O

ne evening, I grabbed my camera and drove off … From then on, it was time for me to do what I really loved. Photography !

Weeks before and up until that very evening, I had been working hard to give up my carpentry business. My existence had been torn from under my feet.

I packed a few things and got into my car to start my new life. My inspiration was to live on our planet.

T

hat is exactly what I had wanted to capture with my camera At the time, I really didn’t know why this journey should begin in Hamburg. Did I have some kind intuition? Today, I know. The experiences I had in Hamburg made me strong and were incredibly important for my future path.

e

vening, I found myself in the car driving into an uncertain future. And yet, with every meter, I became more aware that this was the most important decision of my life. At that time I had millions of doubts and fears about the future that I had to face. But this feeling of having set out, to do what I love from a pure heart, felt like I was „on the way to the love of my life“.

A

whole time on the Trip I listened to very loud music. I sang, I screamed, I cried,… cried tears of joy to finally have freed myself from „social life“. It felt incredibly good to have taken this step. I think, for those last few years I had forgotten what it felt like to really look forward to doing something from my heart.

It was 3 a.m. when I reached Hamburg.

I was now somewhere between „Altona and Blankenese“… giving up my old life in the middle of the night, in a new city, where I didn’t know anyone. My backpack was filled with millions of doubts and emotions. But, I had my camera and a dream !

While I was sitting there on a bench with a clear view of the Elbe and the harbor, I felt like „I was home“. It was amazing. Exhausted but „arrived“!! I stayed there for about 1 hour, and looked and dreamed a bit before I decided to sleep in the car somewhere at the old „fish market“.

I was happy and fell asleep. Good night Hamburg.

At 5:30 in the morning, I was awakened to a new chapter in my life with gentle rays of sunshine. I looked out and could hardly believe how incredibly beautiful that morning was. Ok, I thought, you are now here in Hamburg, you have taken the first steps to making it in New York one day… Slept enough.

N

ow it was time to leave. I grabbed my “Ahoi Hamburg” bag, packed my camera and set off on my way. I had the perfect soundtrack on my headphones that morning, „Summer in the City“ by Joe Cocker. Music is my second passion. The fact is, I always listen music while taking photos. I need this emotional connection. My pictures are always accompanied by music.

H

is song wasn’t a coincidence. I don’t believe in coincidence. Within the first few meters, I strongly felt that that day was a very special one in my life. When I saw the first pictures in combination with the song on the display, I couldn’t be stopped. I felt like, “ I am supposed to be here today!“ I had never seen Hamburg, still asleep, so beautiful and quiet. The city slept and it was nice to watch her. My heartbeat was in tune with the pulse of the city. Incredible … „Thank you for this welcome“

w

asn’t until later that I realized that “Andreas Feininger” must have felt similar when he made his first recordings in New York City. I don’t know why, but it felt like I was in New York on this amazing morning. I’ve seen some of Andreas’s exhibitions and I think he was incredibly ahead of his time in photography. His revolutionary recordings from New York inspired me to continue on my way. To wake up and realize that I’m not dreaming, I needed a good coffee. The first recordings for this series were taken at the „Landungsbrücken“.

Y

es, I had to remember to breathe when I saw this light. I love to sit on a „Poller“ and forget the world around me. It´s so very comforting to watch the ships leave and dream of the distance. I think wanderlust is one of our basic instincts. I was out and about with my camera every day for about 2, 5 months in Hamburg. The first day in Hamburg, is anchored in my heart, and so far the first chapter of this story.

These pictures from the series „SUMMER IN THE CITY“ are my declaration of love to the city of Hamburg.

Ahoy, Frank Zabel

A

River Moves my TIME…

I left pretty early Hamburg and found it really nice that it was only about 85 km to the Baltic Sea. I was so happy while driving that I listened to music as loud as I could for joy. Next exit Camp. I had my tent with me just in case, so I stopped at a small campsite shortly after the departure. There I booked a place and set up the tent and then went to the Baltic Sea for the first time in my life.

When I arrived at the beach I bought a beer and sat down in the sand. What an unforgettable moment. At that moment all the people and the hustle and bustle of the city of Hamburg were forgotten. I felt settled and seriously considered just staying.

