There are thousands of things we are unaware of in our daily lives. Photography helps me to enjoy the moments I would have never experienced without my camera.
(click on thumbnails for full-size images)
It
was about two years ago when I was walking down a small, narrow street
in Neuchatel (Switzerland) and suddenly a very old looking wall caught
my attention. I did not know why, but I just felt that I had to make a
picture of that wall. It was so unique, it was almost like it was asking
me to take a photo of it. I have always liked this photo. And just
recently, a couple of weeks ago when browsing my photo library, I saw
this photo again and I started to think about all those hundreds of
other walls that I pass by every single day. I decided to go out for a
walk and take notice of them more carefully. It was a fascinating walk
for me. Suddenly I noticed how interesting and photogenic many walls are. How different in colors, in textures, in light.
And I started taking photos of them. I realized that walls had somehow
become an unnoticeable part of my life. They had not existed 
for me before taking that walk.
Today, when I go out shooting pictures, I observe every single wall I pass by. I must admit that it has become some sort of an obsession, and actually I hope that it will get less intense over the course of time.
Each wall has many different faces. They can each
look so different, depending on the time of day. Each can have a
completely different character, depending on the weather. They will look
differently depending on the angle and the distance from which they are
being viewed. Walls are like paintings. You can enjoy looking at them
for their integrity, or just for their smallest details. And what makes
them so fascinating is the fact that very often their character has been
created
by nature; by sunlight, wind, humidity, etc. Very often walls are
masterpieces produced by both man and nature; painted and decorated by
people, and afterwards transformed by the awesome forces of nature.
These effects can be quite astonishing.
So, now I have discovered walls – the next detail
for me to enjoy. Who would have thought I could have missed them all
along? How many other elements of my reality are waiting for me do
discover them. I feel I have become a richer person; richer with a new
experience, a new way of looking at the surrounding world. I have
learned how to notice the unnoticeable. I am trying to look at things I
that I normally ignore. It is like living in a much bigger 
world all of a sudden; in a world which has one more dimension.
At www.photowalls.org I present approximately one wall per week. My intention is to continue this project for at least one more year as a sort of experiment. I am not going to “hunt” walls for the rest of my life, but one thing is for sure: I have become much more aware of their existence.
One more thing: I do not shoot walls only. Have a look at my other photoblog: www.lucernetimes.com, wherein I chronical my life in Lucerne, Switzerland.
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