29 April 2013

Symbolism in the Gothic Subculture

I was in my junior high years, maybe 14, when I finally decided to but a specific neckless. It was 2006 and I was spending my summer at the south of Israel, because there was war at the north. Ask any Israeli and he would tell you it was the "Second Lebanon War". The north was heavily bombed while me and my family spent the entire summer at our relatives' house escaping the terror.
It was the afternoon and I was at some kids fair, when I spotted a jewelry stand. I then decided to spend my last money for that day on a neckless.
I bought myself my first Ankh.

It is not new that symbols are tend to belong to many alternative groups, the Gothic Subculture perhaps is best recognized and maybe accused of wearing very specific shapes on the neck.

Let us call him "the common man".
Perhaps what this common man easily points out when first looking at a goth [besides the outfit] is the symbol. Moreover, other people who might wear completely normal clothes or plain black clothes with symbolic jewelry, would be pointed out as the representatives of something "alternative", "weird" or "mystical".

Ok I'm done with the high language shit. Nobody reads this anyway....

So basically goths today are being recognized by symbols. Would it be the black hair, the huge boots or the ripped stockings, but there would be always something that would attract this common man I told you about. There would be a symbol who is worn by many many people who dress the same, that would sort of represent them, and for the common man, define them.
I think it is nice. Because just like punks wear their Mohawks proudly and won't be mistaken for someone else while wearing them, so do goths, with their jewelry especially.
I suppose this is sort of a call for beginners at goth as well. This was the reason I decided to but my Ankh- because I saw older junior high students wearing it, and I thought that it probably meant a lot and it would give me something I yet not have...

And of course, this would be probably the part that has the most misconceptions to it. People interpret symbols very aggressively. Mostly when they see something that clearly has a statement but they cannot understand it, they would probably give it a bad name.

How often you had to explain to someone that an Ankh is not a fucking Christian Cross, not the symbol of Satan? This issue was very annoying to me back in Israel. Because you see, a country like Israel that has the Jewish religion as its middle name having everyone walking around with golden David star chains [and sadly tattoos...] found it hard to understand there are, oh god, other religions! So if someone was by any chance Christian [and not an Arab] he would have to hide his little cross under his shirt, because it led to a very uncomfortable feeling for other people, especially in schools where people are uniquely stupid. Well, what am I talking about? Everyone in Israel are uniquely stupid when it comes to everything uncommon.
With that being clear, I suppose now you can imagine how great symbols are treated in the country I came from. I don't know about other places, but when I wore my Ankh I always got tons of very unintelligent questions.

This goes for Pentagrams and Celtic symbolism as well. Here's a nice example: when someone would wear the ax of Thor as a neckless [I never understood why people wear it] you would probably think he's into metal, or some other Celtic or Nordic stuff. It's so natural to think that, isn't it?

But there's another thing, and it is easier for Babybats and other people who are new to the scene to forget- symbols have meanings. And if you like to live giving everything a meaning/ complicating your existence [like I do] you won't wear a symbol just for fun. And frankly that's what most of us do- we wear it cause it's cool, so it probably means it's goth. I won't get too sarcastic on this because there's nothing bad with wearing different kind of jewelry in general, but please: know what you're wearing. This goes for patches as well- know what kind of message you carry out about yourself and to the world. One would not wear a Pentakle not knowing what it is, or having no idea what it means TO HIMSELF! This is something so important people love to ignore or pretend it doesn't exist.
Symbols have a meaning, and they also can affect you! So if someone asks why the fuck you are wearing the Inverted Cross or the Symbol of Juda you must not be in a position where you don't know what to reply back.
I don't want to be all preachy about it, but it's true. Maybe in a subconscious way more than any other.
Goths who give their outfits/ makeup unique symbolical appearance usually know what this symbol means for them personally. Hence you use the Gothic Subculture and other different symbols for yourself, it suits you, and YOU DON'T HAVE TO FIT IT!

One does not have to wear an Inverted Cross to look Nu Goth, nor to wear an anti nazi patch on the jacket to look punk. One does not have to have an ear tunnel to listen to hardcore music, for that matter.
It's a tacky subject really, but I suppose you yourself would never wear something just to fit in a group in order to belong, like an empty shell or something.
I am saying this because the common man who we all love to hate is having a blast not understanding alternative movements and symbols. So for your own sake make it real and not fake.

