Borderless Photos, Contact and Site Information

Tim Spragens
Suitbertusstr. 12
D-40223 Düsseldorf
tel: +49 211 349937
email:
info (at) borderless-photos.com

Site Information

"As soon as we lay eyes on the world it starts to change. And we with it."
Peter Høeg, "Reflection of a Young Man in Balance"

The Form

This is an odd medium. Start out locking light in a little box. Four boxes later through chemistry and electronics, there's light again. It's possible to see a part of the image, or a reduced sampling of the image, but not everything in all its detail at once.

The techniques used borrow heavily from photographic processing, painting, graphic arts, but the medium lacks the respectability of any of those forms. In printed form, the images lack permanence and lose range. In digital form, they require the current state of rapidly changing technologies. There is near certainty that what I have on my screen will look significantly different from what you see on yours.

Despite the limitations, the only other way I could offer these images to friends and strangers around the globe would be through print - impossible to gather people from five continents to a gallery. Images can be changed in a virtual gallery with the ease of a real one, an advantage over print. Consider this an electronic catalogue.

Prints of all images available, as are digital versions in virtually any resolution and file format.

Background

I started my darkroom experience in the early sixties, and had my first exposure to computer use in the mid-sixties. More than twenty years later, I was working with crude and coarse imaging on simple computers. Merging the techniques has only been possible for me within the last two to three years.

Acknowledgements

John Spragens, Jr., currently of Palo Alto, CA. USA for setting me up in my first darkroom, teaching me the basics, and putting up with a barrage of mails and images over the past few years.

Janet Brooks of Nashville, Tennessee, USA for an understanding of colour and graphic printing techniques.

Gary Washmon of Arlington, TX, USA - an afternoon in his painting studio taught me the utility of frisket masks. I can't work with masking in Painter or PhotoShop without that coming to mind.

Claire Santanna Freeman of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for convincing me to pick up a camera again after many years of disuse or negligent use, and for her introduction to the fine people and environs of that city.

Sylvia Vianna, also of Rio, for being a gracious hostess, showing me many of the sites of Sta. Teresa, and arranging the exhibition at Centro Cultural Laurinda Santos Lobo.

And in no particular order, other than how I pull them off of the shelves, Egberto Gismonti, The Buena Vista Social Club, Rubén González, Tom Jobim, Herbie Hancock, Carlinhos Brown, Gilberto Gil, Milton Nacimento, The Afro Cuban All Stars, Chico César, Baden Powell, Daniela Mercury, João Bosco, Thelonious Monk, Caetano Veloso, Charles Mingus and many others, for keeping me entertained while staring at the glowing screen.

Brasil, pp. 1-9

A village by a forest surrounded by a city, Sta. Teresa, Rio de Janeiro overlooks the central district of Rio. The area has been spared the highrise redevelopment that much of the rest of the city has undergone due to unstable soil conditions which may in time destroy it. Many of the homes, fine as well as modest, were built at the turn of the last century.

The immediate threat to the bairro is not from geology, but geography. It lies between the central business district and the homes of many who work there, but live in the southern part of the city. It is in the way. The cobblestones are hard on suspensions, the historic bonde, tram, is slow and continually blocking the progress of the cars. There is little parking. Far more convenient for these commuters would be parking garages and wider asphalt streets with fewer curves.

My first visit to Sta. Teresa was in the middle of 1992. The taxi took me on the stone-paved curves of Rua Joaquim Murtinho to a house with a splendid view of Centro, dominated by the cathedral and PetroBras, but with a clear shot of one of the small domes of Teatro Municipal.

I had come with the intention of spending time by the ocean, which I had not seen for almost a year after moving from San Francisco, California to Düsseldorf, Germany. I spent most of my time amongst the congenial surroundings and residents of Sta. Teresa, who were willing to spend hours with me despite the the severe language barrier.

The mix of residents includes professionals, writers, painters, day-workers and non-workers. The cafés and restaurants offer food and drink as diverse as the backgrounds of the residents. German, Italian, Brazilian dishes, drinks from cognac to cachaça, as well as the local beer. Some spots have music until near dawn, and always lively conversation.

