William Turner in Lucerne
Turner could truly paint the way he experienced a scene. Which brings me to his oil painting, “Snow Storm - Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth”. This one really made me feel like I was caught in the vortex of the storm myself. “I did not paint... to be understood. I wished to show what such a scene was like.” – JWM Turner
“The Blue Rigi, Sunrise” 1842 JMW Turner
I visited Lucerne to see the special exhibition, “Turner. The Sea and the Alps”, featuring works by the famous painter J.M.W. Turner. I arrived in the morning before the museum opened, so I decided to hike along the city’s 14th century wall, the Museggmauer. You can climb three of its nine towers. Of course, I climbed them all! My mother in law doesn’t call me Bambi for nothing. (Not because I’m cute, alright, just because I have an urge to climb steep things. Deer like climbing things.)
Back to the exhibition. Have you seen the movie “Mr. Turner”, directed by Mike Leigh? That’s where I first became acquainted with the painter. The movie is also a work of art.
Between 1802 and 1844, Turner travelled to Switzerland six times. Until then people just saw the Alps as a hurdle to overcome to get to the South. Few landscape painters had given it much attention. Turner loved painting water and mountains, so Switzerland was obviously the place for him.
He travelled Switzerland sketching and painting with watercolours. The first impression you get when viewing his work is one of atmosphere. He was quoted saying: “Atmosphere is my style.” You may think it’s impressionistic. But then you start noticing the Romanticism, the rich details, some showing how people lived in those times.
One of Turner’s favourite subjects was Mount Rigi, which you can see across the lake from Luzern. His watercolour painting, “The Blue Rigi, Sunrise” 1842, gives me such a sublime and peaceful feeling.
Turner could truly paint the way he experienced a scene. Which brings me to his oil painting, “Snow Storm - Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth”. This one really made me feel like I was caught in the vortex of the storm myself. “I did not paint... to be understood. I wished to show what such a scene was like.” – JWM Turner
Snow Storm - Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth by JMW Turner
Afterwards I went to pay his muse, old Rigi, a visit myself. I crossed the lake from Lucerne to Vitznau by boat. Then I took the Rigi Bahn, a charming little cogwheel train on Europe’s first mountain railway. It took us literally into the clouds. So, the view was not clear, but the experience was surely enjoyable.
Bicycle in Lake Lucerne
The Rigi Bahn in the clouds
The Land of Kimchi and Selfie Sticks
This was my last company tour as a dancer. I’ll surely miss doing these tours together with my wife, who said that she was not just jet-lagged this time, but also “food-lagged”. I love kimchi, bibimbap and Korean barbecue, but in the end nothing beats cooking at home.
This was my last company tour as a dancer. I’ll surely miss doing these tours together with my wife, who said that she was not just jet-lagged this time, but also “food-lagged”. I love kimchi, bibimbap and Korean barbecue, but in the end nothing beats cooking at home.
After our two performances of Carmina Burana in Daegu, my wife and I used our two free days to see a bit more of South Korea. We travelled to the nearby city of Gyeongju, which used to be the capital of the ancient kingdom of Silla. Here we stayed at a lovely little traditional Hanok guesthouse. Nearly all of the Koreans we encountered were polite, hospitable and would go out of their way to help us with any query we had.
We visited the temple of Bulguksa and the Tombs of the rulers of Silla, which look like giant mounds, followed by the Gyeongju National Museum. The next day we headed to Seoul on the super-fast KTX train, where we hiked along the Seoul City Wall, followed by a stroll through the beautiful Bukchon Hanok Village.
South Korea is truly a technologically advanced country, with more selfie-sticks and tripods per capita than I have seen to date. Locals hire Hanboks (traditional Korean dresses) and have their photos taken in every direction. A tripod is the last thing that I would want to be lugging around with me.
I have always tried to travel as light as possible, this time with only one camera, one lens and a few batteries. Recently I acquired the Fujifilm Fujinon 16mm f1.4 R WR lens and wanted to use it to force myself to think “wider”. I find it much easier using a longer lens, as it creates more separation and isolates your subject more. So the wider angle of view demands of me to think more about composition and placement of my subject. I can also isolate my subject by getting really close and making it appear much larger than more distant objects. (Not very flattering for portraits)
This lens is on the wide end with an equivalent field of view of 24mm on a 35mm SLR. Although it is much bigger than the little 18mm lens I have, the picture quality is outstanding (it will literally make any pixel-peeper drool) and it can also focus as close as 15cm. I loved the experience of using this lens, and it turned out to be great for shoot-from-the-hip street photography.
Disclaimer: Neither Fujifilm, South- or North Korea paid me to write any of this.
