Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/11/05
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Thank you Eric, Don, Dick, Luis, Douglas and Ric for commenting on my previous posted miniseries of our visit to Berlin. Meanwhile, I've had the time to edit all the shots I made during the 3 wonderful days my wife and I spent there and I present you a selection of them below. All shots were made with my Digilux 2, RAW format at 100 ASA, full auto. Always handheld, which in some cases lead to not 100% sharp images. Sometimes extensive PS work, since you might know that I consider this an equally important part of picture making/visualising in these digital days. But that is a debate that I hope will not be held in this thread. I hope you enjoy them. (if you don't like to read: the entire series is at http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/) 1. Day 1: Kaiser Wilhelm Ged?chtniskirche (close to the Zoo Bahnhof) + from the Alexanderplatz over the Museum Insel to the Brandenburger Tor Starting at the Ged?chtniskirche: http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020062.html Very close to the Alexanderplatz (ex East Berlin) stands an impressive tower: the Fernseh Turm (Television tower): http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020064.html http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020066.html We didn't go to the top of it, since that would have meant waiting for an hour or so, and we had other things to do. Between the Alexanderplatz and the Brandenburger Tor: the Museum Insel. An 'island' packed with musea and monuments, such as the Berliner Dom http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020067.html http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020069.html http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020078.html And the Altes Museum (the old museum): http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020071.html http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020073.html http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020076.html http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020077.html A bit further, almost at Unter Den Linden, the former central boulevard of better Berlin, the Neue Wache. It started to get darker already at that time, and the city light were put on: http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020079.html Finally, we arrived at the Brandenburger Tor, restaured in its former glory. 15 years ago, before the fall of the Berlin Wall, this site was completely left at its own. Now it stands as a beacon again, in the center of the town: http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020080.html On the Pariser Platz, which lies on the east side of the Tor, we had a coffee in the caf? of the New Academy of Arts: http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020083.html http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020084.html And after that, we went back to our hotel to prepare for dinner: http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020087.html 2. Day 2: Potsdamer Platz and surroundings Potsdamer Platz was a waistland in the dim years between WW2 and some 15 years ago. Now it is vibrating with life, and new and modern buildings pop out at an incredible place. But sometimes you still can see a grim reminder of how controlled the East Berliners were: http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020090.html We went to see the Martin Gropius Bau, where an international photography exhibition was held, but the only spot one could take photographs was in the cafetaria: http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020095.html Walking in the direction of Chackpoint Charlie, an old East german building still stood there, waiting to be renovated into expensive offices or lofts. Not everybody likes luxury though: http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020096.html Proof of why the East German system delivered such fine athletes in a certain period: there wasn't much else to do, and sports were heavily promoted, wherever you lived: http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020104.html Meanwhile, cutting edge architecture at the Potsdamer Platz: http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020106.html And a, er, selfportrait: http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020113.html Back to the Zoo Station, where we also visited the Museum f?r Photographie. A permanent exhibition and ode to Helmut Newton + some new talent. Personally, I don't like Helmut Newton's work that much (it's as if he hates women), but it certainly was renewing in its days, and still is inspiring. On the top floor, ni the old casino of the Wehrmacht, an impressive exposition space with the work of young photographers. I liked the space more that their work... http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020114.html We took the S-Bahn to the Hamburger Bahnhof, now the Museum for Gegenwart (Modern Art), so I decided to do a B.D. style metro shot: http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020119.html The museum itself was impressive, even before entering: http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020124.html The entrance of the main hall: http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020126.html It was one of the only musea we visited in Berlin, where photography was allowed (without flash, but we're Leica, so who cares :): http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020133.html http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020137.html http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020139.html http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020140.html The end of the left wing of the museum: http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020144.html And the walk back to the main hall: http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020148.html It is sometimes said that the modern artist needs drugs and pills to produce renewing work, and I think it's true: http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020153.html And after taking them, everything becomes a work of art: http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020155.html Leaving the museum, the artificial light turned the place into something magical: http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020158.html So we took another coffee at the Museum cafe, where I spotted this 'reading symmetry': http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020161.html 3. Day 3: the impressive and silencing day There are a lot of Jewish memorials in Berlin, for very obvious reasons, but IMO 2 stand out. One is the Jewish Memorial, a chilling and silencing place that makes you feel just for a tiny bit, what the Jewish must have suffered between '39 and '45: http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020163.html http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020165.html The other one is the Jewish Museum, designed by Daniel Libeskind, one of my most preferred contemporary architects. The Museum gives you, almost at any spot, a feeling of total desorientation. Again to make clear to visitors what it means to be rejected and haunted. I think Libeskind succeeded in this: http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020172.html And to finish, in the Oranienburger Strasse another glass decoration, but of a different kind than the first one posted in this message: http://users.telenet.be/philippe.orlent/Berlin/pages/L1020173.html Thanks for looking, and if you're still up to it, commenting on these images. Philippe