Nothing wrong with popular use of language as long as it is used carefully. I believe this is the right picture to claim an epic win for irony. Let me explain.
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Last week I was in Berlin for the editing of Masta-magazine as wel as spending time with the one person I particulary treasure. A day before my return home I still hadn’t taken any pictures concerning my artistic interest so I decided to go on the touristic tour. The destinations for the day were the Museum für Naturkunde and the Hamburger Bahnhof, unnecesairy to inform you about it but anyhow, in that exact order.
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Because I generally prefer to enjoy nature above culture, due to it’s superior finesse, harmony end timelessness etc., the first museum I visited was the Museum für Naturkunde. (Again I realized that I avoid painting nature for I couldn’t compete with it’s magnificence.) The fact that I was told that there were dinosaur-skeletons also worked as a magnet that pulled me in.
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Enough about the museum, nature and culture, I believe there will be plenty chances to talk about that in the future. What is so ironic about this picture?
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Nothing actually. There is a woman looking slightly disagreeing to the camera or maybe just past it to somebody who is behind or beside me. In the background there are some pots with animal-fetusses on spirits and a plaque that explains something concerning genetics. I can’t find anything ironic in that, directly, although there will certainly be something to be found in it if you look at it for a while. No, the irony is in the story of what happened while taking this picture, it will as well explain the lady’s expression.
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As usual I was, besides the exhibited matter, observing the people who were with me observing that what was exhibited in the museum. And if I found an interesting specimen I would, and always will, take a picture of it. This lady was indeed an interesting specimen of people who are wandering around in a museum. On first sight I mean that only in an easthetic way (NO! I don’t mean with that she was hot. She happend to be in a situation with good lighting that fit her slightly majestic presence). So I took the picture, quite rude, without asking.
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As I usually do, I nodded, thanked her and was about to continue my way thru the museum when she walked up to me and asked me why I took a picture of her. So I explained that I am an artist/painter and so and so. She asked to see the picture but I showed her that my camera wasn’t digital. Getting annoyed and a little hopeless she told me that she didn’t like to have her picture taken without beeing asked. I answerred that if I would do that, the expression, that she displayed when confronted with a camera pointed at her, wouldn’t be so primary as it was now. But she still disagreed, I should have asked her first, which on one hand is very reasonable, let’s keep that clear. Now she forced me to use the one argument that blows these hypocrite (sorry to call it that) sentiments away: YOU ARE BEEING WATCHED AND PUT IN A DATABASE ALMOST EVERYWHERE YOU GO! On the internet, street, trainstation, in the bus, probably every public place you go. Of course, she thought that was for her own safety (of which I believe is rather bullshit) so I promissed her that her picture will be safe in a box where nobody would see it.
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This picture turned out to be one of the best of the film. Accompanied by this conversation with it’s leading article, it was destined to be put online.
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Hence, the epic win for irony.