This year is special: For every single one of the last 60 years, Crisco Queen has been visiting Berlin during the festive seasons. Neither shingles nor the death of her daughter-in-law nor the occasional little war succeeded in breaking this custom, to which she adhered out of a deep sense of duty towards the continuity, which she embodies to many. These visits form part of a demanding annual schedule, which sees CQ travel to Madrid, Sydney, Hamburg, Gran Canaria, San Francisco, Chicago and Denmark, amongst other places. She shakes hands with her subjects, mingles with international aristocracy–one seems to always run into the same people no matter where–but such is the price for an empire that spans the decades and the world. Yet, these tours, physically and spiritually demanding as they may be, are not all obligation, formal receptions and schedule; CQ also finds time to let her hair down, so to speak, and to appreciate the unforeseen, spontaneous encounters, thanks to her great openness towards and interest in others. She delights in the frequent wardrobe changes and is often being complemented on her style, which she has steadfastly cultivated over the decades and which has somewhat become her signature.

So it is with a sense of reminiscence that she once more embarks on this late summer’s visit to the German capital. So much to look back on, even though details–names, places, dates, faces…–may be somewhat blurred here and there, but the feelings remain as fresh as ever. We will accompany her, recording her cheerful progress and sharing her fond memories.

This following group of images I had called desire machine. I an earlier post I had written a text describing my feelings and thoughts about this series.

As for what’s in the bag… well, all the essentials. Travelling light never has never been an option….

This is the near final draft of the project, which goes to print in the next couple of weeks. There will be some changes to the final selection of images; feedback would be very welcome on this. A third part will consist of small memory cards with pictures of fetish items. I will post this in the next few days.