Perks of being a wallflower

Hola everyone. How are you all doing today? I hope so far you’ve had a great week and a nice Friday, considering the current situation. This just seems to never end, does it? To be honest, I’ve had quite enough of it now, Covid can really go eff off now. I’ve had to move my flight twice already and will hopefully be able to finally go back to London next Sunday (fingers crossed). I truly can’t…

2020 has been the toughest year for me to endure, for so many different reasons. It took from me what was supposed to enrich my days, my year, my life. It stole months in London from me, concerts, adventures. It took time from me, but also gave me some back in exchange. If a year could ever be described as the most chaotic ride on a rollercoaster, then it would be this one. At the end of 2019, I…

Hola everyone. God, it’s been so long since I last wrote down those two words. Way too long, to be completely honest with you. But I guess that happens when you are in the middle of your last year at university and also doing something very important and exciting on the side – the special something that I want to tell you all about today. First of all, I want to take the time to say that I hope…

Hola everyone.

How are you all doing today? I hope you’ve all had a nice weekend and that your Monday is going well so far. I for my part had a great, relaxing weekend with tons of sleep (thank god), which is something I really needed, so I’m super happy about that. To be honest, after the crazy busy days the past week, it felt good to finally put everything on hold for a second and just breathe…

Everything You’ve Missed

Hola everyone.

Holy hell, I can’t it’s been almost three weeks since my last post. I’m so so so sorry for being gone for so long, but trust me, once I get everything off my chest and have told you everything that has happened the past few days, you will start to understand why I was gone for so long. To be honest, I don’t think I’ve been this busy in my whole life. I guess that comes with getting…

And welcome back to my blog and also a new week. I hope so far your Monday has been nice and that you enjoyed the past weekend. I personally spent most of the weekend exploring London and working on our uni magazine LDN. So far, I’m honestly super proud of what my team and I have achieved with the mag so far and I truly can’t wait to finally hold the first print issue in my hands. Although this is technically not even my own magazine, the past few weeks have felt like I’ve been building up something that is mine. Something I can pour all my heart and creativity into. And although I spend almost every free hour either working on or thinking about the magazine without really getting anything back in return, by which I mean money and such, it has made me happier than I could have ever imagined. It almost feels like I was meant to be the editor of the paper. At least that’s what I’m telling myself.

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On the other side, it could also be that I’m spending so much time working on the mag to get my mind off of missing my family and my home, especially my cat and my dog. Unfortunately, both haven’t been doing super well, which has left me feeling completely useless and helpless. Thankfully my parents are doing the most amazing job at looking after both my babies and I can’t wait to be with them again in two months. I think it’s just also been very tough for me to live without a pet for the first time in what feels like an eternity. It’s like a piece of myself, of my soul was left behind when I moved away from home. Actually, my flatmate Elena was meant to come with her feline friend Gatto, but getting him to London from Italy has proven more complicated than we thought. So getting our new furry child has been our number one mission ever since. So that might be another reason why I’m busying myself with the magazine and also basically burying myself in plants. It’s as if my brain and soul are looking for anything that is alive besides my flatmates for me to look after and give my love to. To be honest, you could probably do some psychological study on this, because, I’m not gonna lie, this is a bit weird. But hey, it’s what’s keeping me sane and happy these days, so there we go.

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Additionally, looking back on my amazing summer – despite Corona and all that crap – has helped me a lot with staying positive. And part of that utterly beautiful summer was the trip to Venice with my mum, which is what I want to share with you guys today. Finally. I know, I’ve been talking about this for so long and never got around to showing you the pictures of our phenomenal trip, but I guess better late than never, right? So here they are, finally. My favorite shots from Venice.

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To be honest, my mum and I both came to the conclusion pretty quickly that a trip to Venice could never possibly have been any better than ours. Although it was a risk to go to Italy in the middle of Corona, we knew that it would be worth it all and it truly was. I don’t think Venice will ever be this beautiful again. We all know what Venice looks like in the summer – now imagine that same city but just without the people. Because that’s what it was like. Empty. Not like Zombie Apocalypse empty, but empty for Venice standards. And gosh, the weather was just so amazing. And the food was even better. I remember not really loving the city the first time I went there, but that trip definitely made me fall head over heels in love with it. It is definitely a trip I will never ever forget. And one that rewarded me with memories and pictures filled with some much beauty that they will prolong into eternity. But, just see for yourself.

