Berlin is a city of bright colours and darkly clothed figures. In winter, summer, and any other time of the year, its residents dress down rather than go brightly along the narrow streets of Berlin.
Whenever I am out in Berlin city, taking photos, doing street photography, I am accompanied by the awareness of Berlin’s history.
It is a city that had its dictators, bred Kaisers and soldier kings, the Third Reich, the Berlin Wall, and yet it has always survived; its residents are always finding a way to see into the future, and reunite to build a new Berlin.
![Berlin City Photography, 2024
Copyright; Sean P. Durham, Berlin street photography, 2024](https://seandurham.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GenderarmMarktBaustelleI-1024x706.png)
The mayor, Wowereit, once said, “Berlin is sexy, but poor.” These days, Berlin is still sexy but no longer so poor. It’s become a meka for business, and as always a home for artists and creative people to gather and work. It’s a vibrant, creative, and inspiring place that takes you in hand and keeps you here.
Once here, you’ve always got a suitcase in Berlin – even when you leave, you haven’t really left.
I remember, long ago, when I was a British soldier. We could visit East Berlin with a pass. Several of went down to Checkpoint Charlie, made our way through the officialdom of East German paperwork, the well practised blank and unfriendly faces of East German border guards.
We emerged on the other side of the barriers at Checkpoint Charlie, stood and looked around the street. people were milling about, on their into the East Berlin city streets, but 50 metres away on a corner we saw three men dressed in long leather coats, hands pushed deep into their pockets, and their leather trilby hats tipped over the brows.
They had decided that our group of British soldiers needed to be watched; they followed us constantly, not trying to hide but plainly tagging along behind us at a distance; with good British humour, we waved a couple of times, but then decided that was not a good idea.
![Copyright; Sean P. Durham, Berlin street photography, 2024](https://seandurham.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Bus_Stop_Groupiii-1024x705.png)
Taking photos, back then, was not advised at the border.
Unfortunately, some photographers – tourists, an American officer, locals, who were taking photos from the West to the East were spotted taking snaps by the Goon Squad.
![Copyright; Sean P. Durham, Berlin street photography, 2024](https://seandurham.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/InnerCityII-901x1024.jpg)
They were shot dead on the spot. It was a time of “shoot to kill” East German policy. The West German Government, demanded that the East German Government, under Erich Honecker, declare which policies are in force at any time. The shoot to kill, shoot to wound, policies changed occasionally, the East Germans didn’t find it necessary to inform the West about these changes.
It’s sad, but it’s the history of this city – Berlin.
The streets of Berlin are steeped in history that is unique. There’s nothing dry and boring about the KGB, the Border guards, who we British soldiers always referred to as The Goon Squad in the towers.
As history rolls along its merry way, with changing politics, the madness of crowds, and social upheavals, Berliners keep going, they reinvent themselves in a way that come from a hardiness that is Berlin pure. It’s the pumping heart of Berlin.
These days, you can stroll through the streets, dodging in and out of what was once a forbidden zone, the East side of the city. A place that was ruled Erich Honecker, controlled by the Stasi agents dressed in their black leather coats and trilbies – if they took you in, you were already condemned.
![Copyright; Sean P. Durham, Berlin street photography, 2024](https://seandurham.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/deborahMitte20241-1024x679.png)
Looking for light and shadows in Berlin is easy. The new glass buildings along Friedrichstrasse, the broad avenues of Frankfurter Allee, or the tight spots around Hackescher Markt all offer excellent places to visit and photograph with no fear of reprimand.