A Love Potato
Young Love
(B)old Love
Martina Olbertova Photography
…capturing life with just a hint of imagination and a big dose of insight…
Category: Uncategorized
July 4, 2011
God is my superhero…
Hradec Králové. Last Sunday. Rock for People music festival. Terrible weather. It’s funny sometimes how remotely unrelated things while put together create a whole new message with a whole new meaning. I enjoy to perceive, capture and mix these things in my photography.
When we arrived at the local train station, the angel looking through the station glass vitrages struck me at the first sight. In a gloomy weather with no natural light coming through the glass the guardian looked somehow sad. Wasn’t saying anything, just silently observed all the passengers on their way in and out of the town…
Walking around the city all soaked in the rain I conquered another ethereal creature. On a wall of an old and unkept building there was street art paining of a full-blown muscle man engaging in a creepy voyeuristic activity from underneath the paper bag covering his head. He asked: “Do you have your superhero yet?” quite sadly as well, like he was hoping he could become one but nobody answered… People were just passing by as usual so the superhero stayed unnoticed.
Maybe it’s just a bad time for superheros. Sometimes though I feel we all would need one. But maybe we all should start noticing things around us first instead of hoping to get saved by a superhero as you never know what or who you find that would else stay unnoticed… Even a little moment can help you put things together in a new perspective and move your life on and for the better. Try to focus on things that rest unappreciated, they can only surprise you in how meaningful they actually are. The point is, there are no actual superheros, but there is a superhero in each and everyone of us. However, the work is up to you to realize…
THE END
or
THE NEW BEGINNING?
February 20, 2011
Welcome to Reality
Reality… What is it and what kinds of reality do we know?
First of all, we have a subjective reality. The one that differs for every and each one of us. Then we have an objective reality which in itself is in a sense unattainable. We can mention absolute reality as well but we’re not positively sure if such a thing even exists. But we have social reality. We have mediated reality. We have virtual reality. We have augmented reality. And lastly, we also have hyperreality.
But what is reality to us?
Reality is what we positively know is out there and what we can relatively count on every day. Reality is what makes every day more bearable. Reality is what makes every our day completely unbearable. Reality is what gives our life a meaning. Reality is what we can get away with.
Reality is a reality check, just a control button that checks on our vital functions and makes sure if we’re still alive. Reality is something that catches us in case we’re falling down. Reality is a huge injection with a killer dose of life we’re being given when we slip and get unreal. Reality bites. Reality is to be disillusioned.
Reality is just an illusion. Reality is media. Reality is reality TV. Reality is a show. Reality is overrated. Reality is a lost identity. Reality is the worst game ever. Reality sucks. Reality is the biggest mind-fuck. Reality is something that we refuse to accept. Reality is something that we often wish to reset.
Reality is simplicity. Reality is just you and me. Reality is a state of mind. Reality is what you believe in.
Reality is none of the above. Because reality ultimately is WHAT YOU MAKE IT TO BE!
Welcome to (hyper)reality!
February 6, 2011
Half Real or Hyperreal?
I have encountered a true jewel surfing Facebook news feed today. It is a portfolio of a young Belgian visual artist Ben Heine called Pencil Vs. Camera.
I enclose some of his daring photo montages along with a link to more information about this very talented young artist. His work challenges human imagination as well as thinks things through and brings them to a whole new level.
In one of his portraits Ben states “Half Real”. I would say more of “Hyperreal” in a Baudrillardian sense as his images propose a surreal vision which is in its consequences alarmingly more real than the reality itself…
Whole Pencil Vs. Camera series can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=169415&id=45292293615
News article on Ben Heine in Daily Mail Online here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1353259/Belgian-artist-Ben-Heine-turns-photos-surreal-landscapes-sketchpad.html
July 17, 2008
Hello world!
Hello all,
a new weblog was born! 
Here are the two main reason why I decided to start up my first and very own personal blog:
The first reason is very prosaic. As I fail remembering everything that has been lately happening in my life and on the other hand constatntly failing at keeping a journal, I decided to make this step to acquire space where I could post my impressions of how I percieve things around me along with pictures that I took.
The second reason has a higher aspiration though. I have to say that especially after coming here in Washington, DC to participate in the summer school program taking political journalism classes and interning as a news photographer for WAMU 88.5 public radio, I finally discovered something very meaningful about myself, something that I’ve been suspecting for a long time, that is – what I enjoy doing the most right now is photographing! It is interesting how people sometimes figure out their whole life within just two hours, while for 23 years before they’ve had no idea on what to do really…
In this sense, setting up this blog is also a chance for me to post my photos and get feedback on my work from other people. At this point of my life I am seriously considering becoming a photographer as I feel that in many cases I see things from quite a different perspective than other people and so feel like I could contribute to the perception of world surrounding us in a new, fresh and original way.
Also, as today is my official name day in the Czech calendar, I thought starting up a blog would be a nice gift to give myself!
Well, I think I’ve said enough, now let the images speak for me! Hope you’ll enjoy!
Martina Olbertova