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And yeah, now we’ve already reached the end of today’s post. As always, I hope you enjoyed the pictures and me babbling a bit about my life and my time in Venice. I truly hope you’re doing good in these rather stressful times and that maybe this post helped you get your mind off stuff for a short while. I’d really love to hear all your thoughts and opinions, so please don’t hesitate to leave any comments down below. And until then, I wish you all the best week and, of course, thanks for reading. x

How are you all doing? I hope you’ve all had a great weekend and that the past few weeks have also been good for you. I’m honestly so so so sorry for disappearing for so long, it feels like I haven’t been on here for ages… Well, it probably has been ages, which is insane enough But let me explain.

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I think I have a good reason for my absence – as some of you have probably seen from the title of this post: I’m back in London (wohooo). It’s now been a bit more than two weeks since I moved back to the city and so far it has just been the best time ever. I’m lucky enough to live in a flat with three other friends, which also makes it the first time of living in a flat on my own in a real flat share without having to share it with the landlords. Although I’ve loved living with the landlords in the past, finally having a flat to ourselves feels like ease after having had to tiptoe around different houses and having to take care of someone else’s stuff all the time. Now it really feels like the flat is ours, which is just the most amazing feeling ever.

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So far, we haven’t been able to do and see too much of London, as both my friend Lauren and I had to stay in quarantine for two weeks, as it is a rule the UK government has put on nearly every country on the planet. So anyone who enters the UK from a country that’s not on the “good to go”-list has to quarantine for two weeks. I know, it sounds a tad awful now, but I think we made the best of our time. I got to transform, redesign and decorate my room in a matter of days, which would usually take me weeks after weeks, and the flat itself is also nearly done. I remember walking into the flat for the very first time and seeing this empty canvas of a flat just waiting to be turned into a fantastic piece of art. And now that we’ve had about two weeks of doing just that, it’s really starting to come together and we all can’t wait to finally go shopping together so we can perfect it. Needless to say, we truly love it already. And the most amazing part is, we even have a roof terrace (which basically is just a roof) that is perfect for lunches in the sun (yes, we’ve already tried that). It honestly feels like being on holiday, sitting up there and looking at all the apartments and skyscrapers around us, with the whole beauty of London right at our feet. And we’re also just about five minutes away from the Thames, which makes it all even better. God, how much I love this city.

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Apart from that, being the editor of our uni magazine LDN has occupied most of my time since coming to London. I think it has now turned into the first thing that pops up in my head when I wake up. And also, funnily enough, the last thing I think about before going to sleep. That’s how busy this “job” has kept me. And I know this must sound very exhausting, but it is actually a really positive thing, as I can spend my time doing what I love most – thinking and writing about music. I don’t know if I’m supposed to tell you, but I may or may not be interviewing Wallows and Boy Pablo this week and I may or may not be losing my mind because of it. Because, obviously, it’s no big deal to interview two of your favourite bands. No biggie. Not at all.

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Anyway, the past two weeks have probably been two of the busiest weeks of my entire life and I’m not even mad about it. I live for arranging interviews, for listening to songs and albums that I get sent from PRs, for designing the magazine, for all that stuff. All those things make this university degree more than worth it. So I am super grateful for all the stuff that’s happening right now.

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I think the only thing that’s making me a bit sad is missing my home, my family and especially Peaches and Molly. It’s the first time after over a year that I’m not living with a pet in the house and it’s honestly making me feel very strange, as if a piece of my soul is missing. But thankfully, one of the girls I love with owns a cat and the plan is to get him here asap, which I hope will happen very soon. I need to give a cat some love, I’ve got too much of that stuck inside of me. But I just signed up to be a cat-sitter, which is just so so so exciting. I hope it works out.

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And yeah, that’s pretty much it. I couldn’t be more excited to finally be back in London and to go to the cinema again and (socially-distanced) gigs. It feels like I’ve finally got parts of my normality back, which is nice. It’s amazing to finally be back in London, I’ve missed it. And with that, I’m gonna end this post and wish you all a lovely week and hope that you’ve all enjoyed today’s post. I know it was more of an update than anything else, but you know me, I love telling you about my adventures in London and moving back to my favourite city definitely is one. So get ready for more stories in the future. And until then, thanks for being here and, as always, thanks for reading. x

And welcome back to my blog and another week. I hope you all had a great weekend and that you’re all doing well. I for my part had a quite busy weekend, meeting up with my family and saying goodbye to most of them. It’s insane to think that I’ll already be back in London in six days. Feels like an eternity since I left in March and like no time at all, as if I just blinked once and the past six months wooshed by. And now it’s already September and time to go back to real business. Absolutely insane.

