*232 Dirk

I didn’t know what I was expecting when I picked up Dirk at his workspace for our first photo shoot. I had been to a blacksmith’s shop before – a functional place with heavy machinery and heaps of metal lying around. This one was a different experience. It was like entering ‘Middle-earth’, a dusky cave filled with ancient looking tools, huge anvils and all kinds of metal objects in different states of completion. Dirk was on the phone in the midst of all this, dressed in his workwear and a heavy leather apron. I took one or two pictures just to see what the light was like. After he finished the call he changed into his regular outfit and we stepped out into the ‘real world’ to do our shoot for the blog. You’ll discover soon for yourself that Dirk has a very unique sense of style, but I’d like to start his presence on this blog with this very first picture that I took. He looks off-guard and at ease. Like he belongs right here in ‘Middle-earth’.
/div>©Julia Richter