Boxing Preview.

Last night, I went to BK Aarhus to shoot 3 boxing classes. I was assigned to sports for an assignment about selecting photos. We were put into groups with other Danish photojournalism students for this assignment. After we shoot different stories under the same theme, we will come together as a group and work on the selection process. I really enjoyed my time with the boxers. Here are a few of my favorites before I go into the selection process with my group.

6 P.M. Deadline.

Thursday morning, we were told to go out and make 5 different photos and submit them by 6 p.m. Two of the photos were for a story about the sculpture, Jørn Rønnau. We had to make a smaller front page photo and a larger photo for an inside continuation of the story.

The 2nd story was about Den Gamle By or Old Town. This week, many schools are on winter vacation and we were supposed to focus on a winter vacation theme. Den Gamle By is a historical attraction, very much like the Daniel Boone Home. Workers dress up in period costume and participate in various activities with the visitors.

The 3rd story was about public transportation in Aarhus. I struggled with this final story. They wanted us to take this broad topic and think about shooting inside trains and buses, interesting reflections in the windows..etc.

Outtakes from this assignment can be seen on my Flickr

On the Third day of Pongal...

"Hey Eve, there are a bunch of colored cows causing a traffic jam in Alkapoor..do you want to go take photos?"

My Uncle Adam knows me well. On the Third day of Pongal, the focus is shifted towards the cows that live in the community. They are covered with colored chalk and flower garlands. Some of the people were also putting chalk on each other. I have always wanted to see Holi, the festival in India where they throw colored chalk at people. So, this was a mini-Holi substitute.

There are more photos on my Flickr.

Practice Makes Perfect.

6 months ago, I cringed with fear when it came to flash. It was a nice new feeling when we began our flash assignment to not cower in fear. I recognized the different types of flash and felt the glorious feeling of knowledge after a semester in advanced techniques. Here are some of my favorites from the practice day.

Maro

Isabella

Pedram

Peter

Andrew, Daniel and Isabella

Mimi comes to Denmark.

Its not often that you can wake up in the morning and say, "My best friend is coming to visit me in Aarhus today." I was visited last week by Mimi Pysno, one of my oldest friends from Minnesota. She is currently studying in Vienna and decided to come and visit me. She came to Aarhus for 2 days and then we headed to Copenhagen for the weekend. I introduced her to my new friends and showed her around the city too. It was really great to show Mimi around Aarhus and then explore a new place together in Copenhagen.

We were only in Copenhagen for about 2 full days, but we covered some serious ground. Including: Christiana, The Design Museum, City Hall, The Little Mermaid, The Danish Resistance Museum, The Amalienborg Palace, Nyhaven and H.C. Andersen's grave.

Here are some of my favorite images from the weekend...(will post more on facebook & flickr).

The Danish Way of Life

There is nothing like the nervous feeling in your gut before the first critique of a new photo class. Last week, we looked at everyone's top 15 photos that reflected their "style". Watching these amazing images projected before me, I was in awe at all of the different styles, cultures and methods that were sitting in the same room as me. So far, this program has been excellent. I am surrounded by photojournalists who are as passionate about learning and being challenged as I am. We have already become a tightly woven community.

Last week, we were given our first assignment for the semester. "To get started, you have to do a 10 photo series with one of the following themes: Enthusiasm, 8210 Aarhus or the Danish way of life."

I chose the Danish way of life. Bicycles have become a major part of everyday life in Aarhus. The city has made it a goal to be carbon neutral by 2030. In order to move the process along even faster, they have placed a lot of emphasis on using bicycles as primary transportation.

I decided to do a story about bikes from the perspective of a bicycle repair shop. Meet Thomas, an 'extreme' mountain biker who has been tinkering with bicycles since he was 5. He works at Rowi's bike repair shop in the city center of Aarhus. As the weather gets warmer, he slowly brings out his mountain bike again to warm up for the jumps and competitions that come with the spring weather. This April, he will be participating in the Danish Downhill Classic.

