Donna Vekic |
Donna Vekic | Somewhere under way I started this attempt with blurring and adding layers in order to increase energy and intimacy of the pics. So I have to apply that to the images published prior to that…
Today I started my second run-through. The first selection of 322 images made me wish that I’d had taken more photos depicting the whole scenery. But in these years of shooting my ambition mainly was to come close to the players in order to show the intensity of focus, motion, reaction and emotion. So the following photos will show more of those close-ups. My idea is to give tags to each photo and make these categories available on separate pages and via the respective search term. I start with it today and hope to come up with the re-tagging for the initial 322 pics soon. You’ll find them at the bottom of each post.
…So, now I am finished with all the old photos. As you might have realized I skipped many many pics. I left them in the database in order for everybody to be able to find ‘their’ images via the search function. Some of them I will take on later by re-thinking things like frame and other things. Also I probably will be much more radical with the manipulation. I have nothing to lose and for me the arts aspect has clear priority nowadays. But first I will re-think and if necessary re-do all the twothousandsomething previous pics…
…it’s more about photography and allegory here than about individual players. Given that I only have attentive and smart visitors everybody will know that by now. Yet still one cannot explain enough…
First published on: Jun 14, 2025 at 14:25 as ‘n:ew pic #1666’
It happens to be that photos tagged with ITF partially are from German Bundesliga, which is another even smaller category. For me it’s ok here to distinguish between the bigger WTA and the inferior ITF stage, whether it’s all correct or not.
ChatGPT
—–
I found out that one can upload pictures to ChatGPT and ask it to describe them. Obviously one can influence the way of that by the prompt. I chose to keep it quite open just asking it to decribe it ‘lyrically, like a poem, in English and in German’. Some of the words come stunningly near to what my intentions are with this project. Other parts are just so so. Hope it’s as much fun to read for everyone as it is for me. I decided not to change one single syllable of what the AI is coming up with here. Given the restrictions for non-paying users I only can do three images at a time and then have to wait for some ten hours before I can upload the next. At the moment it doesn’t make sense to me to upgrade to the required 20-bucks-per-month Plus-Version. For now I chose to be patient and do what I can with the restrictions.
Since the verbose longer poems started to resemble each other a little bit too much I decided to try the form of Japanese Haiku.
Then I told ChatGPT to make a sonnet, which also is a compact form with strict rules..
—due to the restrictions of the free ChatGPT-plan I use and given the increased effort of putting everything together
I decided to slow down the pace from three to two posts per day, one at noon and one ’round midnight.
—–
In Praise Of Shadows
© Christian Brockmeier | all rights reserved
Poem
The court narrows to a single line of intent.
A scoreboard glows somewhere behind the motion,
but numbers no longer matter.
The body leans forward,
already arriving
where the ball has not yet been.
Everything unnecessary falls away:
the crowd,
the noise,
the passing seconds.
There is only acceleration,
a decision made without words,
a point suspended between effort and instinct.
For an instant,
speed becomes a form of clarity.
Haiku
Scoreboard fades behind
the body moves before thought
speed becomes focus
Sonnet
The court contracts beneath a field of light,
while distant numbers flicker out of view.
A player drives herself into the night,
toward something only instinct knows is true.
The body bends before the moment calls,
already moving where the ball will be.
Around her, time dissolves and silence falls,
leaving only motion, fierce and free.
No thought remains to measure loss or gain,
no room for doubt within the forward stride.
Each muscle answers with a practiced chain,
each choice unfolding from a deeper guide.
And in that rush, where speed and purpose blend,
the point begins before the stroke can end.
Gedicht
Der Platz verengt sich zu einer einzigen Linie aus Absicht.
Irgendwo hinter der Bewegung
leuchtet eine Anzeigetafel,
doch die Zahlen haben ihre Bedeutung verloren.
Der Körper neigt sich nach vorn,
ist bereits dort,
wo der Ball noch nicht angekommen ist.
Alles Überflüssige verschwindet:
das Publikum,
der Lärm,
die vergehenden Sekunden.
Es bleibt nur Beschleunigung,
eine Entscheidung ohne Worte,
ein Moment zwischen Anstrengung und Instinkt.
Für einen Augenblick
wird Geschwindigkeit
zu einer Form von Klarheit.
Haiku
Die Anzeige schweigt
der Körper eilt voraus schon
Tempo wird Fokus
Sonett
Der Platz wird klein im kalten Licht der Nacht,
die Zahlen fern verlieren ihr Gewicht.
Der Körper folgt der längst gefassten Macht
des Instinkts, der durch jede Bewegung spricht.
Schon vor dem Ball beginnt der nächste Schritt,
als wüsste jede Faser ihren Weg.
Die Zeit hält nicht mehr Schritt, sie läuft nicht mit,
und jeder Zweifel bleibt am Rand des Stegs.
Es zählt nicht Sieg und zählt auch Niederlage nicht,
nur dieser Zug nach vorn, entschlossen, klar.
Die Welt verengt sich auf den Augenblick,
auf das, was eben noch verborgen war.
Wo Tempo und Entschlossenheit sich finden,
beginnt der Punkt, bevor die Schläge binden.