a multi ethnic community with residents from all regions of the world and walks of life. the festival aims to display the richness of such a vast mix of cultures and backgrounds as well as raise concern about growing social and ethnic hardships.

paint for life will present a selection of photo work taken by students
at the owf one world foundation in ahungalla, sri lanka. I was teaching photography as an artist in residency at the owf, the photos on display were produced as part of the workshop and show the creative potential of students without any prior education in media art. the event takes place on sunday may 9, 2010 at the kunst- und kulturverein 'das werk'. click here for more detailed information. many thanks to kathrin messner, doron rabinovici, sybille hamann, helmut prochart, michael wimmer, sibylle gieselmann and blumenkraft for their generous support. if you wish to be kept up to date just sign up for a newsletter in the contact section.

das werk
neulerchenfelderstrasse 6-8
1160 vienna
austria
opening may 9, 2010 11 am - 8 pm

exhibition at owf

just a few more days to go and my students will present a selection of photographic work at the one world foundation. we picked about 120 images for the exhibition and I am excited about both, artistic approach as well as technical quality. the workshop lasted mere two month and some of the photos certainly meet professional standards. if you happen to travel through sri lanka in these days, please drop by!

owf campus
ahungalla
sri lanka
opening january 28, 2010 10am

photo (c) isuru dhananjaya

project period

my residency at the one world foundation goes well and time is flying all too fast. the new year started with a project period. together with about 25 students we developed different visual concepts and themes, ranging from still photography and documentary work to action shots. in total there are six projects and a selection of photos will be presented to the public in late january. I captured some students on the job near hikka duwa, a small beach resort at the indian ocean. and yes, sri lanka is
that beautiful...

jooloomooloo

one of the products the garment factory ran malu fashions takes care of is jooloomooloo, a label for small and very small people, founded by christina gschwantner. now, what is a jooloomooloo (tschulumulu)? well, to be precise, jooloomooloos are small beings that live in clothes, can only be seen by kids and are happy and peaceful until they smell toxic colors. then they get really bad-tempered and itchy. please click on the heather for detailed product information. and you might like to know, jooloomooloo is the lead character of a book written by doron rabinovici and illustrated by christina gschwantner. the publication received awards for 'best children book' in austria, is printed on elephant poo(!) and well, designed for small and not so small people.

ran malu fashions

ran malu fashions is one of many garment factories situated in biyagama, an hour drive outside colombo. the factory depends largely on orders from abroad and is keen on working in accordance with fair trade regu-
lations. I was allowed to access the production area and photograph various manufacturing processes. many thanks to rajen wijenathan for his generous support!

a chassidic rabbi in colombo

mendy crombie is a young chassidic rabbi from the lubavitch movement who moved to sri lanka five years ago, certificating kosher food as well as locating and converting local jews back to the path of judaism. the vienna based author and essayist doron rabinovici interviewed the rabbi a few days ago and asked me to document the meeting. it again showed me how complex and intertwined the world is. traveling to colombo and photographing a rabbi who worships the ideas of lubavitch is quite a surprise... click here for more information on this movement.

chestnuts roasting on an open fire...

I always wondered what it would be like, x-mas on the beach, under palm tress, with a spectacular view and any notion of snow or roasted chestnuts far away. it is happening... I wish you all, where ever you
are, a jolly good time! enjoy all there is. and good luck for 2010 ;-)

costumes, music and dance

december 15 marks the last day in school and is celebrated in large crowds with beautifully designed costumes, music and dance. in sri lanka final exams are carried out in december and a new school year begins january 4. my students prepared for this occasion and up to eight photographers documented the event. please click at the heather to see some of their work. I brought my camera as well and like to share a few impressions from backstage. it's a celebration...

the end of my first month

this is the end of my first month at the owf one world foundation in ahungalla. there are about 40 amazing(!) students in my classes and days are filled with a crash course on theory as well as excursions to the indian ocean and a nearby buddhist temple. we work with ten digital pentax slr cameras and a standard zoom lens. the school provides the infrastructure to upload the images and complete the whole working process with photo editing software. I am also taking time to teach about history of photography and present a small number of artists I find precious and relevant to know about. earlier this week I took an hour off and captured some of the other students, looking for a photographic approach in this new environment.

robyn lee

in the moment | the art of being is the most recent publication of new york based acting teacher and coach robyn lee. robyn has been teaching internationally over the last 15 years. we met back in 1999 when robyn took an assignment at my former dance school spiral[e] in vienna. I am thrilled to contribute to her new book with a portrait from our last photo session.

artist in residency

I am leaving this coming sunday to sri lanka for an artist in residency, teaching photography and creative work at a free education unit south of colombo. the residency is financed by paint for life in collaboration with owf one world foundation. I put up a blog with regular updates, if you are curious please click here.

