Loss and rescue: An elderly refugee story
Aaid is 72, a Rohingya refugee. His wife and grandson were shot during the perilous journey from Myanmar to Bangladesh. During his get-away from men with knives, he saw a little boy crying along the street while there was a house burning nearby; the boy was calling for his mom and dad who were nowhere ...
inSignificance
A wise Buddhist said something along these lines: when you add a spoon full of salt in a glass of water, the water becomes unbearably salty. But, when you put that same amount of salt into a lake, it makes no difference. It is a lesson for when we feel drowned in our own sorrow ...
Loss and longing: A teenage refugee’s story
Her name is Raahila*. She is twelve years old. I could imagine her being at school right now, making the big step to go to secondary school. But she’s not. And when she looks straight at me, I can almost feel the pain in her eyes. She’s a refugee whom just weeks ago escaped the ...
portrait of two lions
On our daily sunset game drive, already circling around for quite some time. Suddenly the radio cackles, apparently there is a coalition of young lions on its way. We take up the hunt. It is pitch dark, we feel we are alone with nothing but the sounds of the African bush. Suddenly our tracker switches ...
Downtown of Yangon
The old downtown of Yangon is the place to soak up the authentic atmosphere of the city with its long, narrow and perpendicular streets losing yourself in the constant buzz, deliberate chaos, various smells, a multitude of colours, strange noises and a mixture of architecture. I strolled through these streets numerous times for long hours. ...
bear with me.
Is your horizon too wide? Is it tiresome to always see the whole picture? Tunnelize your vision NOW! Introducing the revolutionary Tunnel-Izr! Guaranteed tunnel vision from the second you put on your new patented Tunnel-Izr! After 3 months of regular use, your peripheral vision will permanently diminish and in just one year it will be ...
unforgettable Ella
We either didn’t know where Ella was born nor exactly when. It was said that she probably was a Podenco mix from Spain. We’ve found her in an animal shelter where she was waiting for a family to give her a home. She was found tied in front of a supermarket where somebody abandoned her. ...
return to sender.
My Dear (or should I say my Dearest, but I guess that would not be adequate anymore, although terms of endearment have nothing to do with emotions or lack thereof, in my opinion), you’re asking me what brought me to my nuclear decision (your words, not mine), terminating our relationship. Well, here we go… you ...
be the one?
But then what if you are not? Almost 20 years ago, Igor N. (texting in the photograph), now 42, left his native town an hour’s train ride from Moscow, because he thought he could be the one who would make it. After generations of failed artists of various arts in the family, it looked like ...
Black and White – Together
We are black and white. We are the sky and the earth. We are a man and a woman. All together. Different, but same. We are the love and the hatred, glued together. Nothing will ever separate us. That’s the way it’s supposed to be, so stop fighting, stop crying, stop resisting. It’s time to ...
A Memory
What would life be without memories? How could we survive in the present without the experiences we learned from the past? It seems so obvious for us that we don’t give much thought to it. Memories are part of us, it is up to us to decide how we interpret them, what kind of value ...
Glory of Sunrise
Rare are the moments of true beauty and our sleepy heads miss the glorious sunrises almost every morning. The perfect lighting for which photographers would pay for, and the calmness and peace surrounding eternity. By the sea, only seagulls would share this moment of reflection with the awoken human eyes. The pastel colors appear like ...
any old day.
a croissant with strawberry jam (not home made, but very decent), a glass of freshly pressed orange juice and a cappuccino. your preferred breakfast (late, at half past ten) in a café just off town centre, served by your usual, yet not very friendly, waiter. no tip, of course. and the entire day ahead. what’s ...
paint it black.
If you really feel you are Mick Jagger, does it matter that you are actually not? This is a weekend challenge story.
j’ai belga.
Barman at Café Belga. The slow hours, just after lunch-time. I ordered a cappuccino and the barman said « Wait and watch how I make it! » So I did. Waited and watched. He showed me how to put the palm-tree design in the milk foam on the top. Then, when he saw my appreciation, ...
Flowers for Friendship
In 2016, Belgium celebrated the 150 years of friendship with Japan by building a beautiful Japanese design from flowers. More than 100 volunteers assembled this famous tourist attraction in four hours. Every two years Brussels’ Grand Place gets covered by a flower carpet consisting of nearly one million begonias.
some of his thoughts during the game.
It’s a good position. I’ll win this game. And then I’ll be depressed. It’s a bad position. I’ll lose. But then I will know precisely who is to blame. Not me, for sure. I usually remember if play with white or black. If that Tuesday afternoon on the 17th of June 1986 I move queen ...
note to self.
for one moment it almost looked like as if the day might have turned out not altogether too bad.
It’s all about the people.