After buying my first Ankh I went back home to read what the hell it means. I was surprised to see how it taught me to look at life differently. I later on always explained to any questioner in details what did my Ankh mean, to myself especially.

Thank you for the attention.
Next post I shall detail the symbols I like to wear.

++ Update:
Blog is no longer pastel. I was a bit bi polar, I know...

+ Nebel Violet +

27 April 2013

Outfit of The Night- Minimal Synth

Of last weekend actually. Boy did I collect those well or not? XD

Anywho, last weekend I saw a concert of the minimal synth band Boykott Kommunikation.
They were cool, in a way, but frankly I am not a big minimal fan, I don't feel the music and dancing to it at parties is even worse. However, seeing it live was quite interesting. And I came to take some photos as well.


Shirt: from a random store in Israel
Pants: from Hot Topic when I was in Boston 4 years ago
Boots: Demonia given to me from Boris
Belts: random finds in stores no one visits ;)


We tried this experiment last week. Boris wanted to dye his hair blond / any color that is not his natural.
So we bought 2 packages of Schwarzkopf blond hair dye to see what happens, because I was totally against bleaching in fear of having nothing left to dye afterwards. 

My heart ached that I had to use a dye which had been tested on animals. I haven't found other brands in any drugstore here.... I was very sad about it, but at least I won't consume this product frequently as others do...


Selfies haven't been made for quite a while. I wasn't happy with how my face turns out in photos for some time now. I have come to the conclusion I should never smile in photos. My face simply gets so distorted it doesn't look natural nor pretty. So the "surprised" look suits me best because you can actually see how my eyes look like.
Same for the "looking down" emo pics. Love them. You can see I dyed my hair a bit too to see how the black remains of it react to the blond.
I will have blond hair one day, I have the patience for the "long process" way instead of the "standing with a dick in your hands wishing it was your hair" method.

Here are some shots of Boykott Kommunikation:





Tonight we are having a massive 3 floor ebm, industrial, post punk, batcave party that should be worth it considering its cost. Picture of outfit would be taken!
Stay gothy!

UPDATE:
My blog is pastel now. Because I can.

+ Nebel Violet +

23 April 2013

The Pagan Witch Photoshoot

At last when the weather spared me from the freezing cold which prevented me from holding my camera in my hands, I had done a pagan photoshoot with the lovely Maria.
I met her at a concert in February [?]. I saw her from a far and noticed she had blue hair. She looked so pretty to me I decided to come to her after the show and suggest doing a photoshoot with her.
This was the first time I ever introduced myself to someone with the interest of making photos. I frankly just wanted to know her as a person before I thought about photograohy, because she seemed so special to me, and I mainly felt awkward just walking towards her saying my name, which is hers too.

So as I promised her we went to a forest near Treptower Park where I had the Post Punk photoshoot from the previous post.
It was a great pleasure. I never had such beautiful feminine photos on the one hand, and dark Black Metal photos on the other. I am really happy of this bi polarity, I believe the wanted something personally special of this photoshoot and we both got it in different ways.
The atmosphere was so calm and nice, I really felt harmony inside doing what I do, planning and not planning  different compositions. I still believe Photography is the art of randomness.

From my DeviantART page.







I am so honored to be able taking a kind of pictures I never did!!! I don't even know which "side" of this shoot I like most. Everything looks beautiful to me, and Maria sure fitted well to this role. I don't think someone else would have.

What do you think? Opinions and mostly critique is always welcome. Improving myself is very important to me.
Thank you for the attention!

21 April 2013

Monowelt- a new Minimal Wave/ Post Punk band!

Yet not officially. I am only revealing the photos because I was allowed, after having the honor photographing my dear friends Marta & Dasha.
We planned this long ago, and when it first became warm outside we finally went to Treptower Park just like I wanted to, to make some dark post soviet union photos [not really!].

There is no official Facebook for the band yet, and frankly I haven't heard the music yet as well XD
However, there are a lot of pictures, and I can say I am proud of several of them.