The editing process was very intensive. For the first critique, the entire class looked at everyone's entire take. I have never been in a photo class so small, that we had time to look at all of the takes. This first critique was a good check in before heading back out again to Rowi. The final critique was a great learning experience and reaffirmed one of the main reasons I wanted to do this program. Mads, my teacher pulled up my 25 and said, "Ok Eve, choose your top 10 for the story. Go." One of the most important critiques any photo teacher has ever given me was Rita Reed this past semester. "Eve, I looked through your entire take. You need to work on your gut feeling when choosing photos as your selects." Rita couldn't have been more spot on. So, I put my bravest face on for my new teacher and picked my 10 selects. I tried to choose a variety of images that showed the atmosphere of the repair shop. After choosing my 10 images, Mads commented on the selection and asked my classmates for comments. From that point, we put the images in order together. Listening to my classmates and Mads talk about the different stories was a great learning experience.

Bandana Coverage.

This past weekend, an organization called Good Night White Pride, held a protest against the Nazi group in Aarhus. White supremacy and Nazi groups have become a bigger problem in Aarhus over the past several years. I asked one of the protestors if there are issues with the Nazis in Copenhagen, "In Copenhagen, we don't have room for them. We push them out." Many of the protestors came from Copenhagen and joined others from Aarhus in front of city hall. From city hall, they marched for 3KM around the city and ended in another public square near the canal. The march was filled with chanting and music played from a truck. Chumbawamba's anarchy anthem,TubThumping was played a couple of times along with other songs with a similar theme.

Before the protest, I tried to get a better understanding of the organization. After several attempts, I found a few people that would talk to me. Many of the protestors were extremely guarded because the police teams at the event. They recorded the entire event, which meant for the protestors, their faces going on record with the police. For this reason, they covered their faces with bandanas and sun glasses, and talked primarily to their friends. All the answers I got were basically the same as what is listed on their website.

I am glad this event happened during my first week here. While I struggled in some areas, I pushed

myself in other ways with my photography. I also learned a lot about Danish society and social issues.

Okay. Photo time.

Out of all the photos I took, this one is the most important to me. They marched past the Jewish cemetery, which dates back to the early 1800s.

There are also a few more on my flickr too.

Native Tongue Preview

In between my classes and adventures with friends in Aarhus, I am still editing photos from India. My good friend Baba is in a band called Native Tongue.



Here is just a quick preview of the photo shoot we did. Due to scheduling conflicts, we weren't able to get together during the day, which made for some interesting lighting situations. I'll try and post more soon!

Here is the link to Native Tounge: http://apps.facebook.com/reverbnation_fb/artist/nativetongueindia

My personal favorite song is: Man in Black.

Goodbye India, Hello Denmark!

Leaving India was a lot harder than I thought it would be for me. Hyderabad has very much become a second home to me and so it was like saying goodbye to Minneapolis or Columbia all over again. I also had to say goodbye to Machelle, which is hard in the middle of the departure entrance at Hyderabad Airport. On this trip, I began several stories that I look forward to working on my next visit. I will also be posting a few stories from India soon, but I wanted to put up a couple of photos from Denmark now.

So, Aarhus..where do I begin? I love it here. My flat, in an area called Emmasvej is great, besides being a bit far from city center. My roommates, along with everyone else on my program are wonderful. I can't wait to work with these talented individuals! Aarhus is the second biggest city in Denmark. The city center is rally nice, filled with shops and restaurants I am eager to try. More details to follow...

The view from my window.






My School, The Danish School of Journalism. We just had our first day of photo class and I couldn't stop smiling the entire time
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Everyone already loves Cedric.


A few my of new friends..
Barbora.


Pete.

Learning with Legos.

On our last visit to the orphanage, we surprised the kids with new sets of Legos and Lego tables. In watching the kids play with the legos, I was reminded how much legos teach children. It was fascinating to watch all of the trial and error that was taking place in the room. The determination in their faces as they picked up the pieces from a fallen tower; confident they will build it again.