I

I think I sat there for about two hours before going to get a BBQ. I found one with sausages and was back at my tent the happiest person in the world. It was this feeling, a feeling of freedom somehow… It’s funny, I didn’t need almost anything for this but me, a grill and the sea. In the evening I went to the beach again, where my emotions overwhelmed me and I was very sad. Then I went to bed early to photograph a sunrise at the Baltic Sea for the first time in my life the next morning.

T

hen the next morning the night was over for me at 3.30 a.m. I got up to be sure to catch the sunrise. The beach was only about 800 m from the campsite and I enjoyed so much going to the beach alone that morning. That sunrise was beautiful but nothing compared to the sunrise this story is about. That morning I took some pictures that touched me emotionally but not photographically. I stayed another night at the campsite and drove to Travemünde.

A

t that point I didn’t know that Travemünde would be my home port for the next two years. When I arrived in Travemünde, I looked for a printer so that I could print some pictures for an overview. I found a printer. This print shop became a very important place for me as I made real friends there for a while. The manager was not in that day, but I was asked to come back with my pictures in the afternoon so that the boss could talk to me. This special person is still very important to me today. I told him a short part of my story and also that I was currently homeless. Even though we didn’t know each other, he immediately offered me the chance to sleep in his print shop that night. I am so infinitely grateful that I cannot put into words how great this gesture still affects me today. Without him, I would never have photographed this next morning and the sunrise of my life. THANKS!

I slept late and about two hours on the floor of the printing shop until the new day began to dawn. I couldn’t sleep any longer so I packed my stuff and headed towards the beach. Everyone was still asleep and it was a wonderful morning. I felt that this would be a very special one in my life. I walked along the pier and already saw the reflections of the sunlight on the yachts lying there in the harbor. Then a W.O.W moment when the first ferry drove into the Trave. The whole ship lights up PURPLE on the port side. I just thought …. YESSS that will be a great sunrise. I walked faster so as not to miss this special moment. Arriving at the beach it looked as if the windows of a hotel were on fire, so strong were the reflectors of light. When I got to the beach, I took off my shoes. The sky was on fire and I ran. I looked at the horizon and saw this cloud that was horizontal and parallel to the horizon… What a breathtaking moment. I could hardly believe it and couldn’t wait for the sun to finally show itself.

I

quickly found the right camera setting and took pictures like I was in a trance. Then it was time, I had been waiting for this moment for so long. The sun disappeared behind this stunning cloud for a few minutes to then go further. Speechless and totally inspired, I took a few shots until the sun was fully visible over the cloud again. The warm sand under my feet and the feeling of happiness completely overwhelmed me. I just wanted to stop. I had felt how small I was standing there as a human being and how important this celestial body was for the whole earth.

I

put the camera on the sand and dropped to my knees to roll a cigarette. At that moment, however, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something large fly past me from the side. I grabbed the camera and made a swivel in which the camera triggered three times…. There was no time to look through the shutter. I could hardly believe my eyes when I registered that it was a swan.

I

celebrated this unforgettable moment so much and only thought of three words – MEHR GEHT NICHT.

T

his exhibition is very important to me. I believe that it is incredibly beautiful when I imagine that you dear people experience this sunrise exactly as I was allowed to experience it. If this sunrise changes you just like me and maybe you get an awareness of how enormously beautiful our planet and especially our sun can be…

„WELCOME HUMANS“

Frank Zabel 2023

I

NTUITION IS ALWAYS LOVE…

Overall, I experienced very nice moments in Travemünde. However, I felt within myself that it was time to continue my journey. I quickly gave up my apartment, gave away almost everything I owned and bought a train ticket to Hungary. Why Hungary ? I’d be happy to explain it to you.

I always follow my intuition.

During my stay in Travemünde, I had a neighbor who was around 80 years old. This dear neighbor was very nice and used to be a professional boxer in the DDR. I looked after him every now and then and we also liked to have a drink together in the evening. On one of these joyful evenings, he told me that he had left a house and land to his son in Hungary. He had bought this house there and rebuilt it himself for his beloved son. He always liked to tell me stories about Hungary, that it was beautiful and cheap and also that the people there were great.His greatest wish was to live there in old age He made me so curious about this country that at some point I couldn’t resist anymore At least I can take a look at it on Google Earth. But then something happened that I never expected… For some time now, I also really enjoy painting. I think it was the fourth painting I ever seriously painted in my life. With this picture, “Body of Conflict”, I dealt with my personal losses and the resulting pain. However, for me this painting should be more than just a picture!(Body of Conflict)

W

hen I saw the map and outline of this country on Google, I could hardly believe my eyes. The picture I painted a few days earlier was hanging on the wall in my living room above my TV. What I saw was another sign on my very special and spiritual path, In that moment, I was deeply enlightened and completely confident. My picture had the same contours as the country of Hungary on the map. And I want to live in the center of the heart. WOW! I suddenly realized that I had to get there as quickly as possible…!

