A Farewell to Luise Kimme

My friend Luise Kimme moved on to another world in April. The German sculptor left an amazing amount of stunning art work for us to enjoy, most of it on view at her 'castle' in Tobago, itself a piece of art. I will miss her dearly. Over years we collaborated on many of her books and catalogues and her impact as an artist on my life was huge. She also opened my eyes for the rich culture of the nation of Trinidad & Tobago, which I visited dozens of times since 1986. My book MOKO JUMBIES: The Dancing Spirits of Trinidad only came to life because Luise Kimme introduced me to her many  friends in the islands. I am forever grateful.

 Here is the article I wrote for the T&T Guardian, published last week:
( text online here: http://www.guardian.co.tt/lifestyle/2013-04-22/luise-kimme-changed-my-life ):

Moko Jumbies in Conde Nast Traveler

One of my photographs from the series 'Moko Jumbies: the stiltwalkers of Trinidad' was published in the 07/2010 issue of Conde Nast Traveler. View more Moko Jumbies images here: http://www.stefanfalke.com/#/stories/Moko%20Jumbies/1

Luise Kimme Bolero

German Sculptor Luise Kimme and I have worked together on her books and catalogues for a very long time. This new book 'BOLERO' combines stories and pictures from her past with the fantastic art she creates in Tobago, where she has lived and worked for more than 20 years. Lately she also travels to Cuba on a regular basis, where she continues to work on small scale sculptures.

BOLERO is a MUST for Luise Kimme fans, the book is available at selected book stores inTrinidad & Tobago or directly from Luise ... www.luisekimme.com
BOLERO / 186 pages
published by Prospect Press / Trinidad & Tobago
ISBN: 978-976-9508-25-5

www.stefanfalke.com

The Moko Jumbies Book on YouTube

For quiet some time now I was looking for a point and shoot camera that produces the quality images that I get from my Nikon D200. And that shoots raw !! Along came the Canon G9 and I tried to get myself one of these fine little 'toys'. Seems that I wasn't the only one looking, the G9 was sold out in most camera stores in New York. So I ordered one on Amazon (did I ever think I would buy a camera this way !) and kept on missing the UPS man ....well, long story short, it has arrived, love it already and the first thing I did was shooting this video, which is not what I bought the camera for but I tell you, it is fun shooting 30 frames per second once in a while. And nothing wrong with a bit of (free) advertising for my own book !!
Visit me on YouTube here:
http://uk.youtube.com/profile?user=stefanfalke

More about the book on this blog click here

Moko Jumbies Stilts Trinidad and Tobago Photography Books Arts and Culture Earl Lovelace Geoffrey Holder Pointed Leaf Press Stefan Falke

See portfolio: Moko Jumbies in Trinidad

The Ultimate Holiday Gift !!!

Allow me to mention my coffee table book MOKO JUMBIES: The Dancing Spirits of Trinidad again, a visual record of a stiltwalking school, the Dragon Keylemanjahro School of Arts & Culture, in Trinidad, with a preface by Goeffrey Holder and an introduction by Earl Lovelace. it has 216 pages with over 200 color photographs (ISBN: 0-9727661-3-8)
It is the only book about stiltwalking on the planet !!!Please view pages from the book at:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=stefanfalke
www.flickr.com/photos/stefanfalke
www.myspace.com/stefanfalkeYou can order it from Amazon here:
Moko Jumbies: The Dancing Spirits of Trinidad
















Some reviews of the book:

Midwest Book Review:
Highly recommended, a top pick for art library holdings.
Children’s Books Author Maryann V. Macdonald:
You've never seen images anything like these...it's hard to find the words to describe them, so I'll try for just one: A boy in black and red with flowing gold "wings" is striding joyfully along a road bordered by a corrugated iron fence, but he has risen above that impoverished world on his stilts, and is profiled by the magic of a purple sky....
The Caribbean Review of Books:
Any artist who succeeds in opening up aspects of a culture to a foreign audience can count it as a job well done. When, however, that artist succeeds in opening up aspects of a culture to its own people, then the job becomes all the more remarkable. This is precisely what German photographer Stefan Falke has done with his resplendent book Moko Jumbies: The Dancing Spirits of Trinidad. read the whole review



