Berlin Street Photography

Berlin Street Photography offers great opportunity to challenge yourself as an urban street photographer

“The marvels of daily life are exciting; no movie director can arrange the unexpected that you find in the street.” – Robert Doisneau

Berlin Street Photography

In order to discover the marvels of Berlin life we must take camera in hand – any camera – and go out and find it. Berlin Street photography is a path of discovery.

It reveals aspects of the city where we live, and it reveals much about ourselves. Berlin Street photography is a journey that opens deep veins of thought and allows us to experiment with how our own world view of the physical, and our subjective attitude towards our environment can be creatively formed into something powerful.

“I like discovery. I’m attracted to it. I like the feeling of going out, being at some place, looking in at something. Observation is important.” – Bruce Davidson

We can often walk the same city streets again and again; yet what we see is always new and different. The sun is shining, the rain is falling, or the season has changed. As street photographers we react to this with new feelings about an ever changing object.

Street photography in Berlin is a special experience. Berlin has been through massive upheavel and changes throughout history – especially recent 20th century history.

Berlin remains the staging city for the Second World War, it is threfore rich with museums of the deep past, streets have names that refer to politicians, as well as flowers and trees. The Berlin Wall and its traces can be seen at the East-Side gallery along the River Spree which runs through the centre of the city.

Berlin is famous for many things, above all, the name,”Check Point Charlie” is quickly rememebered by many tourists and locals; the check point is a stark reminder of the Cold War that pervaided Western politics and extended into tensions between West and East during the post-war years.

When you stroll through Berlin’s streets with your camera at the ready, you are always looking at history, or a covered up version of Berlin’s powerful past.

It’s good for a street photographer to get to know something about the buildings and streets that they photograph – somehow, when you know what you are looking at, the light and shadow have more meaning.

Don’t forget that Berlin is a well established hub of art. Apart from the famous Berlin Philharmonic and the Berlin Opera, it has 170 musuems, countless art galleries, great little bars and clubs that are frequented by creative people from all walks of art life.

As a street photographer you are spoilt in Berlin. One minute you are sauntering along a busy city street, traffic rushing past, colourful cars and buses, tall buildings reflecting the sun and clouds, then you take a right turn, and find yourself in a large quiet park; trees, sprawling lawns, monuments, picnic areas, and long winding pathways to take you away into the land of fairies.

It is well known that fairies exist in Berlin’s Tiergarten – only it’s kept as a secret, as all fairy life is. The chance that you snap a shot of a fairy queen or a group of everyday fairies hanging out and chatting, is slim – but do keep your eyes open for such possibilities, it would make for a fine photograph.

Templefhofer Feld, the former central airport, has been converted into a recreational area. Day and night people visit it and utilize its wide open spaces for a variety of activities.

During the day, from sun up till sun set, it is full of people walking, picnicking, sitting, jogging, kite flying, riding their “Draht-Esel”, wire-donkey, across the broad area of space.

At night, after the sun has dipped behind the roof-tops and most wise people have crept into their beds, an activity known as “dogging” takes place – so I’m told. Dogging is a physical activity designed to activate your imagiantion and emotions with entertaining ideas and interactions with strangers.

You definitely need a partner to do dogging – it won’t be so much fun done alone.

As a street photographer I don’t know much about dogging, but the Tempelhofer Feld can be a fine place to visit and challenge yourself with taking unusual photos that don’t include typical city scenes.

Berlin is a top location for street photography. If you live here, then you are lucky for numerous reasons mentioned, if you are visiting and want to get some street photography in, then it’s a good idea to make a plan, develop an intention about how you are going to tackle the broad array of offerings that Berlin has for every type of street photographer.