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On the one hand I’m sad to leave, as I haven’t spent this much time at home in a very long time (the last time I’ve been at home for longer than three months was in 2015), and I’ve gotten so used to being with my mum and dad and my babies everyday. But on the other hand I’m also super happy and excited to go back to London. And now that I’m moving into my first very own flat with my friends, I know the upcoming months will just be the best ever. But besides that, I’ve also just missed the city. Don’t get me wrong, I love the countryside. It’s what I know best, being born and having lived on the countryside for most of my life. But cities give me those sparks of excitement and thrill that the woods and endless fields can’t compete with. They’re both incredibly beautiful, but cities will never feel like hills and mountains and those will never make you feel the same as when you’re walking through the streets of a busy city.

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That is just one of the reasons why I was super happy when my friend Lauren agreed to go on a trip to Berlin with me a few months ago, which is what I want to share with you all today. As most of you guys will know, I’ve always thought of Berlin as a third home – the first being my true home in Austria and the second one being both London and Brighton in one. Back when I got to live there for a few months in 2017, I couldn’t help but fall head over heels in love with this amazing city and I’ve been craving to go there again ever since, so even though a pandemic was sweeping over the planet, Lauren and I were quick to decide on our trip and to book everything we needed. And in the middle of August, just one week after our time in Belgium, we met up again in Berlin and spend another incredible seven days there.

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To be honest, the trip couldn’t have been any better. I think we did and saw nearly everything there was to do and see in Berlin that week (apart from the stuff we had already seen and places we had already visited in the past). We went to the cinema – twice even (for the first time since March, which is still absolutely shocking to me) -, went to some amazing restaurants, visited some cool museums, the lovely botanical garden and even my old flat, spent a lovely evening chilling at the river Spree and, as some of you will maybe have seen from a past blogpost, I even went and got two new tattoos – click here for that post. And, very importantly, I also got to visit my second home in Berlin again, Dussmann, which is only the best bookstore ever. And on the last night we got to watch the sun rise and its rays shine on the beautiful city after we had spent the whole night watching a The Wrecks live gig online (worth all the sleep we missed out on). All in all the trip was an absolute dream and if I could, I would go back in an instant. I couldn’t be happier about our decision to really go, despite the whole madness our world is currently stuck in. It was so worth it.

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And yeah, as you can probably guess, I had my camera with me nearly the whole time we were in Berlin, so I’m more than happy to share these beautiful shots with all of you. Please enjoy.

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And yeah, there you go, guys. These are my favourite shots from our adventures in Berlin. I truly hope you enjoy this post and the pictures. As always, I’d love to hear from you, so please don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts and comments down below. I wish you all a great week and, of course, thanks for reading. x

How are you all doing today? I hope you’ve had a lovely weekend and that you’re enjoying the last bits of summer we’re being granted with. Can you believe it’s already September? Because I surely can’t. It feels like some elaborate joke, something someone made up. Even the thought that I’ve been home for half a ycear now sounds ridiculous to me when I say it out loud. Time is a strange thing, it really is.

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Likewise, it’s also insane to me to think that I’ll be moving back to London in less than two weeks. Like, when did that happen? Super super strange, truly. And it’s not just that, even just thinking back to the past few weeks and months makes me wonder whether I’ve dreamed it all or whether it truly happened. Did I really visit Lauren in Belgium? Did I really go to Berlin? Did I really get new two new tattoos? Did Lauren and I really visit Amsterdam? In the middle of a global pandemic? I guess it must be true, because I’m sitting in front of a ton of pictures that were definitely taken in the incredible Amsterdam and that is also definitely me in the pictures. But see, this is how I know I had the best time ever – because it sounds too good to be true.

