September – December 2021

239 photos – Published on Mar 24, 2023

In early September, I made a fairly spontaneous trip to Berlin. I had this BahnCard I forgot to cancel in time, and wasn’t using it much that year. So I decided to visit a city I don’t really know all that well. And I also haven’t visited Tim since he’s been living there, either.

Let’s get going:

My hood: Prenzlauer Berg.

Tried playing the Theremin of my AirBnB hosts.

Tourist prep.

Bildband Berlin: great photo book store!

When somewhere new, I tend to walk a lot. It let’s me get a better feel for a (new) city. And I just happen to photograph things and scenes that catch my eye.

Charlie Watts had just died.

Visiting the Berlin Wall Memorial Museum.

Fellow analogue shooter.

A little break at the AirBnB.

Late-night drinks.

Restaurant still-live.

So, I met up with Tim and got to know his wife Sophie. Had a great time with them on several days and evenings!

Exploring Berlin on bikes.

Click. Click.

Of course you see Trabis.

Skatergirl

We kept walking for a while and I photographed people along the way.

HP5 keeping the wasps out of my drink.

…at a rooftop bar.

Dinner time. Handed over my cam.

I can still remember how strange and even daring it felt to be going out and be among lots of people again. The COVID incidence was pretty low that summer, so it did not necessarily feel unsafe. Still: it was weird.

Spät am Späti.

Got some ‘Fiege’ for old times sake (Tim and I studied together in Bochum, where that beer is brewed).

Photo exhibition of Jürgen Hohmuth’s work.

Back on the street.

Kid 1

Kid 2

Kid 3

Kid 4

Went to the Mauerpark for the flea market.

Super multitasking dad.

Cool shirt!

Cool shirt!

Sat here for a while, had a Radler and listened to the busker.

Ok. Onwards…

Came by this little hammock forest.

Took a break.

On to way to the next destination.

Ruth Orkin exhibit. I wasn’t familiar with her work. Now I am.

Hey! Kia Ora, Wellington. Greetings from Berlin!

Hail Satan!

Had a Shiso Burger.

Endlich sind sie mal ehrlich!

Nice!

Went into the underworld.

A vending machine I haven’t seen before.

Skaterboy

Skatergirl

Someone with a laptop instead of a phone, asking for directions.

Since this was a spontaneous trip, I needed to work, too. This was my main work spot during the time.

My hosts’ balcony was great, too, though.

What? Why? How?

Yep, there was indeed some gap!

Got a NextBike one evening and visited a few ‘Festival of lights’ destinations.

Kein Sonderzug. Nur die stinknormale U2.

Random find on another day.

Went to stroll along Karl-Marx-Allee.

I found the architecture quite interesting I must say.

And then – by chance – Shumon was driving right past me with his bike. Haven’t seen him in like 10+ years. We pretty much lost contact. We went to the same school as teenagers, and I played with him in my first band. Although he lives here, it’s still crazy we randomly run into each other.

Greeting from my favourite Düsseldorf company.

This was closed unfortunately (I think this was Sunday).

Following the white rabbit.

Watching a demolition.

Tempelhofer Feld.

Twins!?

Later that evening, Shumon joined Tim and me at a restaurant. Showing us his Randy Rhoades guitar collection.

This turned into a rather long night.

…as we ran into Dirk after our dinner. It’s been the day of chance encounters!

Another day, another museum. This time: The Helmut Newton Foundation.

And this was another excellent exhibition. It was during the week and I had the space almost to myself.

Yes, it’s still me!

Missed this one by a day, though.

It’s reading men.

Visited the Teufelsberg. But the grounds were closed, due to a film shoot.

So I just walked around a bit and then straight back down to drive back into town.

…Wedding to be precise.

To spent one more evening with Sophie and Tim.

Checking out Tim’s Mamiya.

One last sunny day.

Strolling around some well-known sites.

Yeah, fuck it!

Had a chat with him, while we were sheltering under the same tree from a rain shower.

Time to leave.

Back home, it was someone’s 4th birthday.

The birthday cake.

The birthday crew.

‘Cold, really cold!’

In Bonn for a work event.

Meet dog No. 1.

Meet dog No. 2.

Photographing the photographer.

Gin-y in three bottles.

It got late.

The next day, I let dog No. 2 do the working. Here, he’s doing some port sniffing.

Bikin’ with Babe.

40th birthday celebration.

Birthday crew.

Update on that theme.

Another one’s 40th birthday.

We went on one last vacation in October: one week at Lake Lugano in Italy. Did take it easy: explored the surrounding nature and towns on our bikes, went for (cold) swims, went for walks, cruised the lake with a pedalo, or simply relaxed on the campground.

Morning coffee.

On the way back, we stopped in Switzerland and went up Mount Pilatus.

And we’re back home (at mom’s).

Collecting autumn leaves.

Family birthday time.

Dolls somehow often manage to look creepy.

An installation in Düsseldorf.

Coffee and cake with Zoe.

Sushi with Tim. He happened to be in Düsseldorf for a couple of days.

Quentin was there, too.

I kind of tend to end up at the Schumacher brewery pub when in that area.

I bought a new bike!

Birthday breakfast with Nicole.

Maskenpflicht!

At another family birthday.

Good old St. Martin.

Then we somehow managed to get almost all members of the bands Ravage (which I was part of), Power and Witchtower together, to have a beer or two on the good old times. We used to play lots of gigs together back in the 2000’s but nowadays rarely see each other. It was a long and very fun night!