It was on my fourth trip, 1996-97, that I decided to start the series of images presented. Sta. Teresa is exquisitely textured with a diversity of architecture, verdant growth and spectacular vistas. Here are the decay, regeneration and preservation of an area as visually engaging as any I have visited in the US or Europe.

Brasil, p. 10

Pictures 1-3, Ouro Preto, 1994
An old mining community in what are called the "Brazilian Alps". I assume that most of the income of the region is from tourism now. It was the home of the sculptor Aleijandinho, famed for his religious carving.

Pictures 4, 6, Paratí 1994
A relaxed seaside town between Rio and São Paulo.

Pictures 5, 7, 8 Morro de São Paulo, 1992
An island off of the coast of the state of Bahia, described to me as a paradise by one resident of Rio. The tucan would join me for breakfast every morning, and try to steal my bananas.

Ceskí Republice

These were from too short of a trip by motorcycle through torrential rains. In a town between Pilsen and Prague, I woke to find beer delivery still made by horse-drawn wagon.

Deutschland

Scenes in or near Düsseldorf, exceptions being the dragon on page 2, who lives in Munich, and the surfer, who at least surfs there.

Yes, there is fast water in Germany, even on small streams such as the Erft in NRW or the one entering the English Garden in Munich. It may not rival the beaches of Santa Cruz, California or Oahu, or the Columbia or Colorado rivers, but these folks will be ready for those the next time they get there.
Page 3, Moods of the Rhine
Page 4, Concours d'Elegance, 1998
Page 5, The Rhine between Koblenz and Lorelei, 1999
Page 6, Frank O. Gehry Architecture, Düsseldorf, 1999

España, pp. 1-2

The Galician city of A Coruña was the site of an oil tanker accident at the end of 1992.

España, p. 3

Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's major work, still under construction

España, pp. 4-5

Other scenes of Barcelona and surroundings. Badalona2 is mis-titled. This is an image of Santa Coloma de Gramenet. Thanks to Alex of Badalona for the correction!

France, p. 1

Scenes of Paris, 1998
Three scenes from around Montmartre, and one of the most enjoyable bookstores in the world.

France, p. 2

Brittany, 1993
Rolling hills, a rugged coast, historic and pre-historic remains recommend Brittany. Unfortunately the weather doesn't unless you have a preference for bone-chilling wind and rain.

France, p. 3

Mont-St-Michel, 1993

France, p. 4

Brittany, 1993, 1997

France, pp. 5, 6

Brittany, 1999 - Coastal area between St. Brieuc and Perros-Guirec. The shallow waters and hard rock create many tidal pools.

France, p. 7

Brittany, 1993, 1997 - Jardin du Thabor

Norge

Oslo in Winter, 1999

Sverige

Urban and Suburban Stockholm, 1998 and 1999

UK, pp. 1, 2

London, December 1998

UK, pp. 3, 4

Rotherham, 1996

USA, p. 1

"Brillo" - Brooklyn, towards Manhattan, ca. 1974
Central Texas, ca 1973-1975

USA, p. 2

Chicago, 1998

USA, p. 3

West Coasting
Sonoma CA, 1996
San Francisco, CA 1990
San Francisco, CA 1990
Santa Cruz, CA 1996

USA, p. 4

Sculptures on the Stanford University campus, created in 1994 by 10 artists from six villages in the Sepik River region of Papua New Guinea. Artists' ages range from 27 to 74.

Naui Saunambui
Yati Latai
Kwospi Marek
Gutok Yautaka
David Kapa Kaipuk
Membor Apokiom
Teddy Balangu
Yarume Mambegawi
David Yamanapi
Simon Gambulo Marumos
Jo Mare Wakundi

Quotations from the display:

The things we made here ... are our most sacred things -- things from the souls of our ancestors. We brought them here and now we leave them for you. -- Naui Saunambui

I ask you, on what do we exist? We exist on wind ... the foundation of all things is wind. The earth is breathing [creating wind] ... and if the earth stops breathing, all things will die. -- Yarume Mambegawi

Thanks to my brother John for getting these notes from the site.

Click on the large images to get particular notes for each.

Links

This section may change faster than the rest of the site. If you find any broken links, please mail me, so that I can adjust.

Site Information

The Form

Background

Acknowledgements

Links

Photographers and Photo Sites

Equipment

Brasil Links

Other Art