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To be honest, the trip to Amsterdam is definitely something I will never forget. Not only because Lauren and I spent two amazing days there, filled with adventures and tons of fun, but also because it happened out of nowhere. See, that’s the good thing when a country is so small – you can reach nearby cities in a matter of a few hours. Pure luxury, I tell you. So when I came to Belgium and Lauren and I started planning our days we had together, we got the idea of going to Amsterdam and as it was only a few hours train journey away, we instantly booked it and started off the adventure two days later.

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And, god, it was just so so so cool. We went to amazing restaurants, sat at the canals, went on night strolls, basically walked through the whole city and we even visited their botanical garden, which was so beautiful, I can’t even put it into words. Out of all of this though, I think my favourite part of the whole trip was visiting STMPD RCRDS. Those of you who’ve been following me and my blog for quite a while now will know how much that labels mean to me, but for those of you who are rather new here – STMPD is my dream workplace. I know, might be a bit strange to say it like that, but it really is. Ever since I’ve fallen in love with EDM and ever since that label was started, I’ve been dreaming about working there. Not only because their artists are so freaking amazing, like SO good, but moreover because it just looks like the best workplace and best team to work with. So, because of that, actually being at their office and seeing that very building with my own eyes, a building I’ve seen countless amounts of times just by being a Martin Garrix fan, made me freak out a bit. In short, being there meant the world to me. I’m still so grateful for Lauren actually walking through the whole city with me just to see the studios. Made my year, truly.

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So, that was what we did in Amsterdam. As you can probably guess, the photographing came to no end during the trip, so right now I’ve got these amazing photos that I can’t wait to share with you. So, without further ado, please enjoy.

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And yeah, there you go, guys. These are my favourite shots from our adventures in Amsterdam. I truly hope you enjoy this post and the pictures. As always, I’d love to hear from you, so please don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts and comments down below. I wish you all a great week and, of course, thanks for reading. x

How are you all doing today? I hope so far you’ve had a great start of the week and a not too harsh Monday (as we all know, they can sometimes be a bit of a pain). I once again have to apologize for being away for another week. As mentioned in my previous post, my mum and I went on our yearly mother-daughter trip last week – we went to Venice and it was so freaking beautiful, holy moly – which led to me not having much time to sit in front of my laptop and write. But as far as I know, no holiday is planned for the upcoming weeks until I’m due to move back to London (I’ve finally found a new flat, yey), so prepare for a ton of content for the next weeks and months.

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Today, though, I’d like to share with you my favourite pictures of the amazing week that I got to spend in Belgium with my friend Lauren (for those of you who’ve been following my blog for a while, meaning the past few months, you’ll know who she is), which was a surprise for her in its entirety. It all started on her birthday in June when her mum messaged me about wanting me to be their big surprise for Lauren, who I hadn’t seen since March, when we had all left London because of our nice friend Corona. And after a few days of messaging back and forth, we had finally found the perfect dates for my visit and a few weeks after that I got on a plane again after what felt like forever. The best part of the whole trip was definitely Lauren not suspecting a single thing. Running towards her at the airport, her waiting for her uncle and definitely not me, and seeing the utter surprise in her eyes made getting up at 4 am on three hours of sleep and having that damn mask stuck to my face for hours and hours more than worth it.

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The next days were filled with laughter, happiness and one adventure after another – at one point we even spent a night in Amsterdam, but more on that later – and I couldn’t have asked for a better trip. After the dreadful weeks and months apart from each other, seeing her again was all that I could wish for and the whole week has definitely turned the summer of 2020 in a far better experience than I thought it would be.

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And with that, I’m more than happy to share my favourite pictures of the whole week with you guys (except Amsterdam, because that deserves a separate post). All in all, we went to Brussels for a day, got to visit Brugge and even the seaside and I finally got to take a stroll around Lauren’s hometown. One thing I can say for sure is that Belgium is a freaking beautiful country and that having the sea so close to you is a literal gift from heaven. But just see for yourself and please enjoy.

