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benjamin josef

@benjaminjosef.bsky.social

dilettante de luxe “All human knowledge takes the form of interpretation.“ Walter Bendix Schoenflies Benjamin 15 07 1892 Berlin / 26 09 1940 Portbou dm me for inquiries about fine art prints

505 Posts907 Follower 384 Folgt

benjamin josef @benjaminjosef.bsky.social · 3w ago

- withdraw - home 04 10 2026 12:27 light remains for a while on the table, held by glass, flowers, and the surface of things. october is not yet an ending. it is the moment in which presence begins to contain the thought of absence.

black-and-white view of an october garden, with late-blooming dahlias arranged in small glass bottles on a sunlit table. hanging objects and lamps frame the scene above, while dense trees and deep shadows form a quiet, dark background. the image has a soft, almost nostalgic quality, capturing the garden at the threshold between summer and autumn.

benjamin josef @benjaminjosef.bsky.social · 10mo ago

r i p béla tarr

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benjamin josef @benjaminjosef.bsky.social · 10mo ago

each new year we hope that things will get better, yet perhaps the more urgent task is not improvement but attention. meaning does not unfold through smooth progress, but appears in moments of interruption, in fragments that suddenly form a constellation. if we learn to stay with what surrounds us [the unfinished, the overlooked, the broken … ] another kind of productivity may emerge, grounded not in acceleration, but in a more precise way of seeing and inhabiting the world.

benjamin josef @benjaminjosef.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Lhasa de Sela - Rising (Official Video)

YouTube video by Lhasa de Sela

youtu.be

benjamin josef @benjaminjosef.bsky.social · 10mo ago

happy holidays

Extrait - Stranger than Paradise - Le lac

YouTube video by Ar Sparfell

youtu.be

benjamin josef @benjaminjosef.bsky.social · 10mo ago

'KISS'. A Film by Andy Warhol.

Andy Warhol Film. 1963. B+W. Silent. 34'37". KF Archive. There is a related film at: https://vimeo.com/968815936

vimeo.com

benjamin josef @benjaminjosef.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Tindersticks - My Oblivion

YouTube video by Sérgio Rocha

youtu.be

benjamin josef @benjaminjosef.bsky.social · 11mo ago

- resonance - vérot-dodat paris france 10 11 2025 15:39

in this stillness, the passage becomes a stage without actors.
the empty vitrines, framed by worn arches and opaque curtains, seem to await a gesture, a breath, a wandering thought.
two solitary vessels stand like mute witnesses.
objects suspended between usefulness and pure appearance,
between the intimate interior and the public gaze that never quite arrives.

the checkerboard tiles ripple outward like a memory of footsteps,
echoes of a time when the flâneur [walter benjamin’s spectral companion]
drifted through the arcades as if drifting through the unfolding pages of the 19th century.

now the crowd is gone.
the passages have thinned to a kind of after-image,
a hushed architecture that remembers more than it reveals.
the auratic residue of a place built for circulation,
now holding its breath.

here, time folds back on itself.
the flâneur lingers, no longer in the body, but in the dust, the patina,
in the faint reflection in the glass;
a reminder that these spaces were once theatres of desire, commodity, chance encounters
and now have become contemplative chambers,
like vitrines for history itself.

this image becomes a passage inside a passage:
a threshold where the world slows down enough
to reveal its textures, its forgotten rhythms,
its secret correspondence between past and present.

and i, another kind of flâneur, wandering with a camera,
stood before this facade,
and activated the old mechanism once more:
the silent dialogue between observer and architecture,
between aura and absence,
between what remains and what has long dissolved.

benjamin josef @benjaminjosef.bsky.social · last yr.

- ordinary magic - place saint-louis metz france 14 07 2025 13:23

a carousel wrapped in veils, waiting in a deserted square.
its music silenced, its horses unseen. behind it, old facades watch like quiet witnesses, their windows the eyes of another century. cobblestones stretch forward, heavy with the memory of countless steps, yet no foot disturbs their silence now.

this is a portrait of potential, suspended: joy enclosed, time on pause. even the sky seems unsure.
clouds gathering, dispersing, unable to decide whether to break or to hold.

here, the carousel becomes a metaphor for longing: the longing for motion, for laughter, for the ordinary magic of turning in circles under an indifferent sky. we glimpse the fragility of human rituals, how easily they fold into stillness, and how in that stillness, they quietly endure, waiting to be called back to life.

benjamin josef @benjaminjosef.bsky.social · last yr.

- interplay - home 21 06 2025 21:02

in this image, time layers itself,
the drawing recalls a world of rest and endurance,
where camels and bedouins embody a rhythm older than history.
yet it is not the figures that speak,
but the interplay of shadow and light:
a silent dialogue between presence and transience.
the sun, filtered through leaves, becomes an echo,
suggesting that all permanence is projection,
and every image is a resting place for passing light.

benjamin josef @benjaminjosef.bsky.social · last yr.

- join me - home 19 06 2025 13:07

a table beneath jasmine and time,
woven shade casting secrets in stripes.
wind chimes speak in slow syllables,
while quiet chairs wait for stories
told over leaves and light.

benjamin josef @benjaminjosef.bsky.social · last yr.

- fernweh und einkehr - pizzolungo capri italy 28 04 2016 10:40

a image of mine that reminds me of the deep yearning in caspar david friedrich’s ‘sehnsuchtslandschaften, where the visible is but a veil over the infinite. the jagged rocks rise from the sea like forgotten thoughts of the earth, solitary and eternal, bearing the weight of time. the silhouetted trees bent and reaching, evoke the tender asymmetry of a hasegawa tōhaku pine, their presence both framing and dissolving the scene.

here, the horizon breathes a thin line where sky and water converse in whispers. the scene is not one of drama, but of quiet revelation. nature is not a backdrop for man’s striving, but a mirror to his interiority: longing, impermanence, acceptance.

as in shinkei’s ink landscapes, mist and emptiness are as vital as form. the photograph resembles this: the open sea is a vastness that invites both melancholy and liberation.

In the spirit of romanticism, the viewer is not outside this scene but absorbed by it. the rocks do not merely stand in the sea; they are metaphors of solitude and the sublime indifference of nature. the trees do not simply frame the image; they suggest the ephemeral nature of vision, the partiality of human grasp.

benjamin josef @benjaminjosef.bsky.social · last yr.

- message to all the people - robertson quay singapore 30 04 2025 21:12

in the quiet veil, love whispers
behind soft folds of fabric, a message rests:
« love changes everything »
its letters not shouted, but suspended,
casting shadows that repeat themselves
like memories
or promises not yet broken.

a small emblem, two hands meeting,
anchors the words
in the realm of gesture and grace,
where touch becomes language
and presence becomes vow.

benjamin josef @benjaminjosef.bsky.social · last yr.

- fidelity of the everyday - little india singapore 10 05 2025 19:53

in this image, time stands still; not in the sense that nothing changes, but in the way a rhythm, once found, continues without haste. the scene, framed in black and white, renders a modest corner of little india into something sacred: a continuity of gesture, of labor, of quiet presence.

the man behind the counter, with his white cap and weathered hands, becomes more than a vendor, he is a custodian of memory. his actions are not merely economic but ritualistic, shaped by repetition and care. the chapati is not just food; it is the vessel of belonging, of story, of ancestral warmth folded into dough.

what’s remarkable is not the nostalgia, but the persistence. in a city that constantly reinvents itself, this place remains unchanged, not by resistance, but by fidelity to something older than progress. perhaps it is fidelity to slowness, to touch, to the trust between strangers that forms over hot meals and worn counters.

and so, returning here after fifteen years, you do not find the past, but a continuity, like a phrase that was never interrupted, merely paused until you were ready to listen again.

benjamin josef @benjaminjosef.bsky.social · last yr.

a fleeting bloom for c tender as a hush between words, caught in the light just before it fades.