One more thing- it was the second time when I took pictures of one than more person, telling them what to do, how to stand etc. This time it was lots of fun and not as challenging as my first time. We were completely on the same vibe so it wasn't hard to understand each other. I also had a good idea what they wanted, how they wanted the pictures to look and to what kind of atmosphere they were aiming at. So I am happy there was no misunderstanding [I hope!] and when I remember how much we laughed and had fun it makes me happy to see the opposite results on the pics. Which doesn't make sense like a lot of things I tend to say.









I couldn't post everything because there are tons of pics, but these were the ones I liked best. Maybe I'll add some more photos on my next post!

What do you think?
What kind of impression of the band you have in your head, before you had a chance to listen to their music?

I am curious to listen to them myself, and to see what kind of impact my photos would do accompanying the music. I hope that it would be a good mixture, something different and mysterious with a completely different character, something that can drive you into it, and will not let you go.

Have an amazing rest of the weekend!

+ Nebel Violet +

18 April 2013

Outfit of the Day

I took the liberty of taking some pictures of my outfit recently.
To be precised it is the outfit of last week, but we won't get into details.
Spring is officially here!!!


Punk Jacket- originally brought to me from Russia, customized.
Shorts- from an Israeli brand ages ago
Stockings- From Hot Topic when I was in Boston 4 years ago
Creepers- Deichman

I am always blessed with the best mobile phone cameras. I seriously believe that cell phone cameras are underrated. I have plenty of artistic photos that I am proud of that were taking from a phone. Like my profile picture at the right column!

Next post I will be sharing "rare" band photos of a brand new Minimal Wave band! Stay tuned!


+ Nebel Violet +

14 April 2013

Outfit of the Night + Post Punk Party!

There was a big concert this weekend, and I took it into my hands to photograph anything I could.
Friday was a big concert of our dear friends Tanzkommando Untergang, who performed with other 2 bandsm Genetiks and the Danish Metro Cult [who were really awesome!].
All band were great, the atmosphere was lots of fun and I had a great time. We didn't stay much for the party afterwards because we were too tired, the music was far too loud at the club and frankly we never stay till morning at any party. We just can't take too much of partying in one night.

Here are some pics, but first and long awaited outfit pics!
It finally feels like spring, so we could wear our jackets at last without freezing to death! And I could finally wear my wincklepickers for the first time!!


 Boris is wearing a victorian coat and jacket underneath that his mother sewed him [YES!]
And his combats.

 Yay for punk jacket can be shown to the world without being hidden under layers of sweaters..


I must say I really had fun taking pictures of the bands, I think there are some really "artistic" shots. TKU always inspire me when they play, and it makes my photos cling towards a more "old school" look than ever!

Genetiks.


I believe this is one of the most "post punk" photos I ever took.

Dear Marta of TKU.






Sergej

Another picture I am lucky I had a chance to capture.

Metro Cult




On our way home I was driving the train from Ostkreuz back to Fridenau....

+ Nebel Violet +

10 April 2013

The Goth Challenge Days 8 + 9

Day 8: What's your worst and best experience with none goths?

I think it is enough to mention how life was hard as a goth back in Israel to give you the closest feeling of my worst experience. Let me just say that in Israel it is hell being alternative or different in any way. Whether it is you're being beaten ans teased at elementary school for loving dogs, or being constantly bugged, laughed and being pointed at while you're simply walking on the street. I had so many bad experiences being goth among the Israeli people I can continue writing till tomorrow.