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And yeah, there you go. These are my favourite shots from my time in Belgium. I still have to pick up my latest roll of film from the store, which I also had with me in Belgium, so do stay tuned for that as well. And yeah, until then I hope you enjoy this post and the pictures. As always, I’d love to hear from you, so please don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts and comments down below. I wish you all a great week and, of course, thanks for reading. x

How are you all doing on this beautiful Friday? I hope you’ve had a nice week and a lovely day so far. And, as a matter of fact, I hope you’ve had some amazing past four weeks, because that’s how long I’ve been gone for. I know, you’re probably thinking ‘where the hell has she been???’ and, to be honest, I don’t even know where to start. Going into this summer filled with uncertainty and discomfort, I would’ve never thought it would turn out like this, but I guess I straight up made the best out of it, because in the past month, I’ve not been on just one, but two holiday trips and I’m already packing up for another one next week. Can you believe that? I’ve been to Belgium to surprise my friend Lauren, then we went to Amsterdam, then I was home for a week, then we flew to Berlin for a week, now I’m home again and I’ll be leaving for Italy on Sunday with my mum for our yearly mother-daughter trip. There is just soooo much going on, holy moly.

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As you can probably guess, this has led to me piling up a huge stock of topics, events and themes I want to talk to all about and share with you guys. It’s massive, that I can tell you – starting from me attending my very first Tomorrowland (still can’t believe that happened), to all my trips and up to a very special online gig I attended with Lauren at 4 in the morning. Some amazing stuff is coming up, so stay tuned for more.

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For reasons of actuality, today’s post is about something very very very special. Looking at the title of this post, you can probably already tell what it is about. That’s right – I got new tattoos, as in more than one. As in two, to be precise. As you all know, I’m overly in love with tattoos and have my goal of getting like half of my body covered with them set as a personal goal. For all of you who know how Marzia Bisognin-Kjellberg, Pewdiepie’s wife, looks like, including her amazingly tattooed arms – that’s what I want right there. And as the stubborn person that I am, I’ve spent the past years working towards that goal, with all the passion and love for ink that you can imagine.

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I know some people just get tattoos with designs that they like, but for me, it’s always been essential that I have a special meaning connected to every single one of my tatts – the most recent two being no exception. First of, I got a teeny-tiny heart on my left wrist to symbolize the three months that I spent in Berlin during my first ever stay abroad. It may not sound like much, but I was alone for the very first time and looking back, I think it was the most important time for my personal development. I don’t think anything has ever had such an impact on my personality as those three months. They made me who I am now. So that’s that.

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And for the second one – well, that’s just too special to even put into words. Before I booked my appointment, I knew that I wanted it to be something that would re-connect me with my grandpa. I know I’ve never really talked much about him on here, but back when he was still here (he died in 2009), he was the most important person in my life, apart from my mum. He was my best friend. And I just loved him so so so much. And as I am a very sensitive and call it “esoteric” soul, I still feel like he’s always close to me, watching over me and watching me grow into the person I am. But despite this, I wanted a tattoo dedicated to him and after much deliberation, and lots of drawing on myself, actually, I decided on getting a picture of us both together tattooed on my arm. I had already found the perfect artist in Berlin – her name is Daana Avni and she’s literally a tattoo wizard (check her out here) – and after I had initially messaged Daana, it only took a few hours until we had fixed the appointment.

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The appointment itself was absolutely amazing and to my surprise it all went down pretty quickly and pain-free. Daana was an absolute angel and made me feel super welcome and appreciated and listened to all my thoughts and answered all my questions. I think what made the whole process even more special was that it all happened in Berlin, one of my favourite places on earth. Before I had even decided on getting a tattoo, getting some new ink done in Berlin sounded like an absolute dream, a rather impossible one too, but now I’m back at home with these two beautiful new pieces of art on my arms and I couldn’t be happier. I love both of them so much I can’t even put it into words and I’ve been proudly showing them off every day. Tattoos really just are the coolest things ever.

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And there you have it, guys. My new tattoos. I hope you liked reading about their story and I hope you like their look as well. As I already said, I’m utterly obsessed with them and can’t wait for the next ones – getting closer to my goal, tattoo by tattoo. As always, I’d love to hear from you, so please don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts and comments down below. Also, once again, sorry for disappearing for so long, hope you didn’t mind too much. I wish you all an awesome weekend and, of course, thanks for reading. x

How are you all doing today? I hope so far you’re having a lovely Friday and that your week has been nice. Lots of good and bad stuff happening right now, huh? On the one side, there’s the world being in literal shambles, dumb politicians and us being stuck at home, on the other one there movements finally changing the world, Taylor Swift releasing a surprise album and us finding new ways to connect. When I look at the world, I often remember what I read online about a month into quarantine – if this never happened, this version of you right now would never exist. And I see that as both something good and something bad. And it makes me wonder a lot, mostly about which version I would prefer. I think it makes you reflect on life, which I think is really important.

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What a philosophical start, huh? But truly, I think taking a good look at the world is so important right now. Which is probably why I love photography so much, because it makes you look at the world, and in most cases in different ways. It makes you see the beauty in things that you never saw before. And now that I have this film camera, that I’ve been caring around with me basically all the time, I see this beauty in the world in a way where I have the power to capture it in that very second that I’m taking a picture. Including the surprise of not really knowing how the picture will actually turn out. Which makes me feel a bit nervous and super excited at the same time. And it has kinda also made me love imperfection. You know, with a digital camera you can just perfect every shot, because you can change just about everything. But with a film camera, there’s only so much you can do besides just taking the picture. So when a picture turns out to be blurry, that’s just what it is. That’s how you captured that moment. And it might not be perfect in the way we know it, but it’s still that moment in a picture, so full of life and creativity, and that’s what I love about it.

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So last week, I finally got my second roll of film developed and I’m just so happy to share the finished pictures with you all today. I haven’t been photographing with film for that long now, but it’s already been such a learning curve. I’ve been trying out different types of film for now and I think with the roll I’m currently shooting on, I think I’ll try out different stages of light, just to see how the camera really works with that. But so far every shot has been super fun and I love seeing how the pictures turn out depending on how I’m taking them in those very moments – the pictures down below were taken at home, during a holiday, when we went hiking, at all kinds of places.

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I think compared to the first roll you can clearly see how both the type of film and me getting acclimated and more used to the camera have changed the quality of the pictures (here’s the link to my first roll of pictures). Which again is super fascinating. I’m already super excited to see how the next one’s going to turn out and I can’t wait to show the pictures to you once they’re developed. And until then I hope you enjoy the pictures down below. As always, I’d love to hear your opinions, so please don’t hesitate to leave your comments and thoughts down below. As always, I wish you all a lovely weekend and, of course, thanks for reading. x

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And welcome back to my blog and also, depending on when you’re reading this, another lovely start of the weekend. I hope you’ve all had a great week and that you’re doing well. I, for my part, am doing pretty good. I’ve been spending the past few days tinkering about either in the garden or the kitchen and I’ve also recently taken on doing yoga again, which is making me feel at ease, thank god. I seem unable to get this feeling of like I’m hanging in the air off of me. One second I feel great, and the next the realization of everything that happened the past few months and the longing for the summer that should’ve been hits me like a train, which always drags me back to that sad hole I was stuck in for so long. I guess that’s what all the newspapers have been saying – this whole ordeal hits and affects us, the youth, way harder than anyone would think. But I know that we as a whole are strong enough to get through this together. I will do too.

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Anyway, spending a lot of time surrounded by nature has helped me quite a lot in processing all of this, and thankfully I went on another little hike a few days ago with my parents. Actually, I visited them on their holiday for a day to wander across the mountains together, which actually wasn’t that far away from where we were on our last trip (click here), and I’m so glad I went because it was just so damn beautiful. There are only so few things that can beat the view you have when you’re up on a mountain and looking down on the world. It kinda makes you feel infinite.

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And as I knew the trip would be absolutely magnificent, I obviously took my camera with me to take a few shots, which I would like to share with you today. Basically, the whole hike consisted of lots of greenery, little to no people but even more cows. It was lovely. And I hope you think just the same about the pictures. The only bad thing that came from the whole day was that I had immensely underestimated the strength of the sun, which lead to a little surprise in the form of an intense sunburn on my shoulders that I’m still coming off of. I’ve now moved onto the shedding phase, I feel like a snake.

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Alright, and now I’m gonna stop oversharing again and let the pictures do the rest of the talking. As already mentioned, I hope you enjoy the pictures and please don’t hesitate to leave your comments and thoughts down below, I’d love to hear them. And until then I wish you all a great weekend and, as always, thanks for reading. x

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Welcome back to my blog. How are you doing today? I hope you all have had a great week so far. I’ve been once again jumping from one thing to another, like a ball in one of these old pinball games – from my job to the new role as editor in chief for LDN to the cat shelter I’ve started working for to the stuff I need to do at home and lastly to stuff I would like to do in my free time. I know, I already said it once, but I really enjoy it. I just feel like I would really enjoy a good holiday now. But that will come too.

