Berlin – My Daido Moriyama Moment

With my deepest apologies to the Master!

While we were in Berlin, the sun was beating relentlessly. Thirty degrees C (86°F) reflected from the paving. Berlin should have appeared as a brilliant, bright city to me, a city that is alive and teeming, that is full of good vibes.

Alas that is not the feeling I got and that is why I took some time to process my photos. I want to render the impression I got of Berlin.

Berlin is not a smooth city!

Berlin is a city that is moving… in very different directions.

Berlin is a city that is young…

…and old.

Berlin is a city that is modern and still very firmly fixed in it’s after-war years.

But above all, Berlin is a teeming, living hive of a city with all the good and bad sides of a big place.

Berlin is a city that deserves a harsh, grainy treatment. But it deserves to be treated with tenderness too.

Perhaps this is not the Berlin you know and love. Perhaps it’s a completely wrong impression I had.

We spent just two days in Berlin and I will certainly not say that I have seen and understood Berlin. I have seen some glimpses of Berlin, some facets, distorted by my unknowing mind. I do not intend to give a definitive opinion of this city.

And of course I had no intention to visit the usual suspect places, you know. Those tourist spots you absolutely have to see in Berlin, such as the Brandenburger Tor of the ex-Wall. I prefer to see the city in all it’s splendour.

What did strike me first? Diversity of it’s people, diversity of it’s styles. Old and new live together, as well as decrepit and artsy places.

The people are great, friendly, open and much more welcoming than here in Luxembourg.

The Traffic? It’s dense, it’s fast but you always find a parking spot, unlike in tiny Luxembourg City. And there are bikes, plenty of bikes. Berlin is a bikers paradise with bike lanes everywhere and don’t you go walking on those! You’ll be immediately reprimanded by some angry biker.

And when you drive in Berlin, watch out for them. They are everywhere and they seem to have an automatic priority.

Of course, a railway station is always a promising hunting ground, at least for me…

And ten there’s those hidden courtyards, where expensive and trendy boutiques hide. You have to know where they are. A porch of some stately building opens…

And behind you arrive in another city, another place entirely.

This could be New Orleans with it’s balconies.

And they were sitting there so still… I couldn’t resist.

OK, so I thank you for scrolling through to the end. Hope I didn’t bore you too much with my dark views of Berlin.

In fact, I used Lomography Lady Grey film in both my Leica IIIa and Olympus XA2, thinking that it was in fact a rebranded Kodak T-max 400…. Well, in fact it might be. As it seems in the US it is actually T-max. In Europe, they use Fomapan 400 under the same name and in Asia it’s said to be some chinese emulsion.

This film is not a bad film but it’s in no way up to the finer grain and tones of T-max 400. Another reason to shun Lomography…

So I apologise if I mislead some of you in my former post! For the sake of consistency, let’s not pinch pennies and buy the real films!

Thanks a lot for reading, I really appreciate it! And feel free to leave your comments and criticisms!