Vici - impulsive, energetic and helpful [in Explore at June 2, 2023]

I wasn't in Cologne for a long time. In this post-pandemic period now I am once again in this beautiful city on the river Rhine. It goes without saying that my camera will be there and that I want to finally try to get someone for THE HUMAN FAMILY project.

This afternoon I was walking on the right side of the River Rhine, here is a nice, long, large outside staircase and a promenade along the river. Many people were out and about, almost too many. But I noticed a relaxed young couple sitting on a bench enjoying the flair here by the River Rhine, just like me. So, of course, I spoke to them. Here I met Vici and Steve.

The idea, the approach and the thought behind the project fell on fertile ground. Certainly my photos on the smartphone also contributed to this. The only constraint was that Vici and Steve only had limited time as they couldn't miss their train home.

So we started with the photos first. After a few test photos, Vici became relaxed and relaxed and we were able to look forward to some beautiful pictures. We were assisted by Steve, who "operated" the reflector.

Then came the interview, which I try to summarize here:
Vici comes from Munster, a town not so far away from here. Vici is here in Cologne for a day trip. She would describe herself as impulsive, energetic and helpful. In Vici's opinion, "impulsive" can also have negative effects.

What are the three things you can't do without (on a lonely island)?
"These are my family, if I had a partner, then my partner, and a camera to document for me what my everyday life on the island is like."

How have you coped with Corona in the last three years?
Vici: "Well, the beginning of Corona was really difficult for me. Corona was very formative, I was pretty badly ill with Corona myself, it wasn't nice and was a very intensive course. That was exactly the time when I was just 18 and where life actually really begins, you want to take a lot with you, experience and get together experiences. But now in retrospect it wasn't that bad, because you didn't celebrate intensively at that time, but now you are excited about it, what is possible again. Looking back, Covid-19 had positive and negative sides. But now everything is fine, without post-Covid problems."

My question: what does happiness mean to you?
Vici: "Fulfillment, positive energy, peace and being in harmony with yourself: Happiness also means trying to hide the negative so that it doesn't have too much of an impact on you, your character and everyday life in general."

What makes you angry when you walk through your hometown?
Vici: "Generally speaking: narrow-mindedness, a lack of understanding from people, racism, homophobia. None of that has any place in today's time and the current situation." These are things that bother Vici very much.

My question: Do you have any advice/tips for young people your age?
Vici: "Don't let other people influence you (negatively), find yourself. Feel comfortable with yourself, that's the most important thing, be in tune with yourself and make your own decisions, even if not all of them will be right , but you learn from it, it shapes you for the rest of your life."

Vici says: "You tend to learn through bad experiences, because if you've had a lot of bad experiences, then you appreciate the good, beautiful moments all the more. And that's important for appreciating happiness. The enthusiasm for life is what counts ", but this is missing for many. The reason certainly has something to do with social media. There are so many possibilities that one gets bogged down and loses sight of the essentials. Societies always exert influence, both actively and passively. Don't let it affect you too much, you have to decide for yourself.

Social media influences young people both actively and passively. It is important to recognize the limits and not to be influenced too much by the endless number of postings by beautiful young men and women who, through image processing, provide a false role model and an illusion of a make-believe world; an ideal of beauty that does not exist. Unfortunately, all of this has a major impact on young girls and boys.

Social media also has an impact on people's active physical presence. This has already struck Viki negatively.
Being together is strongly influenced by social media, it is much less enjoyed, the mobile phone is always on the table, switched on, you think you always have to be present, someone is always on the mobile phone. The times when you meet somewhere, sit on a blanket and nobody has a mobile phone with you will probably never come back. Such beautiful moments, also with and in nature, are lost."

Viki tries to do things differently, to counteract this; Viki takes care not to be on the cellphone when she meets her friends, because after all she is there for her friends and the cellphone has no place on this occasion.

Our time is slowly running out (keyword: train home). We end our conversation. We exchange our electronic addresses, I thank Vici warmly and we shake hands in farewell. Vici thanks me for speaking to her, she had never experienced that before! Fortunately, we stayed in touch after the encounter. I really enjoyed that. Thank you, Vici.

At this point I would like to sincerely thank Vici again that she and Steve were willing to be part of my photo project and took the time for our little encounter. It was a friendly, relaxed and happy encounter. I was happy to have met you. And I wish Vici and Steve all the best for their future.

This is my 84th post to my project "The Human Family". (Before that I already had 100 interesting encounters in the course of my photo project and the group "100 Strangers") You can find more photos of other photographers in the community "The Human Family" here:
www.flickr.com/groups/thehumanfamily/

Taken in: Germany / Gallic Empire (show map)

Taken on: May 6, 2023

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Canon EOS R5

Canon RF 70-200mm F4 L IS USM « less

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Camera: Canon EOS R5, f/4.0, 1/1600 sec, 94mm, ISO 250 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS R5
Lens:	RF70-200mm F4 L IS USM
Aperture:	f/4.0
Exposure Time:	0.001 sec (1/1600)
Focal Length:	94mm
ISO:	250
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 12.3 (Windows)
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