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Anyways, I hope you’re all great and excited for today’s post. For all of those who’ve been following my blog the past few weeks and have had the chance to check out the design I made for my own magazine ‘Lemon’ – click here – you will probably feel like this post seems a bit familiar. Because it is. For my mag, I wrote an article on Brad Heaton, the boys’ (Twenty One Pilots, ofc) official photographer, who I absolutely adore and admire. And as I love the piece so much, I thought it would be nice to upload it separately. Unfortunately, I couldn’t reach out to Brad to ask him for an interview, so I used quotes from past interviews and his Reddit Q&A.

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I really really really hope you enjoy the piece. As always, please don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts and comments down below, I’d love to hear them. And, of course, I wish you all a lovely weekend and thanks for reading. x

  The man behind Twenty One Pilot’s stunning pictures

Interview with Brad Heaton

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To a gig, there are several parts that make or break a good concert experience and turn it into the special events we all know and love – the live music (obviously), the hyped crowd, the sometimes very pretty, sometimes a bit tacky merch and, last but certainly not least, the photographers. They are the ones running from one corner to another in the pit behind the barricade, hands stuffed with cameras the size of their own heads. And while we as the concert-goers usually overlook those busy bees, to the musicians and the industry they have always been a vital part. More often than not, the photographers and the artists build up a bond during the weeks or even months they spend on the road together. Their workflow changes and soon enough they become one. Brad Heaton and the oh so popular pop-rock duo Twenty One Pilots are the prime example for such a symbiotic relationship. Among the group’s fandom, the clique, Heaton has acclaimed a popularity status that could easily compete with Tyler’s and Josh’s, with fans greeting him at gigs all across the world and selling out thousands of his prints within minutes. For the community, there is no Twenty One Pilots without the beautiful shots by Heaton. But it wasn’t always like that.

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“When I was playing in baseball tournaments as a teen, there’d be photographers taking shots. I’d always end up watching them instead of our games. That sparked the interest,”, states the Ohio- based photographer, “A few months later, my niece received a camera for Christmas. It was so neat that I told my mother, ‘I want something better than that’. It was partly out of jealousy, but luckily enough that first camera would transition into a full-blown career.” Having grown up in a blue-collar family and as the only not interested in literally climbing trees for a living, choosing photography as his future career felt like both an insane risk and the most exciting step in Heaton’s young life. It wasn’t until the age of 16 that he finally started shooting bands and artists, mushed in a local music scene that was packed with small venues and musicians trying to become the new real big thing. So instead of paying five dollars to be able to attend those gigs, Heaton decided to simply offer the bands his skills as a photographer. And back then, in an era when the internet had just started to flourish and MySpace had become the coolest platform on earth, having a few nice pictures on your band‘s page was definitely worth more than five small dollars.

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But it wasn’t until 2012 that Heaton finally met Twenty One Pilots – the band that would later lead him to a level of popularity and fame that only some of us can call their own. After Mark Eshleman, the band’s creative director and childhood friend of frontman Tyler Joseph, had introduced them, Heaton went on to shoot more and more of their shows, until he finally became their official photographer in 2016, which he still is today. Suddenly, he had gone from being a guy with a mediocre camera shooting his favourite bands from somewhere in the back of the pit to being the exclusive music photographer of the biggest bands of our time and one of the most admired artists today. There is only one thing that hasn’t changed – he’s still shooting his favourite bands. “I’ve always lived by the motto ‘you’re a photographer, not a fan’, just so I don’t distract myself with the celebrity status. But music is a different story entirely. I’ll get lost in the environment of a concert, but still do my job. That’s why I’m there.”

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But in an industry that is nearly overflowing with talent and people trying to make it, sticking out of the crowd and making it to the top hasn’t been easy, but it seems like Heaton has achieved the one thing so many of us strive to get to – he has found his own voice in a world that is nearly deafening and has turned his photographic style into his trademark. He has made it, he has become one of the special ones. But obviously, that didn‘t come on its own.

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“I have never considered myself strictly a concert photographer. I’ve been well-rounded with photography since the day I picked up a camera. I started with darkroom and film photography, worked as a sports photographer, done studio work for some major brands, spent weeks studying light and compositions from films, created conceptual stories and narrative tales through photographs. I like to treat every single concert like it’s a sporting event. The shots of the players standing around are cool, but the photographs of the player making a diving stop at third base and tossing out the runner at first is the one that’s going to make the front page,”, explains Heaton while talking about what makes his shots so special, “I do my best to do something different at every concert. The more unique perspectives you’re able to tackle, the more your work is going to stand out.”

