The next morning we awoke to explore these scenes again. A few hours later, the same still square was filled with activity. It is in moments like these that I feel connected to the present moment. I love to stand amidst these backdrops and observe life in a new frame of mind. Outside of myself and anything I could have imagined, yet part of the moment through sight. With my camera I can interact with the foreign landscape, making it feel familiar.

We’d intended to spend more time backstage before this final concert than the previous show’s we’d been to, since our goal in this trip was to come away with the kind of behind-the-scenes shots we could imagine. The day exploring Brussels didn’t exactly go to plan, however, in part due to our peaked interest in the city. We always find antique and junk shops about the time we should be returning from the streets. In Spain last May we found garage and lot sales in the small towns on our way back to the airport and returned home with entirely new pieces of baggage. Its always strange things that we find at the last minute, and though in Brussels we weren’t against the deadline of a car rental or flight, we still managed to find a few items that most people wouldn’t consider returning home with, and we packed these items quickly in order to make it to the venue in time.

The last show of the tour proved to be incredible. The energy backstage was celebratory and being in the midst of it was a unique moment in my career as a photographer. Seeing the excitement that the bands possessed for their music and how the fans responded was inspiring. Mumford & Sons performed a flawless show and Old Crow Medicine Show joined them for an encore to conclude the European fall tour. After the show, the music did not stop, as the bands continued to jam with old time fiddle tunes, led by Odessa. As an artist, I love witnessing an impromptu performance because the images that I can capture are so special. These are the moments that I will return to for years as being the most meaningful. It was also Ben’s birthday which produced a champagne toast followed by more celebration followed by a rousing walk across the street to small Belgian bar. The space was just big enough for the group, making the drinks and conversations more intimate. Cheers to once in a lifetime experiences and the opportunity to share them with friends.

On recommendation from several people during our travels, we averted the last day and a half of our time together away from Brussels and Amsterdam towards the small town of Brugge, in the Flemish countryside closer to the ocean. Brugge is the best preserved medieval town in western Europe, so I’m told. I would believe it. The town center is surrounded most of the way around by an actual moat, with well preserved guard towers at each bridge. The streets and buildings, if you can ignore the tourists, have the ability to transport you back any number of years. The locals we had the pleasure of interacting with had a classic old European sense to them, speaking of the same regional rivalries that created the continent’s diversity over the last millennium.

We were enthralled by the cathedrals, the monastery, the swans, the canals, the houseboats, and the glimpses of peoples lives we could see through classic windows. At times we had to be quick about it, however, because by this time, our traveling companions, Gill and Odessa, had proven to explore our surroundings at a quicker pace than our own. Our time in Brugge was throroughly enjoyed before we made the evening drive back to Amsterdam where I (Amos) had to fly out of the next morning.

The drive to Berlin was a bit of a long journey, approximately 7 hours drive across the country of Germany. We’d been initially excited about drives through the country but realized once we got there that the autobahn and its upwards of 160 km/h speeds was almost a necessity to getting there on time. Furthermore the sky was cloudy and a dropped rain on us here and there.

The Berlin venue was less breathtaking as building but the music was equally as energized. Into the night, after all the music was over we found ourselves in the group of musicians and friends walking from bar to bar looking for a place to enjoy the second-to-last day on the tour before. This night was different than the previous since the next day would be a final day off before a final concert in Brussels.

The second day in Berlin we had planned to use exploring city shortly before speeding back to Belgium. Gill’s connection with a local harmonica player became a 6 hour walking tour, which could not have gotten any better. One of the greatest things was the peculiarities about the neighborhoods of the arts district we walked through in the middle of the night before, recognizing and remembering them the next day when we found ourselves at In Mai, a small café on the same street on which Marco, our guide, himself lived. So much about Berlin itself seemed to shrink into the manageable palms of our hands due to the connection we’d found to that section of the city.

Gill, of course, had stayed behind while the tour vans left so he could tour the city and catch a ride back to Belgium with us. I (Amos) considered it to be one of the best idea of the day, because it allowed me not to be the only driver on the long journey back west. We’ll write more on our time in Belgium in a few days.

Canon AE-1 35mm, Kodak Portra 400nc

Canon AE-1 35mm, Kodak Portra 400nc

Cologne Cathedral

Canon AE-1, Ilford Delta 3200

Cologne Cathedral. Hasselblad 500c/m, Kodak Portra 400nc

Canon AE-1 35mm, Kodak Portra 400nc

Kermit‘s little brother in Berlin

Canon AE-1 35mm, Kodak Portra 400nc

Holocaust Monument, Berlin

Berlin Wall

Odessa and Gill

Canon AE-1 35mm, Kodak Portra 400nc

Canon AE-1 35mm, Ilford Delta 3200

Many many many great typography pieces found at friendsoftype.com.

More images from this shoot can be seen here: www.dartphotographie.com/blog

When Laura stayed at my house in Portland a year ago last month for about three weeks (because she just couldn’t bear to leave) this was one of her parting gifts to me the day she left. We’d spent some time during her visit talking about the complications of this and that, and had shared some of the works of Rilke with each other. This quote from one of his letters to a young poet was and will always be among my favorites.

I hope anyone who’s followed either myself or Laura in the internet world has enjoyed our writing together and the images we posted from our last trip to Europe which took us through Rome, Paris, Barcelona, and the eastern coast of Spain.

I’m happy to announce, if only for the sake of my own excitement, and with no actual purpose in making some form of “public” announcement, that we’re going back for about a weeks worth of time at the end of this month. Actually, we’re leaving a week from now.

In one nutshell, this trip has come about as an new opportunity to collaborate on music, photographic, and lifestyle projects with relatively new friends. We’ll be able to spend a week driving through German countryside and cities capturing an adventure and a music tour behind the scenes on film and video.

In another nutshell, we’ll be trailing part of the European Mumford & Sons + Old Crow Medicine Show tour through Amsterdam, Cologne, Berlin, and Brussels. Quite frankly, we’re excited to go, and even more excited for another chance this year to create experiences and images with amazing people.

We’ll try to post some photos and writings to this blog throughout the week, though we know that it will be so busy, we may not be able to until we return home. Hope you enjoy our European round two.

Some photos from our first trip to Europe: