A community celebrating Black voices Beautycon is a global platform that brings together beauty enthusiasts and industry leaders to explore the latest trends and conversations shaping the future of beauty Sofie’s universe is one imbued with wonder Germany: a place where grand old paintings hang on paint-flecked walls and verdant farmland acts as a barrier to the world Snezhana von Buedingen conceived of Meeting Sofie, a series winner of Portrait of Humanity 2020 following a casting call-out for a mother-daughter portrait series in Cologne they invited the Russian-born photographer to visit them instead “It was just special from the beginning,” von Buedingen recalls “The way their family lives is a kind of art.” The sheer poeticism of Meeting Sofie is enthralling could be the setting of a Renoir painting: soft light dappled sun; sprawling greenery and rich fabrics; a world so free of friction or hostility that it doesn’t feel real at all “Being on that farm is like being in a different time and space dimension,” von Buedingen describes Von Buedingen began shooting in 2017 when Sofie was 18 and continued to photograph her sporadically over several years The result is a delicate documentation of a girl’s first steps into love loss and adulthood: in one image Sofie peers eagerly over a wall encapsulating careless youth in a summer dress; in another she smokes a cigarette in a thick black coat — a grown woman gazing knowingly into the lens Perhaps most affecting of all is a portrait of Sofie with her first boyfriend enveloped by poppies beneath a darkening sky “Her whole life revolved around him,” von Buedingen remembers “Every day she went to the bus stop and waited until he returned from work to see him for a few minutes Sometimes she was already sitting at the bus stop an hour earlier She still hasn’t gotten over that love story.” I notice how people look at her,” says von Buedingen “I want them to see a girl in these pictures who vonbuedingen.com Meeting Sofie is exhibiting as part of the Portrait of Humanity 2020 Global Tour until 11 October and Indian Photo Festival Enter Portrait of Humanity 2021 (Deadline 22 October 2020 – 23:59 UK Time) Flossie Skelton joined British Journal of Photography in 2019 where until 2021 she served as commissioning editor A German neo-Nazi politician who crashed his car into a tree was rescued by passing Syrian refugees local newspapers and national news agency DPA said The first responders were two Syrian asylum seekers from a passing minibus that stopped at the crash site near the town of Buedingen in the central state of Hesse They pulled Jagsch from the wrecked car and gave him first aid a spokesman for the local fire brigade told DPA confirming witness reports from last Wednesday Buedingen hosts one of many new refugee shelters set up across Germany since more than one million asylum seekers from Syria Afghanistan and elsewhere arrived in Europe's top economy last year The record influx has sparked a xenophobic backlash from which far-right parties The party scored 10 percent of the vote in 6 March municipal elections in Buedingen and in nearby Altenstadt The NPD's Hesse state chief Jean Christoph Fiedler called the rescue effort "apparently a very good humane act," adding that Jagsch himself could not clearly remember the accident Germany's constitutional court is currently considering a parliamentary request to ban Jagsch's party which Chancellor Angela Merkel's office has labelled an "anti-democratic anti-Semitic and anti-constitutional party" "Now the foreigners are even taking away our first aid," quipped one user on Facebook while another commented that "destiny has a sense of humour" Copyright © 2014 - 2025. Middle East Eye Only England and Wales jurisdiction apply in all legal matters Middle East Eye          ISSN 2634-2456                      Sofie comes from a family of famous antique dealers and their residence has served as a magical setting for von Buedingen “Their whole house is decorated in a very unique and tasteful way,” the artist says “Every piece of furniture or picture on the wall has a history to tell.” Sofie herself spends her time with friends and her boyfriend and she helps out at home; she likes painting and music Von Buedingen says,  “Like almost every young woman she dreams of a great romantic love.” The farm where Sofie grew up has a long and storied past but von Buedingen’s work is as much about her future as it is about her childhood despite the many enchanting hours they shared in the yard von Buedingen’s most powerful memory of their time together actually took place in the big city and he admitted that no one had ever asked about his life “I feel that Sofie’s question was worth more to him than the money he had asked for,” the photographer tells me finds it difficult to speak,” von Buedingen says “I wish she could express in words all that she feels and thinks there is a slightly guarded attitude towards people with DS.” In introducing the world to Sofie she hopes to foster a sense of connection and recognition “I wanted to show that she has the same feelings the collaboration has been a joyful process Sofie said simply, “This is a dream.” The photographer admits and I will continue to take photos of her as long as I can.” You can see Meeting Sofie at the Stadtmuseum in Cologne this spring and on the artist’s website www.vonbuedingen.com and follow von Buedingen on Instagram at @snezhana_von_buedingen Von Büdingen is originally from Perm (Russia) where she lived for twenty years before moving to Germany After completing her studies in communication management she came to study at the Fotoakademie Köln to pursue her interest in photography That was the time when she came into contact with people from different cultures who have different culture-specific views of life and characters “This encounter was very fascinating for me as well as the stories about different people I had a chance to meet in the form of photography,” Von Büdingen says What did you hope to achieve with these works What advice would you give to those thinking of entering their work into the Sony World Photography Awards I find it important to express your personal genuine view of what you are "narrating" and to be able to present it in a visually appealing way Even if a certain topic has already been widely covered in photography there is still a different view on the matter It could be perhaps new or previously unobserved aspects or perspectives of the theme It can make the viewer look at things or events from a different angle I think that such series catch the interest of the jury members At the moment I am working on a photo book about a girl with Down’s syndrome named Sofie For more than a year I've been meeting Sofie and taking photographs that give the insight into her life I am trying to convey to the viewer the feel of her very nature vonbuedingen.com Amy Ness begins early work on her mural in The Alley