See portfolio: Moko Jumbies in Trinidad

Moko Jumbies Stilts Trinidad and Tobago Photography Books Arts and Culture Earl Lovelace Geoffrey Holder Pointed Leaf Press Stefan Falke

Moko Jumbies Movie

German filmmaker Harald Rumpf shot a 51 minute documentary about the Moko Jumbies (stilt walkers) of the Dragon Kilimanjaro School of Arts & Culture in Trinidad and Tobago, titled 'Up & Dancing - The Magic Stilts of Trinidad'. The production company, Leykauf Film, used one of my Moko Jumbies 2007 images for the cover of the DVD, which will be presented to various European TV stations. I had also photographed the stills for Harald Rumpf's previous documentary about rap musicians in New York, titled Hip Hop - A Tale From The Hood, filmed in Harlem and the Bronx.

Please also go to:
Moko Jumbies Book
Moko Jumbies 2007

Film Movies Harald Rumpf Trinidad and Tobago Moko Jumbies Arts and Culture Stefan Falke Photography

A Long Story

Port Of Spain, Trinidad

His name is ‘Owner [1] Owner’. He writes. A lot. All day and all night. He works on seven journals at a time, one pen in his right hand, three more in his left hand. Just in case. He rarely looks up. He writes slowly, concentrated, more like drawing something. Owner has done so for 21 (!) years now. His older journals got lost or stolen, he does not care too much because they are written and can’t be unwritten. Important is the continuation of his work, or the ‘documentation’, as he calls it. He will stop when he gets to live in his own house. For now he lives on this bench.













































He explained to me last week what he is writing about, but I am not able to pass it on to you. He is way ahead of me, so I leave it there. It is so important to him that nothing else matters. He knows a lot about languages, places and things. My German origin rings a bell, the Berlin Wall. And that it was torn down. About 17 years ago. 4 years after he started writing. How does he know that he has been writing for 21 years? He was somehow connected to tennis, that much becomes clear. And a woman, an ‘acquaintance’, nobody well known, won a tennis match in 1983 in Trinidad. And again in 1984. And again in 1985. But not again in 1986, that is when his life changed dramatically and he started to live out here and write. First in downtown Port of Spain, then Woodbrook, later here in the Savannah.
















And this is where I talked to him last week. Finally. Because I wanted to take his picture ever since I first saw him on that bench five years ago, close to where the road splits up to Maraval. I have since seen him dozens of times for the past five years, I run here every morning when in town and I am in town quiet often. He is always there, without fail. I never dared to speak to him, don’t ask me why. He loves to chat and we had a very nice talk, so if you happen to come to Trinidad, or live there, stop by. New pencils, paper, water, food or money, all appreciated.

Trinidad and Tobago Photography Stefan Falke

Moko Jumbies 2007

I am back from Trinidad editing my images of the Moko Jumbies in the Junior Carnival Parade from last Saturday. It was not easy to shoot different pictures of an event that I have shot annually for 10 years now and published a book on the subject, but I must say I was getting excited all over again as soon as the students of the Dragon Keylemanjahro School of Arts & Culture put on their stilts und got going. This year was particularly difficult for them because many of the costumes were not ready or simply not there because the band's designer, Laura Anderson Barbata, could not get out of New York due to a snowstorm. But the kids really made the best of it and a fabulous fire blowing Red Devil cleared the way through downtown Port of Spain and up to the Savannah.

Shooting digital in the Caribbean isn't all that easy, the light is brutal except for right after sunrise and right before sunset. Or dark clouds race across the sky, creating a dramatic light change of up to 5 f-stops in a matter of split seconds and just when I adjust my camera settings it is back to the normal super bright. In any event you get very dark shadows and I don't like to use fill in flash, which would make sense here and there, but I am stubborn with that. Not that it was any easier shooting slides on good old Fuji Provia 100, which seems like 100 years ago.















































I am glad I found a way to show vertical pictures here without destroying the design of the page...anyway, I am happy with the result of this years Moko Jumbies images and it was really good to be back in Trinidad & Tobago. Thanks to an invitation from Wendell Manwarren of 3canal I got to see The 3canal Bacchanal Show 2007 Carnival Show and it was fabulous ! Thanks, Wendell ! And thank you Laura for sending me here !