owf one world foundation sri lanka
#162/15 wathuregama
ahungalla, sri lanka

akram khan

I recently met up with choreographer and dancer akram khan at the occasion of his premiere of gnosis at sadler's wells in london. inspired by the mahabharata story of queen ghandari, who blindfolds herself for life to follow her blind husband, gnosis explores the notion of inner know-
ledge and clouded vision, of 'seeing darkness yet being blind to light'.
akram invited me to collaborate with him and the company in 2010.

tanz die toleranz

the british choreographer royston maldoom has been the initiator and leader of numerous dance projects around the globe. his work was especially honoured in 2005 with the project 'rhythm is it' when 250 kids danced 'le sacre du printemps' by igor stravinsky in collaboration with sir simon rattle and the berlin philharmonic orchestra. royston is currently choreographing a piece to john adams’ 'harmonielehre' with 100 children from various social and ethnic backgrounds as part of 'tanz die toleranz', initiated by caritas wien. participating in this project and documenting
the process of work has been a great privilege. many thanks to bettina frenzel and juergen knoth for making two ends meet.

gasometer
guglgasse 8
1110 vienna
austria
premiere october 9, 2009 8pm (through october 10)

life on earth

the german dance magazine ballettanz (jahrbuch 09) named the performance project life on earth by cabula 6 the collectiv of the year (category important ensembles). life on earth takes place in macondo, a well hidden refugee camp at the outskirts of vienna. cabula 6 consists of claudia heu and jeremy xido as well as associative members and supporters. claudia invited me to macondo for the first time in 2007. please click on the heather for more detailed information and photographic work.

international choreolab austria

the icla international choreolab austria is a pilot project of danube university krems in cooperation with tanzatelier wien. this project is dedicated to providing continuous education in the context of dance
and choreography. the main focus is to foster discourse on an expanded understanding of choreography, which links contemporary dance, theoretical excursions und performative training across the disciplines. the icla involves dancers and choreographers as well as others professionals from neighboring scientific fields. this is an image of the first module on 'cartography bodymemento' (september 5 - 12).

bellyflop magazine

I was recently introduced to louise mochia, a kind spirit who happens
to be a london based dancer and dance editor. louise runs her own magazine so if you seek the latest news in dance check out her site for performance hungry people ;-)

ko murobushi

the japanese butoh dancer ko murobushi visited vienna at the occasion of the annual impulstanz festival and we took photos at an old train station. many thanks to kersten kloser, caro heinecke, michikazu matsume and akemi takeya for their generous support.

'vexations' wir nennen es arbeit (we call it work)

repeating a piece of music 840 times – that’s a lot of work. work that choreographer kerstin kussmaul and pianist jan burkhardt go to trouble with the composition 'vexations' by erik satie, the longest piece of music in history. 'we call it work' is thus the suitable subheading for their performance lasting twenty one hours. it features a cleverly devised system of admission that focuses on the attendance and function of the audience. I joined 'vexations' as a photographer, witnessing the course of events with all its subtle changes and story telling. and yes, it was work!

andrea schlehwein

the german choreographer andrea k. schlehwein invited me to take photos of her most recent creation, "right in the middle of something I can't see" in gmuend, austria. andrea and I haven't met before and I was deeply drawn into her work and perception of dance. many thanks to the dancers and the production office a.k.e.s. for their support and kindness.

premiere june 26, 2009 8pm (through june 30)
lodronsche reitschule
9853 gmuend | carinthia
austria

nora von waldstaetten

I met up with berlin based actress nora von waldstaetten earlier this month for a new photo session. all in all we spent two days exploring venues and traveling across the city. many thanks to doerthe for her generous support.

paint for life

the aim of paint for life is to support people in poor countries to gain access to sustainable education in order to lead a self-determined and dignified life. the association finances initiatives that run schools and other educational institutions in underprivileged parts of the world and for that purpose frequently holds charity events. a selection of art work was auctioned off by sotheby's on june 5 at the austrian embassy in berlin and I was thrilled to see my donation being sold to the highest bidder.

flamenco turco

I was recently invited to collaborate with other dance photographers on the 2nd pera flamenco festival from june 9 - 14 in taksim, istambul. a selection of photo work will be presented in designated areas as part of the festival.

life ball 2009

the 17th life ball took place on may 16 as the largest european charity event raising money for hiv research and related social programs. bill clinton, ivana trump, fran drescher, roisin murphy and eva longoria were some of the celebrities marking this highly illustrious event. click on the header for a selection of glamorous shots ;-)

angina p

the artist angina p just released her latest album sensitive files. the cover design features two stills we took back in 2005, hands productions took care of the art work. more information and mp3 downloads are available at http://www.anginap.com