Monday morning Nong von Buedingen paints the "w" in down on her mural in The Alley Monday morning People visiting The Alley will soon see more color on the way to their destination Five artists are painting sidewalk murals near storm drains as part of a contest organized by the Aiken County Soil and Water Conservation District The contest aims to raise awareness about the connection between storm drains and local waterways Most storm water management systems are designed to take rainwater and move it from streets and roadways into creeks and rivers anything placed in storm drains other than rain can impact the animals that live downstream Three artists were painting murals Monday morning was painting near The Alley's entrance on Newberry Street She said she had participated in a similar contest in Augusta and liked doing it so when the Aiken contest came up Her design featured two children and a beagle playing in the rain above water filling a storm drain which was above a turtle The words "Only rain down the drain" are also featured Amy Ness was painting near entrance to The Alley on Laurens Street Joya Jimenez-DiStefano was painting on the Laurens Street side but closer to the center of The Alley Ness said she didn't think of the art as a contest but as an opportunity to give back to the community Jimenez-DiStefano's design featured children and animals to let people know of the need to protect the environment for the next generation district manager of the water and soil conservation district said Denise Spacek finished painting her area Thursday She added a South Aiken High School student would be painting at a later date Spacek's design features a sea turtle on a blue background with the words "Don't pollute our waterways!" above the turtle Her design is located just outside The Alley on Newberry Street The winner of the contest is expected to be announced at an Aiken City Council meeting in May Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: valentinasinis.com But nowhere is it more prevalent than in societies where foundational values are still completely patriarchal Broken Princess is the story of women in Iraqi Kurdistan who tried to escape – and protest – domestic violence by setting themselves on fire While suicide is far from an uncommon choice for women the question of why Iraqi Kurdistan women would choose the pain and devastation of self-immolation is what compelled me to investigate the phenomenon Fire has a historical and cultural meaning for Kurdish people: it means light Kurdish women express their love by saying “I burn myself for you!”; the ultimate indicator of dedication and loyalty the women escape a life that traps them in an oppressive society with no economic or social independence But not all of them succeed in killing themselves Those who survive are left with terrible physical scars and possibly even more painful psychological ones: with little support or visibility they find themselves in a place that is worse are portrayed across the media as a symbol of feminist progressiveness But for those who are not on the frontline Self-immolation has become so common that men who want to get rid of their wives are known to set fire to them Broken Princess explores these women’s lives illuminated by factual evidence and context The end result I hope for is that the work acts as a catalyst to provide better opportunities and conditions for women — which will require a joint effort from Kurdish society and international professionals I have also started gathering key figures who can help train the survivors in new skills and build a safe space for them to recover and regain hope This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page A community celebrating Black voices Aiken Mayor Rick Osbon and members of the Aiken Soil and Water Conservation District staff and board of director present Nong Von Buedingen with a check for winning the district's mural contest The Aiken Municipal Development Commission will be dissolved by June 1 and its assets will return to the city of Aiken The Aiken City Council voted 6-0 Monday evening to approve the second and final reading of an ordinance dissolving the Aiken Municipal Development Commission and deleting Chapter 11 (Title: Aiken Municipal Development Commission) from the city code Mayor Pro Tempore Ed Woltz did not attend the meeting Monday Andrea Gregory made the motion to approve the ordinance Newberry Hall and the former Jackson Petroleum property The vote Monday ends a multi-month effort to transfer the AMDC properties to city control The effort began on March 13 when the council met as the AMDC and voted to delay transferring properties after allegations of conflicts of interest were made the city council met and voted to approve the first reading of the AMDC dissolution ordinance the city council voted to continue consideration of the second and final reading of the ordinance to allow City Attorney Gary Smith to request an informal opinion from the South Carolina Ethics Commission as to whether four council members needed to recuse themselves from voting on the ordinance Mayor Rick Osbon and City Council members Lessie Price and Gail Diggs said April 26 none of the four council members needed to recuse themselves from voting on the ordinance she said Osbon and Woltz wouldn't receive economic benefits if the properties changed hands and Price and Diggs didn't have a conflict because they had resigned from the Aiken Corporation board it is the opinion of Commission staff that the four Council Members are permitted to vote on the proposed ordinance," Laster said The council also voted to approve the second and final readings of ordinances:  from light industrial to general business;  from limited professional to residential multifamily low density to allow for the construction of a single-family home;  • Annexing and zoning a single-family home on Two Notch Road; and • Granting an easement to Bear Mountain LLC across a city-owned property in Verenes Industrial Park The council also approved the first reading of three budget-related ordinances: setting the millage rate for the 2023-2024 fiscal year (it's staying at 60 mills) establishing new water and sewer rates (rates are increasing by around 7% to partially fund a new water treatment plant) and approving the 2023-2024 budget The budget ordinances will return to the council agenda in early June as state law requires a minimum of 30 days between readings of budget ordinances The council also approved resolutions approving the purchase of a property near Oak Grove Road from Manchester Family LLC and accepting two sewer easements and the reappointments of Tara Bostwick and Deborah Taussig-Boehner to the Equine Commission and Tina McCarthy to the Accommodations Tax Committee The council recognized Nong Von Buedingen, known professionally as Nong Von B, for winning the Aiken Soil and Water Conservation District storm drain mural contest