Berlin in March

encounters

 Berlin in March

I’ve visited Berlin many times. My wife’s brother and his family live there, and our first visit was in 1987. At that time The Berlin Wall, which was completed on August 13th, 1961, was still standing. (This period is very well portrayed in the movie “Bridge of Spies” with Tom Hanks and Oscar winner, Mark Rylance.) When we visited in 1987, we could not imagine that two years later, on November 9th, 1989, the Wall would be torn down and two East and West Germany would be reunited.

On this recent trip in March 2016, almost 30 years later, we came to celebrate my brother-in-law’s 80th birthday. March is probably not the ideal time to travel to Europe, since the weather can be cold (The average temperature was about 44°F.). But we were here for a special occasion, and tried to enjoy our trip. Berlin offers many opportunities for visitors, including art shows, museums, concerts, and theaters. Its population is about 3.5 million people, and a multitude of different languages spoken, as we explored the city. My brother-in-law’s family lives not far from the center of the city in a huge apartment complex, that also had short-term rentals which we were able to rent for €105 (U.S. $120.00) for a week (€13/U.S. $15.00 a day).

Every morning I would go for a brisk walk (to warm up my body) with my small camera in my pocket. The sky was usually gray, the houses bleak, there were no leaves on the trees, and sometimes it drizzled. The outside world was not very stimulating. And then, on top of this, I discovered another issue – unfriendly people. I am accustomed to greeting people whom I pass by on my walks, with a smile, wishing them good morning. Not here – people looked down on the ground and did not return my smiles. But even worse, when I tried to photograph them, they angrily demanded to delete the image. In all my travels, I never experienced such an attitude. This alone would be enough reason to pack my bags and fly home or back to Cuba, where everyone is so friendly and photogenic. Instead, I came to a different conclusion. I decided to change my attitude. There was nothing I could do about the weather but to wear warm clothes. I also had an umbrella. As far as the people were concerned, I continued to smile and focused on finding color or contrast in the grey environment. Some people were still not receptive to my smile or to my desire to photograph them. But some smiled back. I even had conversations with young people who spoke perfect English and who did not mind being photographed. After visiting a contemporary art show located in a 5-story concrete bunker, and befriending our guide, I got an idea to create a “42 Encounters in Berlin” photography book, which I called “Transformation”, with the help of my new friend. The text of the stories is going to be written by young Germans. The photo exhibit of my images will begin a conversation about transformation. This project, which is in addition to other projects, I am currently working on, will take me to 2018.

Stay tuned. Enjoy and Share. Meanwhile, “42 Encounters in San Francisco” will soon be available for purchase.

P.S. I was roaming Berlin trying to find color for my images until one day, when we got home in the evening and went to see my brother-in-law, it was just in front of me. I stepped out on the balcony and was able to capture the most amazing sunset I ever encountered. To paraphrase the Biblical saying, “When you are ready to receive, it’s going to be given to you”.

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Cheers,

Manny<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />                                                               Signature