Berlin

[Alastair]

I've been away for a week in one of the best cities in Europe.. such a lot to see and do, and heaven for the urban photographer..

Here's a brief selection for comment/critique.. more on my Flickr thread..


Can't really disagree..

[razer]

nice pics !!. whats the first one again ???

[Alastair]

nice pics !!. whats the first one again ???

Some random legs walking through the Holocaust Memorial.. I took a load of shots there including the conventional no-people empty-landscape type.. but they were cold and impersonal, and the memorial isn't about that when you get there, it's very much about peoples own experiences of interacting with it.. you can wander alone with the columns towering over you (until you get into it you don't realise that not only do the columns rise taller, but the floor drops away lower), but every few minutes your path crosses someone elses, people/children randomly appear from any direction, sometimes slowly, sometimes running, sometimes thoughtful, sometimes laughing.. it's a very dynamic experience.

Photos are clickable for larger versions


Conventional empty shot.


Two otherh photographers (it's a popular spot for photography)


Passing through.

[razer]

are there names on the pillars???

[marcopolored]

I like the random legs, makes the shot I think and probably better than the whole person.
All very good.

[Alastair]

are there names on the pillars???

The pillars are totally blank, polished concrete with an anti-graffiti coating (that caused a few problems when the contract was awarded), there are 24/7 security guards to protect the monument from damage (it's a rather obvious target for right-wing neo-nazi thugs and has been attacked in the past) but they're a bit overzealous at times (no chance of any parkour).

If you look at photographs taken quite shortly after it opened they had some bad problems with the surface cracking, but after some remedial work that seems to have been fixed.

Underneath is a very extensive and detailed museum on the Holocaust with a lot of detailed, personal histories of Jewish families from all across Europe. We went round this last year and it's quite horrifying to read of entire extended families where only one, two, or even no members survived out of 20/30 people.

Across the road is a smaller monument to the gay and lesbian community that were also persecuted (I think I'm right in saying that the original law passed by the National Socialists in the '30s that banned homosexuality was only repealled in the '70s). It's rather disapointing that the main monument couldn't have been dedicated to all the victims (Jews, Roma, Slavs, homosexuals, communists, trade unionists, a lot of christian advocates of human rights, the physical and mentally disabled, anyone considered undesirable), rather than have many smaller monuments scattered around the city to individual groups. I think politics and the politics of funding have caused this.

[xvickyx]

I really really like them.... alot, especially the graffiti shot :)

[Norvern Rob]

Great pictures, Berlin certainly is a great city - Germany in general is a very interesting place to visit.

[Ross1]

Great photos. :applause:

Love the "capitalism is crisis". How true.

[simon garratt]

superb photography there Alastaire...

although to be brutally honest, Id rather see a passageway of trees in the place of that concrete monstrosity...

regards

[wheeler123]

nice pics superb

[Alastair]

superb photography there Alastaire...

although to be brutally honest, Id rather see a passageway of trees in the place of that concrete monstrosity...


Have to disagree about the monument..

but thanks for the kind comments everyone..