Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/04/30
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hi Hoppy, Thanks for looking. Actually, Christiania is not at all a sad place. It has a long history: the area belongs to the Ministry of Defence and used to be a military barracks. It was abandoned some time in the 1950s or 1960s, and in 1971 a bunch of hippies moved in. In the beginning it was all very chaotic and somewhat problematic, as the place became a magnet for all kinds of drug addicts and such from all over Europe. Successive governments wanted to shut it down, but none of them had the stomach to have the riot police clear a place with 2000-3000 inhabitants. During the 80s and 90s things became a bit more structured: the pushers were kicked out, people started paying for electricity (originally, they just helped themselves to it) etc. Today, the place is a curious mix of the original squatters, many of whom are there because they are idealistic types who are looking for alternative lifestyles, and assorted bums who drift in and out of the place. There is no longer any talk of shutting it down, since Christiania is today Copenhagen's #2 tourist attraction (after Tivoli). The place is by no means tamed, but it is not the place of 30 years ago. Nathan G Hopkinson wrote: > Nathan the "free city" essay is very interesting but extremely sad. > Graffiti seems to be a universal urban plague, fortunately the > rioting and anarchy are less so, albeit still crops up. So much of it an > excuse for vandalism and terrible antisocial behaviour. > > I did enjoy strolling along the strand with you. They give the impression > of cool crisp sparkling air. > > Cheers > Hoppy > > -----Original Message----- > From: lug-bounces+hoppyman=bigpond.net.au@leica-users.org > [mailto:lug-bounces+hoppyman=bigpond.net.au@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of > Jayanand Govindaraj > Sent: Monday, 30 April 2007 16:36 > To: Leica Users Group > Subject: Re: [Leica] IMG: Nathan's PAW 16: my favourite city > > Nathan, > You are tempting me to visit your part of the world, which I have never > been > to, the next time I am in Europe with your always interesting photoblog. > Cheers > Jayanand > > On 4/29/07, Nathan Wajsman <nathan@nathanfoto.com> wrote: > >> I spent last weekend in Copenhagen. It is my favourite place in the >> world, truly the place I call home. As usual, it is the people who >> make the place what it is, and so my PAW focuses mainly on them: >> http://www.fotocycle.dk:80/paws/?page_id=80 >> >> In addition to the PAW images, I have also put up a gallery of >> pictures mainly from the Free City of Christiania, a hippie enclave >> in the middle of Copenhagen, and of the remains of the Youth House, a >> building which had been occupied by squatters during the past 20 or >> so years, and which was cleared by the police amid heavy riots >> earlier this month (most of the rioting was done by anarchists from >> all over Europe who adopted the place as their cause celebre): >> http://www.frozenlight.eu/copenhagen_apr2007/ >> >> As always, comments and critique are welcome and appreciated. >> >> Nathan >> >> Nathan Wajsman >> nathan@nathanfoto.com >> General photography: >> http://www.nathanfoto.com >> http://www.greatpix.eu >> http://www.frozenlight.eu >> Picture-A-Week: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws >> Blog: http://www.fotocycle.dk/blog >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >> >> > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > -- Nathan Wajsman Almere, The Netherlands Opportunistic Image Acquisition General photography: http://www.nathanfoto.com and http://www.greatpix.eu Picture-A-Week: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws Seville photography: http://www.fotosevilla.com Stock photography: http://www.alamy.com/search-results.asp?qt=wajsman http://myloupe.com/home/found_photographer.php?photographer=507 Prints for sale: http://www.photodeluge.com Blog: http://www.fotocycle.dk/blog SUPPORT FREEDOM OF SPEECH, BUY DANISH PRODUCTS!