Other Areas E U R O M E E T - 2013, early discussion...

[MartinP]

In view of the early ideas and nuggets of information mentioned in another thread with a counter-intuitive title, here is a restart of those posts in a new thread.

I'll copy-paste the contents of the posts from the 'old' thread in here, below.

Where does anyone recommend for a Spring visit, and why ?

 

[MartinP]

From OurManInTangier:

Hey Bastian - you going on the 2013 EuroMeet? There was talk of Sarajevo but I'm not sure if anything was settled on. Maybe Stuttgart after you told me it was so good for street shooting😀

 

[MartinP]

From Bastian a.:

Simon, I told you that Stuttgart is good for street shooting? I can't remember .... but maybe under the influence of many glasses of Turkish beer ... 🙄😀
It's nice to live in Stuttgart and the area around and there are some interesting sights and a lot of industry BUT it's not so good for street photography 😱
Istanbul was a much better choice and I still find Sarajevo very interesting ...

 

[MartinP]

From Telenous:

Hi guys, Having been to Sarajevo, it's an exceptionally interesting city, still one that has to be approached with caution and (why not) photographic sensitivity as it carries deep scars. Discrete photography is possible but my guess is it will be a bit iffy if you move en masse. It's certainlky not going to be the free for all affair it was in Istanbul or London. (Then again which other place in Europe is?) It's a small, beautiful, profoundly wounded place and that presents certain limitations. Not saying that we should or shouldn't, just some thoughts.

 

[MartinP]

From SimonSawSunlight:

i'll be in istanbul at our usual euromeet time, so it's quite likely that i won't be able to travel much. anyway, i would be interested in athens and sarajevo, and i can recommend tbilisi / georgia, even though my guess is that most of these places get less interesting the more people you are with.

 

[MartinP]

From Telenous:

Well, that's the thing, innit? You get 20 blokes with the same beige billingham bag (and I 've got two of those😀) photographing something , the scene gets pulverized into smithereens. Let's just say we meet to see old friends, for the camaraderie, the food, the drink and photograph in a sort of by the way manner. It could be anywhere. Then at the end of the evening we'll all hold hands and tell tall tales. Or sing photography's hymn.

Tbilisi sounds promising. And I wouldn't mind going to Istanbul again. Certainly Sarajevo too (with the caveats I talked about earlier). Athens is a bit iffy, lots of anger and defensiveness in the streets. Plus I have to give a conference paper in May/June and I'll be snowed under work to be a host. With this in mind getting wasted for a weekend in some other city is really preferable in my case.

EDIT: All said, I think Sarajevo is the interesting option.

 

[MartinP]

For myself, I have the idea that slightly Southern cities may be more conducive to wandering around without rain, in the Spring time.

Did Rome ever get picked?

How about Prague? (As well as being very interesting and historic, it is very close to Hradec-Kralove and the Foma factory. Possible climate problem 😉).

Is Beirut too far away? (Depending on local political conditions, next Spring).

Lisbon interesting for us maybe?

Then there might be Ciudadela? (Old city and with a multi-national history, and sun & people).

Zagreb or Split? (A bit less sensitive, but still interesting in F.R.Y.)

Marseille? (Huge and alive, but maybe people want a different country, having visited Paris).

Trieste, Slovenian coast might be interesting?

Arles - the first week of June is a bit late perhaps, but that is the opening week of the Rencontres d'Arles.

And I'll be going back to Istanbul too, but two consecutive RFF visits for the city might be too much and they won't let us in . . .

 

[stonydeluxe]

What about the South of Italy? Sicily (Palermo) maybe?

 

[OurManInTangier]

Having read what Alkis has to say of Sarajevo from his recent visit I have to wonder if its really the place for 20-40 RFF'ers to go en masse?

I've only been to the Florence, London and Istanbul EuroMeets so I've missed Paris, Berlin and Barcelona. Which basically means I'm pretty happy going anywhere so long as its somewhere that can support a large-ish group of photo geeks without making me feel like I'm part of some Billingham sponsored invasion force.

Arles during the Rencontre d'Arles seems like an idea suited better to individual visits or an RFF visit specifically to see the exhibitions, go to talks etc rather than try to fit it into a EuroMeet, though how others feel about this I don't know.

