Lightchronicler, Photography of Marcell Bendik » Munich

Ray Collins’ Hot Club

admin — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:47:57 +0000

One of the higlight of Rock That Swing festival was the concert of Ray Collins’ Hot Club.
From www.jumpingfrom6to6.com: “The Ray Collins’ Hot Club, a german bunch of wild guys which signed their first album in 2001 -“Shaking That Boogie”- and which since became a reference. Imagine a band which could play to perfection a mixture of 40 and 50′ s Jump-blues, swing, jive and of rock’ roll with authenticity and an overflowing energy while developing their own style and composing some solid songs. A band which could set a ballroom on fire with only the first bars of a brass section.”
What I can tell you guys: it is true!
More info about the band: www.the-hot-club.com

Live music for dancers

admin — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:30:52 +0000

One of the specialty of Rock That Swing is the high number of live band.
Originally people danced swing strictly for live music. Nowadays we mostly dance for DJs music selection however the main reason is that we are short of money :(
Rock That Swing festival provides sometimes 4 live bands during one night!
As the event is focusing on dance the lighting was not as special as on concerts still many times it was fine to give the picture the live music feeling!
On these pictures you can see: Jive Romeros; Safe, Sane & Single; Jump 4 Joy

Fun for everyone

admin — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:14:42 +0000

Perhaps the pictures suggest something else, still we go for such festivals to dance.
Not a few. A lot. Even more. All night. Until 5 at least! Until we drop out.
As watching great dancers makes you feel good. Dancing make you feel great. That is what you can read from the faces in the series!
We had 4 parties, 3 after parties, sometimes 2 dance floors. A small taster about it!

Focus on me

admin — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:05:04 +0000

Many of us love to be in the center having the spotlights!
Performances were restricted to teachers. So what can you do to have the audience’s focus on you? Do not panic!
First of all they had many competitions – for boogie people, for lindy people, for fast feet people, …
Is it not enough? Join one of the jams where people form a big circle and he best dancers enter it to show off.
As all the dancers were really interested most of these events were packed having only a small circle. So I had to use extreme wide angle in order to get the full picture. The might distort people in the corners – sorry about it!

The show must go on

admin — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:38:53 +0000

No matters what happens dance performances must happen.
Did not start well. Because of snowing many flights of the teachers had been delayed, canceled. Some of them did not arrive in time – or just some minutes before the show. Some teachers were sick.
However the audience could not see that at all. Where you have so many talented dancers they can come up with a solution in a short time and make the people happy!

Rock that swing again

admin — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:28:58 +0000

I’ve returned to Rock that swing Festival this February to produce some more crazy dancing pictures…
This first series of photos show the classes – the festival had over 10 classes parallel and over 30 teachers. Not just the high amount of classes but the various dance schools helped me to have many different shots in a few days.

Real city tour

admin — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:34:21 +0000

In Europe you cannot check out a city without visiting one or more temples. Munich is not different either.
Even if you are not religious and have no idea about art history you can differentiate temples based on style. This one – in the center of Munich – is a really simple. Its simplicity in colors and decoration really emphasis the size and structure. It also defines how should I edit the picture to give even more emphasis on these elements!

Lazy city tour

admin — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:50:44 +0000

Do you remember that you walk all day, fight with the crowd to see all important building and exhibition of the visited city?
Would be so great to have less tourist! And have all the monuments close to each other! Actually Munich has a solution for that. They a small model of the city in the center – no crowd and no walking :) Only one step from checking the city from the Internet.

Going back

admin — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 21:46:24 +0000

After a while you get back to place where you have been. Many times you back and want to make pictures again and again.
Is it possible to create some new views, new ideas? How much my pictures are affected by my mood? The photos will tell you.
This year I went back to Octoberfest Lindy Exchange to Munich, Germany. Here you can see the group photo of people who made the same decision!
It is worth to download the picture as it a full-size picture so you can check the faces!