Victory
The relentless Spanish sun beats down on the peeling posters, creating a beautiful three-dimensional effect. The angular appearance of the man resembles Socialist Realist art produced in the old Soviet Union, but if you look closely, you’ll see the word Hombre, so the poster is clearly Spanish. There was a time in Spain when communism […]
Go Veggie
A girl is watering a plant—a sweet scene, until you take a closer look. She’s holding a watering can, but there’s a label stuck on it, warning us that the can or the water inside is radioactive. The plant itself isn’t quite what it seems either; it has teeth. A carnivorous plant, or perhaps a […]
Runak
The Kalashnikov is the weapon of revolution—reliable and easy to maintain. We know who is holding it. Her name is Runak Bapir Gherib, written in the bottom left corner. She is Yazidi, and she carries the rifle to protect her family. She looks at us—are we a threat or not? The Yazidis are a religious […]
The dancing girl
She’s in ecstasy, dancing with her sunglasses on. Not with large, wild movements, but more restrained. She’s standing on a sink that long ago lost its function. Slowly, she’s peeling away from the wall. Maybe behind her sunglasses, her eyes are closed; sie träumt von der Vergangenheit—she dreams of the past. The Hackesche Höfe is […]
Happy anarchy
How many people contributed to this composition? It must have been quite a few, and all in the same style. Each person contributed their own piece to create a cheerful, diverse, yet cohesive whole. Even the wall, with its beautifully peeling green paint, seems to know exactly what’s expected of it. This is one of […]
The gymnast
Is he a gymnast or a footballer? The photo is full of energy either way. It almost looks like he’s kicking in the door he’s stuck to. His head is missing. In the bottom right corner, you see two words that link Berlin to its status as the techno capital: Techno and Berghain. Techno is […]
Merkel
At first glance, it looks like an ordinary hand of cards, until you look closer. All the cards are the same: five Queen of Hearts. In a deck, there are no five queens, let alone five Queen of Hearts. What makes the Queen of Hearts special here is that it’s Merkel, the first female Chancellor […]
Abstract?
At first glance, it seems like time and the elements have turned this composition into an abstract artwork with beautiful three-dimensional effects. A striking abstract piece in its own right—that’s how I photographed it. But when I looked longer, I started seeing other things. At the bottom, you can just make out a few monkeys, […]
Snapshot
Only chance could come up with this, I think. One artist after another adds something, and as a result, something emerges that no one could have consciously planned. That spontaneity makes it very special to me, because it’s unique—not thought out, but born naturally. A snapshot is a quick photo of a unique and spontaneous […]
Lucha Libre
Lucha Libre means “free wrestling.” It’s incredibly popular in Mexico and completely staged. Men and women wearing shiny, elaborate masks battle it out in the ring, but not for real. It’s a highly choreographed performance with a storyline that develops over time. In the center of this photo, you can see one of these wrestlers […]