Galina, don’t be skeptical about your wishes and dreams! They are like seeds thrown in soil and waiting for time to sprout and blossom.
Thus I cheered myself up going along one of Vienna streets, and gusts of cold wind threw raindrops in my face. As alien I peeped in luminous shop windows, observing Christmas candles and  people in their purchase amok. For me – solo as I was, Christmas meant only a few additional days of aggravated solitude.
I didn’t manage well, besides arrival of accommodation welfare was delayed for two months. (more…)

Whenever I look out of window, and see a piece of blue sky, roofs with black dots of crows at antennas, and hear distant lulling clang of tram, I feel piece and sweet anticipation of new rendezvous with Vienna. I go out and gaze at surrounding curious subjects as newly born soul and wish I would walk forever and lose myself in the city, where every street is terra incognita and deja vu. But if I dwell not in parks or secluded suburban streets, but move to the center, where heart of the city beats, very soon tiredness and gloomy indifference go down as fog at me. It is monotony, that saddens me. As many other cities of the world, Vienna central streets are there mostly for shops and cafes.
Accepting my destiny of frustrated pedestrian, und would enter all boutiques that will come my way, one by one, responding to appealing grace of mannequins in shop windows. (more…)

Deep in my sad thoughts, I awaked to notice an African middle-aged woman sitting at secluded bus stop bench and talking to herself. There was nobody around. Apparently woman was delirious and argued with voices in her head. Perhaps, her problems were imaginary, but her fierce emotions, her rage were quite real. If she spoke German, I would not slow my pace to listen to her. But she spoke African English. I came up to her and asked whom she was talking to. She instantly looked at me with eyes, red from suppressed anger, but unclouded, and replied:

- I am talking to God.

Chef of styrian social-democrats is for coalition with ÖVP
Styrian SPÖ Governor Franz Voves has spoken up in support of governing coalition with the ÖVP.
Voves said: “I was and I am a supporter of this coalition. I think that it is the best solution for the next five-ten years.”
Franz Voves – former ice-hockey national team player refused to comment on whether the SPÖ should continue such cooperation in case it fails to receive the most votes in the 28 September election. Voves dismissed talk about possible election outcomes as mere speculation at the moment. In contrast to some other SPÖ leaders, the 55-year-old Voves stressed the point that he would not exclude any party from talks about a possible coalition. Voves expects that the SPÖ will be number one on 28 September due to new SPÖ leader Werner Faymann, which has beén “fantastic” in Styria.Austrian Times.
Russian _Съёмка Вернера Файмана
Shooting with social-democrats leader Werner Faymann
Вначале я ринулась на пресс-конференцию „зелёных“, где оказалась единственным фотографом. Все репортёры караулили у дверей штаб-квартиры социалистов, когда появится Файман.
Лидер „зелёных“ – симпатичный пожилой дяденька в красной кофточке. Рядом восседает его соратник и партийный активист, которого я видела на манифестации „голубых“. (more…)

Emigration creates stressful limit-situations when person loses his identification:work, friends, relatives, property, language, life and career prospects. Can you stand this collapse of identifications?
- Being 47, I must run around in Vienna as homeless dog looking for institutions, who would approve what I am doing. Feeling lucky to sell photo to newspaper once in season for 30 euros!
-You old enough to do what you consider right. Create your own newspaper!
- You are mad. I have nothing to cover my ass
- One doesn’t need much money to create electronic version (more…)

Nobody really knows, why the bird sings. Maybe because of joy.
Street photography which depicts recognizable faces can survive only on pages of private blogs
Blogs which bring to author nothing except two-three duty comments and tons of spam
To go on like that photographer must be bird
Who sings because of pure joy and does not bother herself about value and purpose of her singing

Nothing changes in life quickly, but day after day, I grow more and more dissatisfied with possibilities Nikon D200 provides for shooting indoors. Sometimes I feel completely desperate looking through dark and unclear shots I made in cafe. From one side big professional camera can not suit spy and voyeuristic tendencies I have, from the other side small camera compromises quality especially in poor light conditions. After 7 months of my lonely life in Vienna and some disappointing meetings in WAFF, organizations and newspapers I become less optimistic about my professional journalistic future in Austria. This country has very good social security system, that reduces earning and career possibilities for freelancers. Austrians value stability and security, that often compromises originality, initiation and enterprise. Unless you are not included in social system, you cannot survive. When you are included, you have boring work and one topic that you constantly discuss with your colleagues is how many years you need yet to reach commonly desirable pension age (more…)

Every day I discover something new for myself in Photoshop, for example, duo and triple color function, which I used processing this collage. This is portrait of Robert Sommer, chef editor of Austrian street newspaper 2Augustin” and one of newspaper distributers, diablled person standing at the corner at Mariahilfer Strasse. It seems, people tend to be kind more to the invalids and disabled. I always see one beggar in main street, who has obvious signs of had been ill with lepra, how it is described in novels, may be it was many years ago. And he always manages to touch heart of people passing by.