Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/04/30

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Subject: [Leica] IMG: Nathan's PAW 16: my favourite city
From: nathan at nathanfoto.com (Nathan Wajsman)
Date: Mon Apr 30 12:51:08 2007
References: <97DA772B-AE08-4EC2-A791-61EF037EF4E6@nathanfoto.com> <3cad89990704292335j5a1f9f04o8bd1bbef1e7936b7@mail.gmail.com> <000401c78af4$ed351200$6601a8c0@asus930>

Hi Hoppy,

Thanks for looking. Actually, Christiania is not at all a sad place. It 
has a long history: the area belongs to the Ministry of Defence and used 
to be a military barracks. It was abandoned some time in the 1950s or 
1960s, and in 1971 a bunch of hippies moved in. In the beginning it was 
all very chaotic and somewhat problematic, as the place became a magnet 
for all kinds of drug addicts and such from all over Europe. Successive 
governments wanted to shut it down, but none of them had the stomach to 
have the riot police clear a place with 2000-3000 inhabitants. During 
the 80s and 90s things became a bit more structured: the pushers were 
kicked out, people started paying for electricity (originally, they just 
helped themselves to it) etc. Today, the place is a curious mix of the 
original squatters, many of whom are there because they are idealistic 
types who are looking for alternative lifestyles, and assorted bums who 
drift in and out of the place. There is no longer any talk of shutting 
it down, since Christiania is today Copenhagen's #2 tourist attraction 
(after Tivoli). The place is by no means tamed, but it is not the place 
of 30 years ago.

Nathan

G Hopkinson wrote:
> Nathan the "free city" essay is very interesting but extremely sad. 
> Graffiti seems to be a universal urban plague, fortunately the
> rioting and anarchy are less so, albeit still crops up. So much of it an 
> excuse for vandalism and terrible antisocial behaviour.
>
> I did enjoy strolling along the strand with you. They give the impression 
> of cool crisp sparkling air.
>
> Cheers
> Hoppy
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: lug-bounces+hoppyman=bigpond.net.au@leica-users.org 
> [mailto:lug-bounces+hoppyman=bigpond.net.au@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of
> Jayanand Govindaraj
> Sent: Monday, 30 April 2007 16:36
> To: Leica Users Group
> Subject: Re: [Leica] IMG: Nathan's PAW 16: my favourite city
>
> Nathan,
> You are tempting me to visit your part of the world, which I have never 
> been
> to, the next time I am in Europe with your always interesting photoblog.
> Cheers
> Jayanand
>
> On 4/29/07, Nathan Wajsman <nathan@nathanfoto.com> wrote:
>   
>> I spent last weekend in Copenhagen. It is my favourite place in the
>> world, truly the place I call home. As usual, it is the people who
>> make the place what it is, and so my PAW focuses mainly on them:
>> http://www.fotocycle.dk:80/paws/?page_id=80
>>
>> In addition to the PAW images, I have also put up a gallery of
>> pictures mainly from the Free City of Christiania, a hippie enclave
>> in the middle of Copenhagen, and of the remains of the Youth House, a
>> building which had been occupied by squatters during the past 20 or
>> so years, and which was cleared by the police amid heavy riots
>> earlier this month (most of the rioting was done by anarchists from
>> all over Europe who adopted the place as their cause celebre):
>> http://www.frozenlight.eu/copenhagen_apr2007/
>>
>> As always, comments and critique are welcome and appreciated.
>>
>> Nathan
>>
>> Nathan Wajsman
>> nathan@nathanfoto.com
>> General photography:
>> http://www.nathanfoto.com
>> http://www.greatpix.eu
>> http://www.frozenlight.eu
>> Picture-A-Week: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws
>> Blog: http://www.fotocycle.dk/blog
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Leica Users Group.
>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>>
>>     
>
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>
>
>   

-- 
Nathan Wajsman
Almere, The Netherlands

Opportunistic Image Acquisition

General photography: http://www.nathanfoto.com and http://www.greatpix.eu
Picture-A-Week: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws
Seville photography: http://www.fotosevilla.com

Stock photography: http://www.alamy.com/search-results.asp?qt=wajsman
http://myloupe.com/home/found_photographer.php?photographer=507
Prints for sale: http://www.photodeluge.com

Blog: http://www.fotocycle.dk/blog


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In reply to: Message from nathan at nathanfoto.com (Nathan Wajsman) ([Leica] IMG: Nathan's PAW 16: my favourite city)
Message from jayanand at gmail.com (Jayanand Govindaraj) ([Leica] IMG: Nathan's PAW 16: my favourite city)
Message from hoppyman at bigpond.net.au (G Hopkinson) ([Leica] IMG: Nathan's PAW 16: my favourite city)