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And truly, as crazy as it might seem, for Heaton, the shows can turn into sporting events really quickly. “During shows I think I run around 12,000 steps according to my iPhone. Add the weight of the cameras and it‘s quite a workout.”

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not my picture; credits to Brad Heaton

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The one thing that has made Heaton’s work shine like a bright star on a clear night’s sky is the closeness he has developed to the fans, and especially the clique. More often than not, the crowds and fans have turned into the photographer’s favourite objects to turn his lens to, which has sparked many different reactions and slowly turned into great story material: “If I‘m taking a photo of a fan, they see my camera, then completely freeze up and awkwardly smile. I think some of the most genuine photos are the ones where I can catch a fan completely enamoured by the show.” This is one of the reasons why his photos have become something like infamous artworks among the members of the clique and are lining the walls or radiating from thousands of phone screens of devoted Twenty One Pilots fans.

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It‘s this mix of passion for photography, love for music and a huge amount of talent that has made Brad Heaton the popular, sought-after photographer that he is now, while he still stays the grounded, open person he has always been. Together with Twenty One Pilots, he has created photos that should rather be considered pieces of art and have become prime examples of the magic music photography can entail.

And welcome back to my blog. And a new Monday. And with that a new week. I hope that you had a lovely weekend and that you’re looking forward to this week. I’m sorry for not posting anything last week, but I’ve got a good excuse – at least partly. Last week, my parents and I went on a little holiday trip to Styria – about a two-hour drive away from us – for their birthday, so I didn’t really have enough time to post on here. But on a positive note, I finally have time today to share all the beautiful snaps with you that I took during the trip, so let’s get right into it. I hope you enjoy them.

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The first stunning place we drove to was what we call here “der grüne See”, which basically translates to the green lake. I know, we Austrians are a very creative folk. But actually, it’s a very fitting name as the lake really is green. Basically, the lake is surrounded by the most amazing, super fake looking mountains, which are usually covered in snow in the winter. But once that ice melts, it naturally flows down the mountains into the lake, which until then is completely dried up and just a huge trough in the landscape. So the whole lake consists of melted glacial ice, which is completely clear, and the flora and fauna that consist in it, which give it its green colour as soon as the sunlight hits the water. Honestly, it’s definitely one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited and I’m not surprised that it was once voted the most beautiful spot in the whole of Austria.

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The second location we visited – one that came with a lot more exhaustion and time consumption – was the “Bärenschützklamm”, which I have no idea what that translates to. Basically, a “Klamm” is a gorge in the middle of one or two mountains, filled with trees, waterfalls, lakes, and anything else you could dream of. About 100 years ago, the Grazer Alpenclub made the gorge accessible with suspended ladders, which has become one of the most beautiful, thrilling, and most well-known hiking trails since then. Overall, the trail consists of 164 ladders and I think about 4000 steps and from beginning to the end takes about 90 minutes to go through. I’m not going to lie, it was definitely one of most exhausting hikes I’ve ever been on, but also one of the most beautiful because once you reach the “Klamm”, there’s literally nothing else but nature. I mean, once you’re in there, you don’t even have reception anymore, so it really feels like you’re turning off the rest of the world and going to a place that has never seen anything industrial. Even the ladders are made from wood. I truly truly truly loved it and regardless of how done I was after it, I’d totally do it again.

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There you go my lovelies, those are the two highlights of our holiday trip. To put it short, I really really really loved everything we saw and did during the trip and if there’s one good thing to come out of this whole quarantine, “you’re not supposed to leave the country”-thing, then it’s definitely getting reunited with my own home country and being reminded of how truly beautiful it is. In the past, I never really got to appreciate its beauty, so I’m glad I do now.

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Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pics just as much as me. If you’re ever in Austria or even live here, I’d highly recommend visiting both of these amazing sights. They truly are worth the drive. Also, if you do go there, don’t forget to take your cameras with you, because if you’ve ever needed them, it will be there. And until then I once again hope you enjoyed this post. As always, please don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts and comments down below. And I wish you all a lovely week and, of course, thanks for reading. x