She was delighted to be photographed. She was even more happy to sell us tea. There were few trekkers in low season and her tea place was one of the few open. “Are other trekkers coming behind you?” she asked. This lady here lived in the mountains with her husband and a fat dog. She ...
maybe the most misunderstood African animal
I must admit I have a soft spot for hyenas! As they are far from being the mean, deceitful and aggressive creatures from the Lion King. When spending time observing a hyena family at its den, often we couldn’t stiffle our giggles at the cubs’ boisterous antics, chasing each other, gnawing small trees, jumping on ...
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Loss and rescue: An elderly refugee story
inSignificance
Loss and longing: A teenage refugee’s story
portrait of two lions
Downtown of Yangon
bear with me.
unforgettable Ella
return to sender.
be the one?
Black and White – Together
A Memory
Glory of Sunrise
any old day.
paint it black.
j’ai belga.
Flowers for Friendship
some of his thoughts during the game.
note to self.
It’s all about the people.
maybe the most misunderstood African animal
Choose your Photostory Membership
Read the most recent stories and discover the photos
in between.
“So, can you commit?” “Sure, I can commit.” “So, how do you commit?” “I brush my teeth every day.” “Is that a commitment?” “Best you’ll ever have.” “How?” “Leap of faith.” “What?” “You assume there’s a tomorrow.” “Ah. Ok.” “See?”
two-thirds
I roam the streets and take candid photographs of people close up so I can see their faces clearly. I am putting together a collection of facial expressions. I want to create a manual for emotionally challenged people so they can use my photos as reference when they want to show emotion. I already have …
scheming
It is grossly unfair that I have no clue what sound your front door makes when you shut it. I completely lost track of your shoe collection. I have no tactile memory of the furniture in your new home. Because I never had the chance to sit on that sofa. How dark is dark during …
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Flowers for you
They are for you! I don’t know if you deserve them or not. This doesen’t matter at all. I just offer you those flowers because I think they are contrasting with their surroundings the same way as you do.
comforting.
I once sat into one of those photomaton booths in a shopping centre, I needed a passport photo. I inserted the coins, smiled, then dropped the smile. The flash fired, there was some noise and I had the photos in my hand. Excellent pictures. Six identical, perfectly lit portraits, colours spot on. There was just …
popsicle.
I am with you because I recently got dumped and I want to prove to myself that I can get back on my feet and get myself in a new relationship – of sorts. And that I can move in with someone so I don’t have to beg myself back to my mom’s place and …
aphasia?
That strangely comforting feeling of losing words. Not missing them, though. They may be somewhere around, they just refuse to take any comprehensible form or shape. They elude you, while you have this firm suspicion that they’re actually there — hiding, perhaps. And you couldn’t care less, who needs them anyway? Yet you feel this urge to …
three little pigs.
I guess, at the end of the day, it’s a question of self-confidence. When we were small, they always told us: you’re smart little piglets, you can make it! Work hard, apply yourselves and you’ll get there! And I thought: yes, and pigs will fly! Couldn’t be bothered, too long a shot. But two of …
sun’s gone.
I wanted to leave a mark. Of any kind. For posterity, to get noticed, to stop being ordinary. But being lightweight, and close to insignificant in general, it was an uphill struggle. I did my best, though. I was left hanging behind the curtain — but also on the sunny side. Stuck is what I …
Flowers for Friendship
In 2016, Belgium celebrated the 150 years of friendship with Japan by building a beautiful Japanese design from flowers. More than 100 volunteers assembled this famous tourist attraction in four hours. Every two years Brussels’ Grand Place gets covered by a flower carpet consisting of nearly one million begonias.
Drops of Henna
Since ancient times, henna has been used to die skin, hair and fingernails. This natural red color is also popular in fabrics such as silk, wool and leather. Made of flowering plant, henna was originally found in South Asia, North Africa and Arabian Peninsula. It has kept a strong traditional value in weddings, and brides …
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Wardrobe of my life
It was not jealousy. Maybe a bit of admiration. But mostly it was inspiration. How a simple decision can lead to something extraordinary in life. You choose a design (goal), you pick a fabric (building blocks), you cut the pieces and position them (strategy), and you sew everything together (journey to success). Why don’t we …
trust me.
«You are unique.» «Seek your own way and look for a path that’s calling for you.» These are things I used to subscribe to and deluded myself into believing. But then, coinciding with a set of upsetting, but in no way significant events occurring at a very particular time of my life, I realised that, …
Frozen Path
Snow covered the ground. Soon the flakes would dance in the air again, but in the meanwhile a photo was captured. The French artist with a Celtic metal band had moved from the sunny Southern France to Nordic Finland. She had chosen, as her new album echoes, the frozen path. Like many others, she has …
Wild and Free
They were blue, yellow and green. Moving so fast and smoothly. True freedom in Persian Gulf… they made me wonder how would it feel like to be a fish. Did they even realize their own beauty and the luxury of living without boundaries? Together they would swim from day to another, sometimes amusing the silly …