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benjamin josef @benjaminjosef.bsky.social · 2y ago

- passing through the frame - millbank london england 04 04 2025 15:06

in the hush of tate britain,
two human figures drift like opposing tides.
one drawn into the room of turner’s storm of sail and smoke,
the other anchored in the weight of plastic and days lived.

a ghost fleet swells behind them,
ships dissolving into sea-light and memory,
brushstrokes unraveling history
as if time were oil on canvas, fluid, fading.

their backs to each other,
they mirror disconnection,
yet hold a silent symmetry
in gesture, in pause,
in being caught
between past and passing.

the floor beneath them is still,
but the painting moves.
and in that subtle motion,
turner speaks through shadow and salt,
as if to remind:
we are all only passing through the frame.

benjamin josef @benjaminjosef.bsky.social · 2y ago

- ephemeral echo - home 09 03 2025 16:50

this image captures the delicate contrast between fragility and permanence. a single tulip, its petals unfolding yet slightly withered, leans from a dark, rounded glass vessel. the vessel itself holds water, light and shadow, mirroring a distorted reality. the reflection hints at impermanence, a fleeting echo of the world outside, captured yet never held. it is a meditation on time …

benjamin josef @benjaminjosef.bsky.social · 2y ago

- camellia japonica - home 02 03 2025 12:09

this is the first bloom I picked from my garden, a simple yet profound offering in a world that feels increasingly fragile. in times of devastation and uncertainty, i wanted to share something quiet, something gentle … a reminder that beauty still exists, even when chaos dominates the headlines.

this flower, delicate yet resilient, grew despite everything, untouched by the weight of global conflict. in its soft petals, i see a small but powerful act of defiance against despair. by placing it in this vase, by capturing this moment, i am holding onto hope. i am reminding myself [and whoever may see this] that even in the darkest times, something beautiful can still take root and bloom.

benjamin josef @benjaminjosef.bsky.social · 2y ago

- you can never hold back spring - home 28 02 2025 16:56

in the moment of fading winter’s breath,
a whisper of spring leans toward the light.
soft tulips, blushing in muted tones,
like dawn stretching its limbs after a long, cold night.

their graceful stems reaching
yet uncertain, as if hesitating between seasons,
caught in the delicate liminality
where warmth and frost still trade secrets.

a vessel of glass, fragile yet steadfast,
cradles their gentle longing,
while shadows rest in quiet patience,
knowing time will turn,
and bloom will soon replace the hush of waiting.

benjamin josef @benjaminjosef.bsky.social · 2y ago

Maya Deren-Meshes of the Afternoon

YouTube video by Phaganum

youtu.be

benjamin josef @benjaminjosef.bsky.social · 2y ago

- quiet reverence - centro storico naples italy 03 05 2016 15:10

in the hushed solitude of the duomo di napoli, time lingers in quiet reverence. a single wooden desk and an empty chair rest upon the cold, checkered marble floor; silent witnesses to the passage of centuries, to prayers whispered and long forgotten. the air is thick with the weight of memory, the stone walls stained with history.

to the left, a grand tomb stands adorned with cherubic figures, their frozen expressions caught between sorrow and serenity. they guard the slumber of the departed, their marble forms resisting the erosion of time. above them, remnants of a faded fresco cling to the wall like a distant echo of divine artistry, its colors muted, as though the past itself is dissolving into the present.

light filters in through an unseen source, soft yet piercing, illuminating the rough textures of the ancient masonry. shadows stretch and contract, playing a silent symphony of light and darkness, presence and absence, the eternal dance of mortality.

this space, at once sacred and abandoned, invites contemplation. it is a chamber of paradox; a resting place that speaks, a room empty yet full, a fragment of eternity where the living and the dead converse without words. here, one feels the weight of impermanence, the poetry of decay, and the quiet promise that, in the grand stillness of time, all things return to dust, yet never truly disappear.

benjamin josef @benjaminjosef.bsky.social · 2y ago

- valentine - home 14 02 2025 11:06

her lips, crimson like autumn’s last kiss, mesmerizing, linger in my thoughts as i gaze at the solitary bloom. a tulip, fragile yet defiant, curved in a weary arc, its petals whispering secrets of still winter.

nestled in a dark-glass vase, its stem stretches toward a distant light, yearning, longing … much like the gaze of the girl in my thoughts. shadows cling to the edges of the room, wrapping the moment in silent reverie.

once, this flower stood proud, its head high, bathed in the warmth of an unseen sun. now, it bows; not in defeat, but in quiet acceptance. a beauty untouched by its wilting, a grace unbroken by its fall.

