“Details with a story ”

The pictures on this website are taken in exploratory walks, or WildWalks. We do not follow a set route but allow ourselves to be drawn by what we see. We photograph the objects, situations and people that catch our eye. We don’t get seduced into trying to find a coherent line. We just keep collecting images until our concentration lapses, usually around 2-3 hours.  What we collect are details with a story. The way you look is important. You look either with a micro gaze or a macro gaze. You discover patterns by either completely zooming in or zooming out. In daily life we mostly use of mid-range gaze.  The PAPA way of looking, in which you zoom in on details or zoom out to the total picture, is easy to learn. 
It is only when you select the picture to upload on this website that you ask yourself ’what was it that attracted my attention?’ This reflection is added to each picture in a title and a small caption

Tabiz

Dhaka -  Most people have a ‘tabiz’. They are usually small pieces of paper with writings from the Qur’an, packed in little tubes or small caskets. They are often tied around the…
Shahidul Alam – Migrationpapa

Sweet Money

Ramallah -  This money machine looks so sweet. The little waste paper basket in matching colors with the flowers and the cash machine it self. Like it is made for Barbie and…
Lino Hellings – Ramallah Lab

Sunday morning cleaning

Sao Paulo -  How to keep the door open without actually opening the snack bar? As São Paulo has a warm climate, the majority of shops and snack bars do not have a…
Giovana Pasquini – Sao Paulo Lab

Lets go shopping

Rotterdam -  A submerged shopping cart in the middle of a shopping centre. What does that tell you? I once heard that a shopping cart costs around 600 euros. I don’t know…
Martijn Nieuwenhuis – Rotterdam Lab

Brushes to paint trees

Bishkek -  Every spring everybody cleans up the territory around their houses and paint trees. This is a custom from the Soviet times and people call it ‘Subbotnik’ because they usually do…
Tatyana Mihnevich – Bishkek Lab

Sad lamp

Bishkek -  This is a ‘lustre’ in the entrance to my apartment block. In Soviet times the lamp was enclosed by a lattice so people could not steal the bulb. It is…
Raisat Musaeva – Bishkek Lab

Gasfire

Dhaka -  Gas fire: Throughout Bangladesh is the ubiquitous tea stall selling sweet thick tea. This is where politics, love and the ways of the world are discussed. The fire under a…
Shahidul Alam – Migrationpapa

Axe

Detroit -  A door is marked by a cut left by an axe when a burglar forced his entry into a house. Most of the residents who could afford to have left…
Marcin Szczepanski – Migrationpapa

Pendant

Lagos -  A pendant of one of the gamblers who told to me that daily betting has brought some improvement to his financial situation. He even boasted he bought his pendant from…
Andrew Esiebo – Migrationpapa

Electric wire ornament

Sao Paulo -  Classic pair of shoes on the electric wires: the joy among neighborhood boys.…
Giovana Pasquini – Sao Paulo Lab

After drinking

Bishkek -  The bottle of beer supports the bottle of maksym. Maksym is the national drink that helps to neutralise the ‘after drink syndrome’. …
Tatyana Zelenskaja – Bishkek Lab

lunch break

Rotterdam -  An improvised chair, a table and an empty juice carton, leftovers from a lunch break? The politics of demolish/rebuild leads to perpetual construction sites.…
Maurice Bogaert – Rotterdam Lab

Domestic Shoe Rack

Lagos -  For the latest in space-saving furniture, your home can have an economical shoe rack like this with enough room for all the family’s footwear. Simply remove window air-conditioning unit (if…
Folarin Shasanya – Lagos Lab