Trask Avenue

Charlottenstraße 4

The image above and the next two come from my book, Surface Mono: Berlin, a collection of black and white photographs taken in Berlin over the course of several days this past May. The last three images were considered for the book, but not included for reasons far too trivial and dull to elaborate upon.

Berlin is a fascinating place. As you can imagine they are dealing with a lot of nasty 20th century history. The balance they strike between acknowledging their past and dealing with their present is intriguing. For instance, before the Berlin Wall came down the physical differences between East and West Berlin were obvious. Not anymore. Until you see photos of how it was (and those exhibitions are plentiful) it is difficult to imagine a wall once where you are standing and people were shot trying to get over it. 25 years is not that long ago. Walking the streets and looking at pedestrians I constantly had the thought, “He (or she) was probably living here when the wall was up. How strange for them.” I imagine that recent scar partially explains Berlin’s subdued face. For such a large city the streets are unusually quiet and serene. Sure there are pedestrians and bicyclists and traffic. Yet, to hear a siren or car horn is physically jolting. Who would ever expect that in a city with 3.5 million residents? Like I said, a fascinating place. If you ever have the opportunity you should visit. Or if you don’t have the chance (or cannot wait to see more and more and more) a lovely photo book could be just the ticket. Just saying.

Pariser Platz

Leipziger Platz

Plenarbereich Reichstagsgebäude

Siegessäule

Berliner Philharmonie