I Shall Not Be Moved

It is not known who wrote the song and when, only that the lyrics stretch back to the slave era. It later became a song used for labour and civil rights movements, for resistance in general (via).

::: Ella Fitzgerald: I Shall Not Be Moved: LISTEN 

::: Johnny Cash: I Shall Not Be Moved: LISTEN

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Glory hallelujah, I shall not be moved 

Anchored in Jehovah, I shall not be moved 

Just like the tree that's planted by the waters 

I shall not be moved 

In His love abiding, I shall not be moved 

And in Him confiding, I shall not be moved 

Just like the tree that's planted by the water 

I shall not be moved  

I shall not be, I shall not be moved 

I shall not be, I shall not be moved 

Just like the tree that's planted by the waters 

I shall not be moved 

Though all Hell assail me, I shall not be moved 

Jesus will not fail me, I shall not be moved 

Just like the tree that's planted by the water 

I shall not be moved  

Though the tempest rages, I shall not be moved 

On the rock of ages, I shall not be moved 

Just like the tree that's planted by the water 

I shall not be moved 

I shall not be, I shall not be moved 

I shall not be, I shall not be moved 

Just like the tree that's planted by the water 

I shall not be moved 

I shall not be, I shall not be moved 

I shall not be, I shall not be moved 

Just like the tree that's planted by the water 

I shall not be moved  

lyrics via

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photographs of the amazing Ella Fitzgerald (Empire Room at Waldorf Astoria Hotel, N.Y., 30 March 1971, AP Photo/Ron Frehm) via and via 

Celebrating Eight Years. A Party "Werner Herzog Style".

'I like to party, if by "party" you mean sitting alone in a darkened room contemplating the futility of human existence.' 

Werner Herzog

An "interesting" year has passed. Many people suffered from the symptoms of the virus, many died, many got insane and turned to conspiracy theories ... the pandemic was launched by Asians, by gays, by the Jewish, by non-Christians, by foreigners, lizards are coming ... When beds become scarce, we are willing to sacrfice the old, the disabled as if it were the most natural thing and no discussion follows. Half of the people lost forever were in retirement homes. Surely more could have been done to prevent their deaths but societies couldn't care less. Because age is not part of the diversity discussion. And if people die in other countries, it is because these "others" don't have such an advanced health system as "we" do.

This pandemic surely showed us our approach to diversity, the bias there is, the prejudices, the discrimination. It showed us who has the power to at least turn something into a discussion and who doesn't. Let's celebrate, nevertheless, and hope that in autum we will be smarter. I wish you all the sunshine there is, health, happiness ... and would like to thank you, again, for (still) following this blog. Thank you and stay healthy!

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photograph (c) by MLM

Forced to Retire

Manuel Gräfe is planning to sue the German Football Association for age discrimination. When he turned 47 in the last season, he was no longer allowed to continue to work as a referee despite being in shape, good performances and enjoying his job. Gräfe points out that the German Football Associaton states to stand up for diversity and to fight racism and discrimination but is at the same time keeping up the age limit. 

In the Netherlands, the age limit was abolished about twenty years ago (via), FIFA announced to eliminate age limits for international referees in 2014 (via and via), the Scottish Football Association made the announcement in 2012 (via). 

"We have seen examples elsewhere of match officials maintaining standards beyond the previous cut-off of 47 and it will be a major benefit to us in Scotland." John Fleming, SFA's head of referee development

"The retirement age of a referee was 48 back in 2000, but today, luckily, we don't have an age limit." Mike Dean, Premier League referee

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photograph (PA Archive/Press Association Ima), 1963 via

LSD Abuse and Gender

Men are more likely to abuse LSD; higher drug use rates are found among males across all ages. According to a study carried out in the U.S. in 2010, the rate of lifetime psychodelic drug abuse was 22% among males and 12% among females. One reason mentioned in literature is that economic downturns and the associated feelings of hopelessness and frustration may lead to increases in substance abuse with men trying to find a way to escape after losing or leaving a job (via). For short-term and long-term effects see e.g. HERE.



photograph by Gil Rigoulet via

Wee Muckers. By Toby Binder.

»If I had been born at the top of my street, behind the corrugated-iron border, I would have been British. Incredible to think. My whole idea of myself, the attachments made to a culture, heritage, religion, nationalism and politics are all an accident of birth. I was one street away from being born my ‘enemy’.«
Paul McVeigh, Belfast-born writer



"Photographer Toby Binder has been documenting the daily life of teenagers in British working-class communities for more than a decade. After the Brexit referendum he focused his work on Belfast in Northern Ireland. There is a serious concern that Brexit will threaten the Peace Agreement of 1998 that ended the armed conflict between Protestant Unionists and Catholic Nationalists who live in homogeneous neighborhoods that are divided by walls till today. Old conflicts may recur, compromising the youth’s future prospects on both communities. Nevertheless, being underage, most teenagers were not allowed to vote in the referendum. Problems they struggle with are similar – no matter which side of the “Peace Walls” they live on. And whatever the effects of Brexit will be, it‘s very likely that they will strike especially young people from both communities." (via)




photographs by Toby Binder via

"(...) your experience is expressed in your face, what's wrong with that?"

