jon.b

free spirit. animal lover. snow and dirt and rocks and ice. travel. these are places i have felt.

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i just liked this a lot.

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okushiga kogen / nagano prefecture // japan /// 2017 there are places we connect with in subconscious ways, and then there are places that remind you of the immediacy of our world’s beauty in nothing but one single view. japan is a singular and astonishing place that i love more than most others. its mountains, crowned with snow, echo an ancient power. forbidding, inviting. freezing, warmth. the snow is really nice... but japan is why you never want to go anywhere else.

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tintagel / cornwall // 2017 a remote and rocky headland crowned with the persistent and soft green that is endemic to england. ruins of walls tumbling haphazardly across the grass, wind whistling among the stones and waves crashing and birds calling and the sun blasting you with midsummer beachy warmth... i have connected for ages deeply and longingly with arthurian legend. to stand in a place so littered with his myth is to touch base with my childhood in a vivid and powerful manner.

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durnstein / austria // 2015

what century am i even in?  this town is such a wonderful throwback.  perched on a river that roars in spring with snowmelt from the mountains, it is like walking through a time warp.  a truly remarkable place to have discovered. 

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stephansdom / vienna // austria // 2015

five years after first visiting this extraordinary space, i was able to return with a new camera, allowing me access to some darker scenes that my trusty d90 couldn’t pick up.  this cathedral is a wild cacaphony of visual stimuli; creepy and dark, combined with lovely airy gothic construction.  i wonder if it helped people to feel that god was always watching...

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vienna / austria // 2015

“good night, and good luck.”  a pastiche of stickers and scribbled graffiti.  grey grey grey, my time in vienna feels so grey through this lens.  I was being introspective and figuring some things out.  plus the weather was horrid! 

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geneve / suisse // 2015

i explored geneva alone on a holiday called whitson, that we don’t celebrate in the states.  most folks were apparently at home, which left the old inner city of geneva empty and almost walking-dead-like.  the quality of the light that day was extraordinary, almost silverish, not a vibe i usually associate with summer days.  such a beautiful city.   that i am so at odds with.  i am drawn to it like a moth to a flame, and yet, and yet... i do not fit well there. 

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geneve / suisse // 2015

taken as a whole, for me geneva is a remarkable study in contrasts.  I am usually a warm, inviting southerner; genevans are not so.  it was a rather difficult thing to take on the chin, but it makes up for the lack of personal connection with utter beauty everywhere.  the swiss have absolutely got that part covered.  a series of blues, dashed by red and white.  a boat, preparing to journey into the waters of lake leman.  or perhaps journey home? 

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durnstein / austria // 2015

the vibrance of this pink rose on a dreary rainy cold day was so inviting as to be almost humorous.  a more vivid pink i cannot think of.  i couldn’t tell you exactly where in the town this was, but i can tell you exactly who i was thinking of when i took this.  like so many, she is just someone that i used to know these days, a lovely summer memory.  the affairs of the heart are so intertwined with roses; one can see why. 

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kingdom of the crystal skull / vienna // austria /// 2015

a smattering of skull-shaped vodka bottles, lit from above, proved irresistible.  I have a long-standing fascination with skulls, and in celebration of finally having a pair of them tattooed on my body (to represent the two true heartbreaks of my life), here is a study in oddity.  the way these are rather just tossed in and layered on one another was really interesting to me.  weirdly, although this is clearly a black and white photograph, the color image is almost as monochromatic. 

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durnstein / austria // 2015

a riot of a medieval fort town on the raging danube river, in the heart of austrian wine country, durnstein is a wonderful, wonderful place to enjoy a quiet, rainy afternoon.  ever corner has some new detail, a moped perhaps, or a violent outburst of brightly-colored flowers.  the walls are all ancient, the hotel schloss something out of a thirties movie.  travel more.  you find the best places. 

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geneve / suisse // 2015

geneva is a fascinatingly weird city.  perhaps one of the personally coldest cities i’ve ever visited.  but such beauty and such style... i’ve been spending a fair amount of time with a 50mm lens, and sometimes it means i waste a ton of photographs because i can’t get the focus QUITE right; but sometimes that exceptionally narrow depth-of-field works out just right.  falling diamonds. 

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weingot franz hirtzberger / spitz // austria /// 2015

i was in love with this ceramic cat.  no one seems to know exactly how old she is, but she has been keeping the tasting room free of mice at this winery for many a year.  such a remarkable and interesting place... traditional austrian food takes some getting used to though... 

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vienna / austria // 2015

in a departure from what one is normally confronted with in such an ancient city, these purple LEDs shouted at me from an alley away.  the repetition and pattern were too fun.  (note: all chromatic aberration and weirdness you’re seeing on screen is not present in the original image; it has something to do with the compression of uploading.) 

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weingut franz hirtzberger / spitz // austria /// 2015

in a scene taken from a history text of europe circa 1879.... but seriously this is just last may.  these are exceptionally old vineyards in austria’s wine country; tended by hand, populated by snails, these vines yield a sweet, complex flavor that is probably lost on me.  but boy did my parents have a great time.  and it’s stunningly gorgeous, is austria, in case i hadn’t mentioned that. 

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vienna / austria // 2015

a festival stall silenced and shut for the night, the lights of stephansplatz reflecting in her shiny glass bulbs.  i adore austria; her people, her architecture, her food.  her beer.  my time in vienna last summer was vibrant and full of my family and friends, yet weirdly so many of my photographs remain moody and dark.  I’m definitely still working through some things I guess.  vienna shall remain, once and forever. 

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st. stephens cathedral / vienna, austria // 2015

i’m back!  with some moody and dark images from one of my favorite buildings in europe.  it was a grey and moody day, and that found its way into my photos.  in fact i find that a lot of my photos from vienna tend to have this rather darker mood; which is odd, given my love for the city herself.  many photos to come.  i’ve been absent and busy and injured again, but i’m back on the horse.  hope you guys enjoy!