Project Complete. . . well almost.

On Tuesday I went with Jessi to find subjects for our project. I had a tip from Carissa, own bike tour guide, that a New Orleans themed restaurant had just opened up on Görlitzer Straße 42 in Kreutzberg.
I taught it was interesting because I would never have imagined that such a place could exist in Berlin. Well lucky for me it did. I met and spoke to the owner and manager Andrew Preble and he agreed to alone me to use him and his establishment for my project.
I went on Wednesday and shot and interviewed Preble and New Orleans Haus. It's a nice place.

Seen from the bar. An old radio help add to the decor.

The spirit of New Orleans is being introduced to Berlin.

Andrew Preble, owner/manager.

Tours, tours and tours forever more

We finally had free time in the morning and afternoon after spending most of them touring with professor Freeman, Khristen with her walking tour and Carissa from Fat Tire bike tours. The professor’s tours took us to some really cool places that wasn’t really tourist places. Places like the church which the death strip went around. There is now very little of it standing. It blocked the view of patrolling soldiers. Another cool place was Tacheles. Probably the most famous squat in all of Europe. A place where artist gather working together to defend their seven story home and workspace. Graffiti covered the walls, floor and ceiling but among the sprayed paint was art. Paintings, sculptures large and small hand made jewelry. The walking tours took us to historic Berlin. Museums and historical sight was our priority while on that tour. And finally the bike tour. We made up that tour as we went along. We saw monuments dedicated to the wall era. We also visited the really alternative and punk neighborhood of Kreuzberg and one ethnic neighborhood in Berlin while biking. In all we spent 5 hours walking with Khristen, biked about 8 miles with Carissa and I’m willing to bet that Freeman’s tours are not over.
Here is what I have from those.

Marcela Suter, 20, looks at the a chocolate replica of the famous bombed-out church in the window of  Fassbender & Rausch in Berlin.

 Men playing a game similar to the game Find-your-card.

Actors in front Brandenberg gate.

Graffiti inside Tacheles. The inside of the building is covered with similar forms of artwork.

  Monkey sculpted out of scraps of metal in the back of Tacheles. Just one of about seven animal sculptures in the yard.

Berlin's First Days

May 16 was a great day for pictures. Not only did the Sun finally make an appearance but the adventure we had opened the doors for great photography. Our day started with a tour of the museums and a few somewhat significant  historical places. East German architecture, unlike that of the west, is full of life and drama. It stands out from among the massive but plain west German architecture. We saw more of the city that we would have just by walking around on our own up to this point. We met characters that lend to the essence of what the true Berlin is and used photography to capture images like no other has before us. So far Berlin, Germany has been fun and after the time and trouble I had getting here I feel entitled to be rewarded. And the ferry ride later in the evening was just the sort of reward I had in mind.

 

Going to Berlin

     Spring 2010 is finally over. Graduation season has come to a close. Finally I have time to do some long overdue editing. Also after a very busy graduation season I am at the end of my editing, processing, E-mailing and mailing photos of now gator Alumni.
     In an attempt to gain more experience on my endeavor to becoming a photojournalist I will be studying aboard in Berlin, Germany. My first time in Germany and I will be going to one of the most historical significant cities in the world. I have studied the history, a small amount of the language and viewed, via the internet, its culture. I do believe this is the most exciting trip I have taken yet.
   

For A Newsletter/Magazine

Fashion Forward of Gainesville Inc. was asked by the University of Florida's Association of Black Communicators to model for a spread in their magazine. Luckily, I know the president quite well and as the sole photographer of Fashion Forward I was selected to direct and shoot the pictures for the spread.

On a unseasonably cold Saturday morning, Feb. 13 to be exact, I dragged about nine models out to Lake Alice on UF's campus and got these shots.