'What’s wrong with a few wrinkles? What are you trying to be? It’s a dreadful sort of ego and arrogance to think 'All that’s wrong with me is I need a little tuck here and I’ll be back to what I was.' Your experience makes you older and if your experience is expressed in your face, what’s wrong with that?'. 

Ian McKellen

photograph of Sir Ian McKellen     via

Mädchenland. By Karolin Klüppel.

"In the state of Meghalaya in India, the indigenous people of the Khasi with 1,1 million members form the majority of the population. The Khasi are a matrilineal society. Here, traditionally it is the girls who are of particularly importance and who play an exposed role in the family. The line of succession passes through the youngest daughter. If she marries, her husband is taken into her family‘s house, and the children take their mother‘s name.



A family with just sons is considered unlucky, because only daughters can assure the continuity of a clan. The succession after maternal line guarantees girls and women in Meghalaya a unique economic and social independence compared to general indian conditions.



To disrespect a woman in the Khasi culture means to harm the society.



Between 2013 and 2015 I spent ten months in the khasivillage of Mawlynnong in north-east India, a village of just 95 dwellings. In this series I concentrate on the girls themselves in contextualizing them in their everyday physical environment through a sensitive balance between documentation and composition."
Karolin Klüppel



photographs via

"Out of it?" Old Age and Photographic Portraiture

Abstract: The essay examines representations of old age in photographic portraiture, focusing on works by such prominent American photographers of the last few decades as Nicholas Nixon, Richard Avedon, and Fazal Sheikh. It shows how the new aging studies, in conjunction with critical photo-history, critique American images of aging as narratives of mere decline. Visual culture, these scholars point out, conflates self and appearance, makes youth a fetish, marginalizes the old, and thus plays an important role in a much larger social and cultural devaluation of old age.



This essay questions this assumption, arguing that the camera's gaze doesn't necessarily identify the old as confused and in decline. Close readings of photographic images and series demonstrate how photographers like Avedon or Sheikh have created less constricting, more flexible representations of the old that transcend the problematic nature of the normative gaze. (Ribbat, 2011)

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- Ribbat, C. (2011). "Out of it?" Old Age and Photographic Portraiture. Amerikastudien/American Studies, 56(1), 67-84.
- photograph by Gil Rigoulet (1970s) via

War is not healthy for children and other living things

According to "Save the Children" estimations, every day, about 300 babies die worldwide due to the effects of war, including indirect effects such as hunger, denial of aid, poor sanitation. In 2017, 420 million children were living in conflict zones (via and via). 

In the past ten years, in Syria alone, one child was injured or killed every eight hours, in other words, 12.000 since 2011 (via). The countries hit the hardest are Afghanistan, Yemen, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, Iraq, Mali, Nigeria, and Somalia. Often, children who survive are targetet to become children soldiers or suicide bombers (via). This year, more than two million Yemeni children are expected to suffer extreme malnutrition, 400.000 of them are likely to starve to death (via).

photographs of the amazing Vanessa Redgrave via and via

Macnamara: Origin and Character of the British People (1900)

Macnamara justified British superiority over Germans by pointing out the heritage of ethnic mixture: so-called Teutonic (Nordic), Iberian (Mediterranean), Mongolian (Alpine) qualities, a mix that made sure the Anglo-Saxons were flexible and avoided any religious or socio-political extremism ... things that might be difficult to achieve by the pure Teuton, he said (Bertolette, 2004). Here some stereotypical features of the "Iberian", "Mongoloid", and "Teutonic"..

Iberian: chivalrous, courteous, patriotic, impulsive, ostentatious, proud, musical, cruel, passionate, revengeful, unreliable

Mongoloid: religious, peace-loving, imaginative, sensitive, artistic, hosptable, indolent, unstable, lacking individuality

Teutonic: self-reliant, self-respecting, reliable, patriotic, ordely, freedom-loving, laborious, slow, persevering, courageous, warlike, enterprising, domineering

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- Bertolette, W. F. (2004). German stereotypes in British magazines prior to World War I. Master's Thesis: Louisiana State University, link
- Macnamara, N. C. (1900). Origin and Character of the British People. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- photograph by Tony Ray-Jones (May Day celebrations, 1967) via