the image of the girl is now fading in my thoughts …
in that stillness, i realise … there is poetry even in fading …

benjamin josef @benjaminjosef.bsky.social · 2y ago

rip marianne faithfull ♥︎

Marianne Faithfull Crazy Love

YouTube video by Pris Campbell

youtu.be

benjamin josef @benjaminjosef.bsky.social · 2y ago

- abandoned - kerkrade west the netherlands 16 09 2020 14:28

this image whispers of abandonment, a quiet testimony to the passage of time and neglect. the worn tiles and dim reflections speak of forgotten purpose, of spaces once alive now stripped of meaning. my silhouette in the mirror, blurred and indistinct, becomes a ghostly echo of presence; a reminder of self, caught in a place where no one looks anymore.

the faint light through the window struggles against the shadows, a fragile hint of hope that fails to conquer the weight of desolation. the empty glass holders and unused sink stand as symbols of futility, remnants of function lost to disrepair.

it is a portrait of solitude, a meditation on what is left behind when care is withdrawn. and yet, in its decay, there is a strange beauty; a call to remember, to witness, to confront the void left by neglect.

benjamin josef @benjaminjosef.bsky.social · 2y ago

rip david lynch ♥︎

benjamin josef @benjaminjosef.bsky.social · 2y ago

Tindersticks - Jism

YouTube video by George K

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benjamin josef @benjaminjosef.bsky.social · 2y ago

e jean carroll ♡

benjamin josef @benjaminjosef.bsky.social · 2y ago

- condensation - smeermaas belgium view towards maastricht the netherlands 28 12 2024 11:06

in this image, the sky becomes a canvas of transient whispers, where the story of condensation unfolds in its myriad forms … a symphony of nature, humanity, and impermanence.

the contrails slice through the heavens, thin and fleeting, like the paths we carve through life … bold yet ephemeral, vanishing as quickly as they appear. they speak of motion, ambition, and the invisible hand of progress, leaving behind trails that dissolve into nothingness.

below, the fog dances over the river, soft and ethereal, a quiet veil between earth and sky. it holds the weight of mystery, the unspoken connection between stillness and flow, as if the water’s soul is exhaling into the morning air.

in the distance, industrial plumes rise like manufactured clouds, a reminder of humanity’s grasp on the elements, bending nature to its will. they are the heavy breath of civilization, both triumphant and somber, blurring the line between creation and destruction.

and then there are the clouds themselves, ancient witnesses of the world’s rhythms, drifting in their timeless procession. they remind us that condensation is the breath of the universe, cycling endlessly between forms … water to vapor, vapor to mist, mist to memory.

each condensation is a moment captured in transition, a mirror to the ephemeral nature of existence. together, they weave a tapestry of interconnection, where sky and earth, human and nature, the fleeting and the eternal, come together in quiet communion.

benjamin josef @benjaminjosef.bsky.social · 2y ago

- amaryllis - home 27 12 2024 12:26

the amaryllis, with its grand and delicate presence, stands as a testament to the paradox of life itself; a union of strength and fragility. its petals, curving outward like whispers of silent poetry, seem to reach beyond their earthly roots, yearning for something infinite. in its monochromatic stillness, the flower speaks not of decay, but of resilience; not of fleeting beauty, but of timeless grace.

encased in a simple glass vase, the amaryllis becomes a metaphor for the human spirit … rooted in reality yet daring to bloom in defiance of the mundane. the shadows enveloping it serve as a quiet reminder that beauty thrives even in the darkest corners, transforming the ordinary into the sublime. the contrast between light and dark mirrors the human experience, where moments of brilliance emerge from stillness and contemplation.

as we step into a new year, may this image of the amaryllis inspire you to embrace the dualities of life with courage and creativity. may the year ahead be filled with blooming moments of unexpected beauty …

to ‘c’, whose poetic captures of flowers transcend mere photography and enter the realm of pure artistry: your work reminds us that beauty is not just seen but felt, and that the simplest of things … a flower, a shadow, a moment can hold the deepest truths. with admiration and best wishes for your continued inspiration in the year to come. ♥︎

benjamin josef @benjaminjosef.bsky.social · 2y ago

Blade Runner Blues - Vangelis (slowed + reverb)

YouTube video by Noah S&R

youtu.be