I'd happily look at visiting a different location in a previously visited country i.e. Rome, Edinburgh (apologies to Scots as London is England,) Munich...you get the idea. Although we've got plenty of untouched options yet. Perhaps Helsinki/Tallinn, Split with the option of those who wish to have a pre-Meet visit to Sarajevo as has been done in the past.

Marseille, Israel and the Lebanon, Tangiers (can I even get away with suggesting this?!) all interest me as does Iceland and Scandinavia. But now I'm achieving nothing beyond naming random places.

I'll look forward to seeing some more suggestions and seeing what the consensus seems to be.

 

[SimonSawSunlight]

i'm with you, simon, i wouldn't mind scotland or ireland either, or even iceland.
no munich for me though (!!!). but as i mentioned before, i might not be able to attend anyway...

 

[OurManInTangier]

i'm with you, simon, i wouldn't mind scotland or ireland either, or even iceland.
no munich for me though (!!!). but as i mentioned before, i might not be able to attend anyway...

I heard you may be studying in Istanbul and if this is true I can, hand on heart, admit to being 100% jealous😀 However, with Richard, Taylan and you being in the city itself I've got plenty of cheeky couch surfing options in a stunning city😉 Plus, a darkroom if I end up going back to film....sweet😎

BTW - Ireland is a pretty good suggestion too

 

[mfogiel]

Springtime, your safest bet would be somewhere between Barcelona and Athens. Unless you like to freeze, and visit the bars with the excuse of warming up 😀.

 

[Michiel Fokkema]

There is no spring family citytrip this year. So I might be able to join this year, really looking forward to it.
Budapest maybe? Ielabd would be nice too but maybe to expensive. Prague is nice but been there last year🙂 I heard Boekarest is nice, its'called little Paris of the Balkan. Or Kiev and try to get into Chernobyl?

 

[SimonSawSunlight]

I heard you may be studying in Istanbul and if this is true I can, hand on heart, admit to being 100% jealous😀 However, with Richard, Taylan and you being in the city itself I've got plenty of cheeky couch surfing options in a stunning city😉 Plus, a darkroom if I end up going back to film....sweet😎

BTW - Ireland is a pretty good suggestion too

yes, i'll be in istanbul for the summer semester 2013. you're most welcome to visit, but as i do not have a place to live yet, i'm not making any promises as to being a valid couch surfing option.

 

[boomguy57]

How about Lisbon?

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

I think Budapest is a good suggestion, along with Sofia (Bulgaria) or Prague (which I only had the honour of visiting for 48 hours a decade ago) or Lisbon for its colors --and food--, although of course those places would be excellent for B&W as well.

Unfortunately I didn't make it to Istanbul as I hadn't learned about it until the week or so before the due date.

 

[santino]

Prague or Budapest sound good to me, beautiful cities and I haven't been to both yet.

 

[Nescio]

If I had the time and money, I'd go anywhere, but perhaps an international airport is more important for members than a place we all would like to go to.

Just to add up to the confusion: Naples, Oporto (not as obvious as Lisbon), Santiago de Compostela or Bordeaux (where we all can put up our tents in the backyard of Roger Hicks' mansion...😀).

Nescio

 

[SimonSawSunlight]

Prague or Budapest sound good to me, beautiful cities and I haven't been to both yet.

* "vivent", "télémétriques"

sorry 😉

 

[kully]

Hello,

Some things to consider

- Can wherever you are going 'take' the number of people?
- Is it more about the meeting or the snapping?

The past few years have seen the meet grow in popularity and size. This is great for meeting many cool people, but, it is no longer possible to duck in to a cafe on whim or fit in some small alleyway / dodgy building for some snapping action.

I would advise against Sarajevo (Alkis gave good reasons), I think it would be unpleasant to go on a photo-safari where the wounds are so fresh.

Alkis put it rather eloquently "Well, that's the thing, innit? You get 20 blokes with the same beige billingham bag (and I 've got two of those) photographing something , the scene gets pulverized into smithereens. Let's just say we meet to see old friends, for the camaraderie, the food, the drink and photograph in a sort of by the way manner. It could be anywhere. Then at the end of the evening we'll all hold hands and tell tall tales. Or sing photography's hymn." I think that would work.

PS Who stuck this in the Benelux forum?