Copenhagen Climate Conference
21. December 2009My last trip to Copenhagen did coincident with the COP15 summit which added much more interest to my visit.
I was able to be part of the main demonstration on Saturday, meet interesting people from all over the world which especially arrived for that conference and additionally the city was loaded with activities, actions and sculptures from various artists and organisations.
I especially liked the manifold art events of the SevenMeters initiative and had the chance to take photos of two activities near the Bella Center, the meeting place of the summit.
The photo on the left pictures the “Wandering Refugees”, three 10 meters high sculptures with copper faces and long African women’s costumes in shrill colors. They are put up on the savannah-like areas to remind us of female refugees in Sudan.
The other photo shows “Refugees in Water”, a group of sculptures in human size that are placed in the water ditches under the metro. They shall remind us of the rising water levels and the with it connected streams of refugees, which will be expected.
Unfortunately I missed the “Survival of the Fattest” sculpture which was located near “The little Mermaid”. It was meant as a symbol of the rich world’s self-complacent righteousness and displayed a fat woman (Justitia) with a pair of scales in her hand. She sits on the back of starved African man (i.e. the third world), while pretending to do what is best for him.
The aim of these initiatives is to put focus on the consequences of global warming through various art installations, which will highlight the climate change from different angles. Learn more about the SevenMeters initiative: www.sevenmeters.net
Asia meets Norway
29. November 2009 ![]() |
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This summer vacation I spent in Norway again, together with my two flat mates Chin and Gerrit. Chin had joined our flat recently. He grew up in Asia and for him it was the first time to spend a “nature holiday” in Scandinavia. I was very curious how he would like the landscape there and would cope with the lack of people…
You might find it normal, picking berries and mushrooms while you are outside in nature, but for a big city kid from Kuala Lumpur (population of 7.2 million) it is a totally new experience! Chin got excited about all this free food to be found everywhere in Norway’s nature - but most of all he was amazed by the fact that you even can even drink water straight from rivers and streams!
So after all he did pretty well there and liked the place. But I have to admit that it hasn’t been a true “nature holiday”, since we had internet access. I am sure that compensated a lot for Chin.
6th NCL Charity Dinner “Cooking For Kids”
19. November 2009On the 7th of November the NCL foundation held their 6th charity dinner “Cooking For Kids” in the extraordinary venue “REE Location im Heizwerk”, in Hamburg.
The concept of this happening really is unique: for every dinner, NCL invites a well know star chef (in this case Steffen Henssler) who sets up a cooking contest with guest. Two groups of three guests each have to prepare a three course dinner (one portion) within 20 minutes. To watch them perform under the time pressure and the funny comments of the star chef is great fun for all guests.
Besides this there are other highlights such as speeches or a magician act and of course a delicious three course dinner (cooked by a real chef).
NCL is the abbreviation of “Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis”, a metabolic disorder that causes an increasing decease of nerve cells. Besides many other objectives, the NCL foundation’s aim is to increase the public awareness of NCL in order to promote the early diagnosis of the disease.
My contribution to this charity event was taking the photos which will be used for the foundation’s press work and can be also purchased by the guests. The amount of the sales will be donated as well.
I was happy to help and also happy to receive a nice feedback for my work:
Moin Herr Leistner,
vielen Dank für Ihren unermüdlichen Einsatz. Die Fotos sind wirklich super geworden. Ich bin gespannt, wieviele Gäste sich welche runterladen werden bzw. bestellen werden.
Schönen Gruß
Dr. Frank Stehr
NCL Research
Testimonial by Caroline and Olle, Stockholm
13. November 2009Yes the DVD has arrived and we looked at the photos yesterday. We did as you said and opened a bottle of champagne.
We are very satisfied with the photos this far, but I think we have to look at them more often to say more. It was a lot of photos and a lot of feelings to deal with (happy feelings). But the photos are really fantastic!
Cheers,
Caroline
Babywelt 2009, München
30. October 2009Testimonial by Ulla and Michael, Toulouse
18. October 2009unsere Hochzeit am 1. August in Toulouse war für uns ein traumhaftes Fest voller bewegender Emotionen. Du hast mit Deiner Kamera alle bedeutenden Momente im Bild festgehalten. Die Aufnahmen sind wunderschön geworden! Sie ermöglichen es uns, jedes Detail unserer Trauung in voller Erinnerung behalten zu können. Unser ganzes Leben lang werden wir uns an Deinen Fotos erfreuen. Wir danken Dir von ganzem Herzen, dass Du unser Hochzeitsfotograf warst und auch mit uns gefeiert hast!
Ulla & Michael
Testimonial by Katrin and Dirk
14. September 2009Lieber Johannes,
vielen Dank für die tollen Bilder, die Du auf unserer Hochzeit gemacht hast! Die Wahl der Location und die Art, wie Du uns bei den Hochzeitsfotos in Szene gesetzt hast waren super und die Bilder sind einfach traumhaft geworden. Es hat richtig Spaß gemacht die „offiziellen“ Brautpaarfotos mit Dir zu machen und wir sind begeistert von Deinem Gespür für die richtigen Blickwinkel, Posen und Bildhintergründe. Du hast unsere Erwartungen tatsächlich bei Weitem übertroffen!
Auch die Bilder in der Kirche und bei der anschließenden Feier spiegeln wunderbar die Stimmung des Tages wieder. Deine Anwesenheit bei der Feier war äußerst angenehm und man hat gar nicht gemerkt fotografiert zu werden – was die Fotos umso schöner und natürlicher macht. Wir gucken uns die Fotos gerne immer wieder an und erinnern uns an diesen für uns einmaligen Tag zurück.
Ganz liebe Grüße,
Katrin & Dirk