Join the MOKO JUMBIES on Facebook here

Please also visit my website for the Moko Jumbies Gallery

www.stefanfalke.com

Fire Dance Artists Carnival Trinidad and Tobago Costumes Moko Jumbies Photography Stefan Falke

Friendly Fire

No, I did not take this image in one of the many well known trouble spots around the world and if you are slightly familiar with my work, then the pair of stilts leaning against the fence should give away the location. This is the beginning of an exercise in fire eating or fire blowing at the Dragon Keylemanjahro School of Arts & Culture in Trinidad. One of these young men will lead the Junior Carnival Parade in Port Of Spain as a fire blowing Red Devil this weekend, clearing the way for a throng of Moko Jumbies. Where else is the sight of a burning bottle actually good news !?!













































Please also visit my related posts:
Moko Jumbies Book
Moko Jumbie Heaven
The Dragon Can Dance
Off To Trinidad Again

Fire Dance Artists Carnival Trinidad and Tobago Costumes Moko Jumbies Photography Stefan Falke

The Dragon Can Dance !

Glen Dragon De Souza founded the Dragon Keylemanjahro School Of Arts & Culture in Trinidad primarily to teach kids the art of dancing on stilts and become a Moko Jumbie. But they also practice African and Limbo dance besides juggling and fire eating.































When I photographed Dragon (below) preparing his students for a dance competition last night, I was reminded of Earl Lovelace's wonderful book 'The Dragon Can't Dance'. Well, here is proof that he can...
















The school yard will be very busy with the final practice and costume fittings for Saturdays big Kiddies Carnival Parade. Stay tuned for more !!

Please also visit my related posts:
Moko Jumbies Book
Moko Jumbie Heaven
Earl Lovelace

Limbo Dance Artists Carnival Trinidad and Tobago Costumes Moko Jumbies Photography Stefan Falke

Off to Trinidad again

Lucky me will leave for Trinidad on Monday to continue my work with the Moko Jumbies of the Dragon Keylemanjahro School of Arts & Culture, a stilt walking school, and to photograph Laura Anderson Barbata's new costumes for this years carnival band. Laura (below) is a New York and Mexico City based artist who has been the principal costume designer for the school for some years now. The image above shows a group of 'flamingos' from 2005 . More on her band 2006 click here

Laura's work is featured in my book MOKO JUMBIES: The Dancing pirits of Trinidad.
















Please also visit my related posts:
Moko Jumbies Book
Moko Jumbie Heaven
Laura Anderson Barbata

Laura Barbata Anderson Art Artists Carnival Trinidad and Tobago Costumes Moko Jumbies Photography Stefan Falke Photoblog Fotoblog

Luise Kimme Sculptures

If you ever travel to Tobago, Luise Kimme's Museum (www.luisekimme.com) must not be missed ! Luise lives and works in the museum, which she built in the late 80's and is called 'The Castle' by Tobagonians, and it is open to the public on Sundays from 12-2 pm. I met her about 20 years ago and we collaborated on many of her books and catalogues ever since. (please see my post Luise Kimme in Cuba)













































It is difficult to know who is who around her sculptures, some come even more alive when their creator is nearby.













































Many of the sculptures are made from German oak, which Luise Kimme purchased in Southern Germany after a field of oak trees was cut down by a storm.













































Her eight dogs are not only living with her for her protection, but can often be found as subjects of her art. The one below is actually real...













































Please also visit my Trinidad and Tobago related posts:
Moko Jumbies Book
Moko Jumbie Heaven
Laura Anderson Barbata
Leroy Clarke

Luise Kimme Art Sculptures Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Stefan Falke