Charite

Old Nordbahnhof, Mitte, Berlin

A Chance Meeting in Neukölln

Winter, Berlin 2007. A young man wearing sandals in the fresh snow stopped to introduce himself. He had recently immigrated to Germany from Yemen and wanted to know why I was making a photograph of such an ugly building. I laughed. He then proceeded to offer his services as a tour guide and personal assistant. I had to laugh again (I was unemployed at the moment and looking for work in a new city myself). We bid each other farewell.

Conjuring - My Block, SF

I made this picture several years ago while in SF. Those trucks and the houses are somehow so classic San Francisco. Better yet, this scene has changed very little if at all in the last eight or so years. Gotta get back. Fam to be seen and work to be made.

Side Notes from Kris Graves Pt. II (Winter's Manhattan)

Two photographs from Kris Graves taken in Manhattan facing east and south west respectively.

These two pictures in particular speak to me - I miss many things from New York but that walk west towards Tenth Avenue in the freezing cold months is not one of them. I'm requesting that you go to his blog and write him a nice little note because he's a very hard working fella and his photographs deserve your attention.

On the Ground in SF

A Lesson in Recycling

This is one of three locations in Berlin which was built using the red marble from Hitler's chancellery.

Nature Rebel

I've always been drawn to those patches of green within our cities. I'm not speaking of parks or anything planned. It's about those moments where nature rebels against its surrounding infrastructure of concrete and metal, structures and streets.

Snow Storm, Rixdorf (Neukölln)

Me, M-L and M-E stuck in a snow storm last winter. I thank the women in my life for being patient while I set up a shot in sub zero conditions. You're the best.

Neukölln / Hasenheide

The first portrait is of a man named Hadar. He works with a community outreach center in Neukölln. I photographed the couple on the 111th anniversary of their church in the Hasenheide area of Neukölln.

Away for the Day...

Leave us now, winter.

*Many thanks to MP for manning the umbrella - we'll meet again soon.

Solving Cities

MGV sent this link along some time ago and it's pretty wonderful. You can read the full article on the New York Times website.

Of Piles and Post-Progressions

More from Chauseestrasse. This photograph was also made in 2007, around the time they began the official cleanup in preparation for the BND development.

At the Crossroads (Kotbusser Tor)

Kotbusser Tor U-Bahn station, Kreuzberg, Berlin 2007. I consider myself lucky to have caught this when I did. The space looks much different today, although the energy of this intersection feels the same.

Kotbusser Tor is like a tide-pool. If you've ever been there and if you've ever seen a tide-pool, then you will understand the comparison.

New York Portrait Series - Installation II

Some of the first pictures I made in the series (Dear and Pat and Peter Baker).

This is the second selection from my NYC Polaroid Portrait series. There's a small printed edition of the entire group of portraits on its way. I will keep you all posted.

Side Notes from Kris Graves Pt. I

A photograph taken in Florence by the one and only +Kris Graves. I wish we were there.
+KG has his blog running at www.resolvingpower.tumblr.com, so do pay him a visit.

Of Windows and Heaps

Another corner being torn down behind the BND construction site in Berlin.

New York Portrait Series - Installation I

These are the last two portraits I made in the NYC Polaroid Portrait series,
of the one and only Reginald Leon and Sir Christopher Burke*.


*Many thanks for trusting me with the studio, sir. You made this body of work possible.

Pairs of Chairs

Last announcement of the week. Long time friend and writer, Marina Garcia-Vasquez and I have put out another small book in our Common Language series. Travertine is a small newsprint edition which will soon be available at a few select shops in Berlin. Images and info on how to acquire one to follow at the top of next week.

You can find out what Marina is working on here www.pairsofchairs.wordpress.com

Side Notes from Andreas Gehrke Pt. II

I suggest you keep your other ear to the ground for Andreas' forthcoming book, Topographie des Terrors. It's a thoughtfully put-together series of photographs from the former site of the Nazi Party's Gestapo headquarters in Berlin.
(Note: The above image is unrelated to the series)
Drop the man a line www.andreasgehrke.de

A Corner Shaped Corner

Chausseestrasse, Mitte, Berlin, Summer 2007

Side Notes from Andreas Gehrke Pt. I

Keep an ear to the ground for the Abiol/Gehrke, New York/Berlin neighborhood spaces project in 2011. And have a look at Andreas' work here www.andreasgehrke.de

Public Space as Palette

I think it's fair to say that you could easily spend more than a quarter of your life underground as a pedestrian in New York. These surfaces. Glossy blacks. Silvers. Industrial oranges and blues. Only here.

Flagey, Ixelles, Brussels

The former National Institute for Radio Broadcasting in Brussels, Flagey hall was built in the late 1930's. I was fortunate enough to have the place to myself one morning to make these photographs.

From the steps of Flagey

Ghost Cities

The more I saw of these abandoned developments, the more they began to resemble ancient ruins. A reminder of that connection between ambitious nations and fallen empires.

Gold Bangles

Conjuring

An abandoned catholic school in Brooklyn where I spent a day wandering from room to room, recording traces of its past - broken floor tiles, stacks of desks, life-size statues of saints.

Chausseestrasse circa 1964

A view of the Chausseestrasse crossing into Wedding ca. 1964

Chausseestrasse

Looking over the fence at the former site of the Stadium of World Youth in Berlin which is now the site of Germany's Federal Intelligence Service headquarters. I made this photograph before construction began in 2007.

Over Prague

My sister and I found this little nook in Prague. The structure is an overpass that towers above the expanse of a neighborhood, stealing light and protecting from rain.

Alemany under Mission

Alemany used to be a creek running through a small valley which provided water to local farms. This small section of Mission street is an overpass built to connect the Excelsior District to Inner Mission by street car. Alemany traffic runs beneath the overpass. The creek and the streetcar line are no longer there.

Silver & Congdon

I spent most of my childhood walking up this hill to get to the corner store (I made this photograph some years ago as part of a project documenting the changing face of my old neighborhood in SF).