backyard discoveries © Lilly Schwartz 2011
When I was a teenager I once read a book by Wolfgang Hohlbein called Dreizehn, i.e. German for 13. It’s about a 13 year old girl (oh surprise …) who happens to find a door to another dimension and is stuck on the other side in a creepy house. The story is somehow connected to the Pied Piper of Hamelin and I only vaguely remember the whole story of the book. I do remember enjoying it very much though and I was listening to one of the old albums of Die Ärzte back then. It somehow fit very well to the mood of the book. The album had an awfully awesome picture of Bela B – their drummer – in the booklet which would just haunt me! Well, you know how teenagers are …
Yesterday’s picture was taken in a backyard just 2 blocks from here and it is a good example for the curious fact that in Berlin you just need to keep your eyes open and you’ll find something strange and interesting to take pictures of. You might have also noticed lots of brick buildings in my photos and that is because Berlin is just full of them. Especially in the backyards where the facades are in bad shape you can see that many buildings are built with brick stones even if they don’t look like it from the outside. Secretly maybe all of them are made from brick, you’ll never know without drilling a hole!
The photo just reminded me of the Hohlbein book since there is this strange gateway painted onto the facade of the building. I immediately remembered Bela B and the photo in the booklet, so I put on this album called Im Schatten der Ärzte to remember better how it felt like back then. It’s strange how easily we become obsessed with something as teenagers. And shortly after we lose interest and forget completely that we ever were this taken. Then one day looking at a picture or listening to some music we are catapulted back into our past and get a hint of what it must have been like back then.
And one day I will look at a picture or listen to some music that will remind me of how it was to wander through the backyards of Berlin to take photos.
I’m always fascinated by images that explore a ‘history’ of a place… or the passage of time. Really makes you wonder (if only those walls could talk, right?)! Very nicely done! 🙂
Well, Berlin is a place with lots of history. I don’t think that nowadays you can still find buildings with holes from the war, but 20 years ago you could. Still, in comparison Berlin has many many very old buildings. In the west they were mostly torn down in the 50’s and 60’s. Such a shame …
a great capture – and a good read. thanks for sharing.
Thanks for stopping by 🙂