But my best experience surprised me as well.
I was working at a tech-support call service center for 2 years. I began working there in age 19 right after I left my parents' house and continued till I left Israel. There were a lot of employees there, and they were separated into teams. I belonged to the "Russian team" as we only answered calls in Russian, and frankly our team was the most consolidated and together than any other. Now, as a Russian person I never had any Russian friends except Boris, because most Israeli Russians tend to be the opposite of intelligent, and kind of feel themselves better than any other. So I never tried nor wanted to belong to a Russian speaking group. The only Russian friends I had spoke Hebrew all the time and barely knew Russian.
But in our small tech-support theme something different happened.
We were very different, each came from a completely different and weird background. You had people who already had kids, you had your Russian jocks who cursed the world and talked about soccer all the time, and you had desperate students who only worked there to maintain their life while studying, or people who fiercely studied for years and couldn't find a job and were stuck at tech support.
And you had the "gothy" me.
We had so much fun working together, every one accepted another, we didn't laugh at others in our team, maybe gossiped sometimes ^^ I found a friends with whom I met from time to time, who even got to go with me to a gothic party. So the experience was amazing, working such a shitty job as tech support, and even getting the chance to laugh about it and spill your troubles out to your coworkers.
It made me realize than I can be a part of something without demanding that the people around me looked the same as I or having the same mind set. Before leaving I told my [amazing] boss that if the job wouldn't have been so horrible, I would have gladly stayed there, because you don't get such good atmosphere from such different people in every job. She totally agreed with me.

Day 9: What genre of music do you dislike?

I think it would be obvious to mention that alternative people dislike most kinds of music.
It would be more explicit to say that I hat the Rap, Hip Hop, Pop, Dance and what not shit you get on MTV nowadays. I really do dislike this music like most alternative people.
Here's a few more than might spill some light, maybe...

I really HATE:
- Brit Rock or Post Punk revival such as the Kooks, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Killers and stuff the like. I really hate this kind of music, it bores me and I think it has repeated itself enough of times.
- "Gothic" Metal. Come on guys, Nightwish has done their job well and long ago, no need to worship bands like Within Temptation, Sirenia, and what not because those amazing opera singers and musicians waste their talents playing the cheesiest and overdone music there is.
- Drum'n Bass. Because it makes me feel so uncomfortable and bad. Gives me a headache.
- Rap Metal. Bands like Limp Bizkit and Korn. Yuck..... I really like Deftones however, they are really nice.

I tend to spill shit all over bands mostly than genres, I would write here a disclaimer begging your pardon on my rudeness, but I won't because fuck you, that's why!
It is completely understood when one would say the same opinion about goth music. It is overdone and kitschy. But hell, I like it so much....


+ Nebel Violet +

7 April 2013

Weekend Adventures + Outfit post

+ We saw a fox in front of out house. This is perhaps the first and most important thing I need to tell you guys about!
+ We went to the KitKat club, which is mainly a sex/ bdsm club, but Friday night was a normal party celebrating 10 years for das Schwarze Buch, and thanks to a good friend we could enter the party in half price [it was too expensive for us]. It was such an amazing party, the music was perfect, the club itself had a cool sexy atmosphere, and we had some funny memories of the half butt ass naked people there ;)
I suppose that the most exciting thing about KitKat was that in Israel I used to imagine the "german clubs" with a good friend as huge places that had several floors, a chill out zone and a very specific atmosphere. We would dream on going to such a place one day. Well, I can say that this Friday I had the opportunity to visit this "dream". It really was amazing.
+ We went to a Folk concert of a friend who plays contrabass, it was a lot of fun and Boris even played in one of the songs ^^

here are some pics of outfits lately, I generally had a good time the past few days, I had some mood swings and was just a bit depressive, but it was all gone as soon as I began doing different things each day and made myself busy.

Taking a walk. I love our neighborhood [Schoeneberg] so much!


 I am going crazy with graphical eyeliner lately. Funny that I really hate eyeliner, somehow I manage to use it quite well on my low-crease-Asian eyes.

 The most normal picture I could get of the makeup, pardon the weirdness, I was drunk.


 My outfit fir Friday. I actually wore only bra + netted shirt the entire evening, but ah well.... I am wearing warm white socks because we're at home. I wore my combats with this outfit. Pardon the awkwardness, I was drunk. 

I am dying for it to get warmer so I could ware my wincklepickers with these pants. I love how they make any outfit look Batcave-ish.

Speaking of [not really] I like it how after 2 weeks my haircut was done I can notice my hair growing again. I basically cut my hair to have long hair again. I already had to cut the fringe a little bit, and I believe in 2 months or so my hair would almost reach my shoulders. I am a bit exaggerating here, but my hair does grow pretty fast.

A sprinkle of some intelligent music for a change.

+ Nebel Violet +