Made it to Berlin after a bag scare at the Rome airport (I found everyone outside when I arrived). No big deal just a chaotic start. Relieved to get to Germany and back to friends etc. So completely amazed by the changes to Berlin since I was there 20 years ago. Though I was only 10 I remember everything vividly. It is such a vibrant and bright city now! An impressive evolution. So on night 1 of 3 my host and brother's good friend Nat helped me scout out a potential hill to shoot from close to his nieghborhood. We treked to the park and wound our way up and up in total darkness along a cobblestone wooded path to find only a view of the tree tops and stars at the top. Not the worst way to be dissapointed. Plan B, Nat called a photographer friend and we got the skizzy on a roof we could access that belonged to a nearby apartment building. We found our way up and into a sort of attic with the remenant belongings of residents past and present, including objects that could easily create an intriguing narrative about life in East Berlin before the wall came down. Facinating and a little creepy. We did find the trap door to the roof but had no way to get up there. We brainstormed but to no avail. Since I had a few more nights and had a balcony lined up to shoot from, we decided to call it night for scouting. Night two I found out I could not use the balcony of my friend's cousins since they were out of town. But from research on Google via Images Nat and I figured out that a somewhat high natural point did in fact exist in flat Berlin in Viktoria Park south of the city. We U-Bahned our way southward, I then bought some lolipops for some sugar energy, Nat bought some beers and we found our way up to Kreuzberg (cross hill). Mini victory! There existed something I could work with. A lot of trees but true to the city terrain our vantage point was low. Postdamerplatz, a main square that was once a sprawling stark concrete plaza just on the east side of the wall, is now a built up area with a glittering tent looking structure and tall buildings that, peeked out from a clearing and lit up the sky in streaks. More trees and another clearing to the right offered a view down a street heading into the city. I let the exposure run long and hope for a dark dark silloutte of trees in front with a bright bright sky behind. We shall see...
Day 3, I called the Park Inn, the tallest hotel in Berlin, to see if I might be able to shoot from one of their upper floors but no luck. I also emailed a few NY friends with ties to Berlin last minute to see if they had any ideas. After a long but great day touring nearby Postdam with one of my mom's oldest and best friends, Horst, and after a tasty dinner with a German curator and his wife whom I had met at a Museum in May outside New York, I was unbelievably wiped out. Sadly I got back to Nat's to find 2 friends of one of the folks I had emailed had offered me their roof and balcony. Mad at myself for not finding a way to check email sooner it was just too late. Vowed to stay on top of things no matter how tired I got... Left Berlin with one shot. Seriously wiped out but wishing I had more time. Loved the city! Must return.
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