Berlin, Berlin

Berlin July 23-29 2007

Returning to Germany was a bit strange for me. I used to live there as a teenager and only returned once during college. I was meeting Yanara at Berlin HBF train station. She was going to be my guide and translator. Yanara is German Jewish-American and has not lived in Berlin for a couple of years, so we make an interesting team. We board a tram to Prenzlauerberg, East Berlin. Yanara´s friend Nina has been gracious enough to offer her huge four bedroom flat to us for free! Strolling around on the first day I realize Yanara´s sense of direction is even worse than mine (is this humanly possible?) and she has a fear of birds. I must say that my sense of direction has mysteriously and exponentially improved while in Europe.

Day 2: We head out to shoot and the weather is dodgy. Looks like rain. I photograph a Peruvian Inca man (living in Berlin!) and he writes about the the native people of America. I also shoot some drunks in a park and they write´Americans are arrogant, but I don´t understand why!´

Day 3: The Unbelievable. I see a really cool graffiti wall of murals. Hey Yanara, is that the Berlin Wall? ´Oh no, no no. We have a lot of walls in Berlin´ Hmmm Ok, I´m gonna shoot it anyway. A few minutes after shooting I see her talking with a German man........´Hey Lauri, it is the Berlin Wall!´ Oh my God it´s the Berlin Wall! Thank God I decided to shoot it anyway (intuition). There are not a lot of large sections of the wall intact, but this was one of the few. It was amazing. There was a section with a Statue of Liberty mural. I photographed Yanara in front of it and she became very emotional, after that I SIGNED THE BERLIN WALL! and had my photo taken in front of it.

After shooting the wall, we turned the corner and photographed a man at the ´Berlin Beach?!´ Let me explain this phenomena: Just behind the Berlin Wall is a man made beach with a Tiki Bar, reggae music, sand, and umbrellas! I asked the guy working ´isn´t it strange to be working next to the Wall on a fake beach?´No it´s just Berlin!´ Things have definitely changed.

Day 4: Photographed a 95year old woman who looked and sounded like she was 50. She told me she used to be a professor and wrote a play about Gorky. She told me why the East and West were really seperated. She passionately said ´If people have any level of intellect, you must stand up and do something when you know something is wrong´ She was the real deal. Later Yanara, Nina and I went out for Italian food. Nina suggested´Shall we get a pizza with horse meat?' We looked stunned! ´Really it´s delicious.´ Uh, no thanks. Let´s stick to Spinach!

Day 5: Brandenberg Gate: Once upon a time important and serious historical events took place at the Brandenberg Gate.......That was then....This is now! Now it is like a circus in slow motion- weird and nauseating. What do I mean? Men dressed as bears(German national animal), people dressed in a variety of uniforms posing with flags for money, a Kennedy´s bar, ´Tin Man´ painted in silver with top hat, horse drawn carriages, and last but not least.......a brass band playing themes to American tv shows and movies(Rocky and Hawaii 5-0). The place is exhausting, and you don´t know where to look first. We asked the carriage driver how he could stand the band everyday? ´This is the first time they are here´ Oh great, just for us!!!

Tier Garten- the Central Park of Berlin: First of all we spotted a serial flasher, people asking ´Where am I? and what time do I need to be at my next destination????´ but the grand finale was the Dandy I spotted. Top hat, blazer, long shorts, and socks. He was amazing because........he told me his whole personal history. He was a political prisioner in Berlin for two years, moved from the East to the West side sevend days before the building of the Berlin Wall, saw JFK give his ´I am a Berliner´ speech, saw Ronald Regan give his ´Tear down that wall Mr. Gorbechev´ speech. Just as I began to shoot him he burst out singing ´We Shall Overcome´ at the top of his lungs with the flag. Only in Berlin!

The Jewish Memorial: Basically to make a long story short: The Jewish Memorial has no signs indicating it is a memorial of any sort. It is designed like an abstract Leggo Land- staggered grey geometric blocks in the middle of a busy street. People walk, run, play tag, and pay homage in this space. I spotted a goth looking couple dressed in black and white. I started photographing them and next thing you know......Security! They took me through the whole permission interrogation and then politely told us to BEAT IT!

Day 6: I don´t remember a thing!

Day 7: Bought ANOTHER DAMN SUITCASE, packed and left.

Goodbye, Berlin!
Next stop: Rome