Description
Even when I’m walking without my camera, I feel like I’m taking photos somehow.
Since I started taking photography more seriously a few years ago, it’s interesting to me how things started to look different. Everything turns into a potential composition. ‘Berlin VII’ was one of those cases. I had just attended an art exhibition at the iconic Berghain - I don’t club, but I love this place because of its industrial atmosphere - and was walking with a few friends, making last minute plans so we could enjoy the rest of a beautiful summer afternoon.
On the way, we walked under the train tracks of one of the main stations in the city, a path of approximately 100m. It almost feels like a proper tunnel. Half way in, there’s a gap between the tracks above, which gives room for the light to come in. I remember that I even got distracted from the conversation that my friends and I were having as soon as I noticed the light and the diagonal shadow being formed. I checked the time, wrote a note on the phone and the day went on. This a process that happens quite often, especially when is about the approach I took for this series. Simply because the light is constantly changing, meaning that the scene might be completely different in the following days. I had to come back 2 other times to take the shot. In the first, clouds blocked the sun when I got there, so no shapes. In the second, I waited for everything to sync (light, a person in the frame, in that position, no cars passing in front of the camera on both sides or other people walking in the frame) and took this shot, among my favourites in the series.
Why, you might ask? Coming back by myself was different. This was one of the first times that I felt uncomfortable in a location during the day in Berlin. I mean, I didn’t feel safe somehow. And if you have seen some of my night photography work, you will understand where this is coming from. In here, it was dark, you mostly only see silhouettes, everything feels very industrial and isolated. I had a weird feeling in my stomach and in my mind. But then I saw a woman carrying her baby in the stroller, peacefully coming out of the darkness and entering the light. That was it! It felt like a moment of relief, the bad thoughts disappearing from my mind so I could only capture that scene. An ordinary, life moment scene. Because this is what I’m about when it comes to my photography. No epic moments, but the ones that we go through day by day and usually overlook. The most beautiful ones, if you ask me.
Cheers
August 24th, 16:21:23, 2021. Berlin, Germany.