W

ith the train ticket in my pocket i set off towards Balaton, yet again homeless and only following my intuition. I spent the last night before the start of my trip with my dear friend and then took the first train at 5:10 a.m. via Hamburg to Hungary… HH-Munich-Austria-Hungary. In total, I was on the train for about 12.5 hours until I crossed the border.

S

omewhere in the middle of nowhere I stood there, in the middle of the night in a foreign country, at a strange and very old train station, which seemed completely surreal to me. I was only able to buy a ticket from the DB until shortly after the Hungarian border, so I had to buy another one from the north of the country to the south towards Balaton at the counter at this train station. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a single forint, the Hungarian currency, with me at the time. I had euros, but I couldn’t use them to buy a ticket for the further journey because only forints were accepted in Hungary. I needed forint to even continue the journey. my train left in 20 minutes…and I thought “yeah GREAT!”

But now another moment when I felt that I was on the right path… I believed in everything but not that in the middle of the night there was a drugstore (DM) open in this train station where I could actually pay with euros and get forint back in exchange. Thank God… Now all that was left was for the train to come. He came, but I will never forget that train ride. I have never taken a train in Hungary before and could not have imagined that in the middle of the night in the middle of Europe the train driver would stop the train to change the switches by hand. Sometimes there was a guard, but he had to be woken up first… But I had already been on the road for 16 hours and just wanted to get there. After several switches and changes of direction, after an 18.5 hour train ride, I finally arrived at the station where I wanted to be…

I

was at Balaton. Before my trip, I contacted someone on Facebook who had made his house in Hungary available for this purpose in the Holiday Against Hand group.As it turned out later, I was not alone in this house. A family with a total of 4 children also lived there on vacation.The family was great and came from Austria. The youngest children (twins) were less than 1 year old.The father of the family picked me up at the train station in his motorhome on this freezing cold night. Crazy and unusual situation for me but very cool somehow. We drove towards Nemesded, there was the house.

T

he people in Hungary are incredibly warm and even in the neighborhoods where you might think at first glance “Well, I’d better not go through there” there were no problems at all for me during my stay of over 2.5 months. Quite the opposite. One day I was looking at the surrounding vineyards. And while I was walking around there, I was invited by two great and warm elderly people to their modest hut at their winery to happily drink wine straight from the barrel. They were both very funny and we had a lot of fun there. The whole situation with the two of them totally reminded me of the film from my childhood “Louis de Funès and the Cabbages” After our little drink, the two of them filled me a 1.5 liter PET bottle of their fine wine for the way home from their oak barrel „On the go“ ^^…At this point I would like to thank you again for your incredible love for people and your warmth. By the way, the wine was one of the absolute best I’ve ever drunk. Kind regards to you (PHOTO) The beloved Two

D

uring this time in Hungary, I had a lot of space to think. To develop myself further, to work on myself. I read a lot, including the book “The Principle,” which helped me a lot. I was able to process a lot, not least through lovely conversations and evenings that we all spent in this house.Everything was very helpful for me and my development. By the way, both parents of this lovely family are first-class chefs! Thank you for the great meal, thank you for you and your love.During my stay I worked on the house as best I could. I’m plastering a ledge on the outside wall of the house. Overall, my stay there gave me an incredible amount and, above all, made me curious. I wanted to live like this in the future… with little without everything a simple life… maybe grow wine Who knows, maybe one day…

A

fter a stay of 2.5 months, it was clear to me that I wanted to travel back to Germany for a short time. I drove back across the border to Nuremberg with a German neighbor who also owns a house in Hungary, where he dropped me off at the train station. From there I took the train back towards Germany.

„The trip to Hungary“

Frank Zabel 2024