Posted on October 28th, 2008 in Art & Theory, Collodion Images, Collodion Workshops, Education, Europe | Leave A Comment
Berlin is redeemed.
The first visit I had to Berlin in April of this year (2008), wasn’t very good (if you’re real curious, look in April 2008 of this blog). It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy it, I just didn’t “get it”.
Berlin is one of those cities that you have to know to enjoy it. I would say it’s analogous to wine, it gets better with time. I’m not saying that three days in Berlin gave me the knowledge I needed to enjoy Berlin, I’m saying you can “piggy back” on friends that know the city, and that’s what I did.
Jessica and Steven (hosts of the workshop), showed us around the cool, artsy areas of Berlin. And yes, some of them looked like they were hit with an “art bomb” (thanks to Mike Doughty). We visited Kreuzberg, Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg and of course, Wedding (where the studio was and our apartment was). These are small (not really small in size, but concept) villages within Berlin. They are distinct in culture, and flavor too. We had dinner at places varied as Indian-Thai, Lebanese, and Italian. Art and “the other” all around us, all of the time.
We were walking down Oranienburger Str. and I look up and see these huge ornate gold balls/domes. I immediately recognize it as the New Synagogue. It’s really huge and really beautiful. The Synagogue was burned during Kristallnacht (November 9, 1938) but the blaze was put out before much damage was done. The Nazis occupied the building in 1940 and desecrated the Synagogue by using it for storage. The Nazis also destroyed the Jewish cemetery in Berlin. The Synagogue sustained severe damage by Allied bombs during the war and for years it was left as an empty shell. Restoration began in 1988 and the Synagogue was reopened on May 7, 1995, the 50th anniversary of the German surrender. Like many of the Synagogues it is guarded around the clock.
Jessica and Steven were incredibly kind and were great hosts. We had a wonderful time enjoying the sights, flavors and sounds of Berlin. It’s an amazing city if you know what you are doing.
Summer and I went to Berlin to do a workshop. Jessica attended one of my workshops in Barcelona and asked if I would do one in Berlin at her studio. Having had a marginal time in Berlin in April, I said, “yes!”. She did a lot of work to make it happen. We had four people in the workshop (including Jessica). Claire from London, Jan from Berlin and Steven from Berlin. Jessica and Steven are studio mates and are American. Claire is British and Jan is German. We had a lot of fun. I really enjoy the diversity and the personalities in these workshops.
SOME WORKSHOP PHOTOS
The group cleaning glass.
Claire making a portrait of Summer. That’s Steven crouching down (on the right). We had to open the windows for every exposure because the glass was UV protected - Collodion needs UV light to make a photograph.
A POP print (from a negative) I did of Jan. This was a 30 second exposure. I fixed in hypo, intensified with a very mild bleach and 15% AGNo3 solution and printed and toned on P.O.P. This was a demonstration on how to make negatives. His eyes in the print are striking!
Steven’s boy, Jaden. He was a great little model for Steven. This is a 5×7 Black Glass Ambrotype. It’s a beautiful plate, flaws and all.
Claire heats an 8×10 Black Glass Ambrotype to varnish it. This is another portrait of Jan. He was a great subject/sitter. This image was made right on the end of the UV for the day and has a very “dark” feeling - figuratively and literally - a very nice photograph.
Jessica looking over the day’s work.
Steven finishes the varnishing of his portrait.
Summer plays us out at the end of the workshop as Claire, Jan and Jessica look at, and talk about the photos.
Thank you Jessica, Steven, Jan and Claire. I really enjoyed my time in Berlin. I’m looking forward to a return visit.
Thank you Summer. You’re a wonderful wet-head assistant and a talented, intelligent, beautiful and creative human being. I couldn’t have done it without you. I love you.
Tags: berlin, germany, negatives, positives, wet plate collodion, workshop
Posted on October 23rd, 2008 in Europe | Leave A Comment
The German town of Görlitz is refusing to allow its Jewish community to hold its own ceremony marking Kristallnacht.
Instead, the only ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Kristallnacht pogrom will be held by the local Protestant church, which has traditionally focused on all victims of the Third Reich.
The small Jewish community had planned to bring a Torah scroll from Dresden into a newly renovated synagogue, which dates from 1909. It is the only synagogue to have survived Kristallnacht in the state of Saxony.
But the city insists that ceremonies must be secular and inclusive. The former synagogue was deconsecrated after the 1938 pogrom. Following its six-year renovation, the structure now has room for 230 guests.
“The city has canceled the entire event planned by the Jewish community and the Society for the Promotion of the Synagogue,” which was to include several performances and speeches, Alex Jacobowitz, cantor and chairman of the town’s tiny Jewish community, told JTA.
He insisted that the Jewish community’s program would be inclusive.
The Society for the Promotion of the Synagogue is a secular group authorized to hold ecumenical events in the building. It cooperates with the Jewish community. Now, only the ceremony run by the local Protestant church is still scheduled to take place in the building.
The city bought the synagogue from the remnant Dresden Jewish community in 1963, and then formally purchased it again from the Claims Conference after German unification, according to Jacobowitz, a musician who came from New York to Germany in 1991.
The approximately 30-member Jewish community has held services in a small sanctuary within the building for about a year, Jacobowitz said.
Story from JTA - http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/110844.html
Posted on October 22nd, 2008 in Europe | 2 Comments
A huge dumping ground for the destroyed remains of Jewish property plundered during Kristallnacht has been found north of Berlin by an investigative journalist.
The site, which is the size of four football pitches, in Brandenburg, contains an extensive array of personal and ceremonial items looted during orchestrated nationwide riots against Jewish property and places of worship on the night of November 9 1938. It is believed the goods were brought by rail to the outskirts of the village and dumped on designated land.
Yaron Svoray, the Israeli journalist who made the discovery, said it was a happy coincidence that he had stumbled across the artifacts so close to the 70th anniversary of the pogrom, also known as the Night of Broken Glass. (The Full Article Here - from The Guardian)
Photo: Jewish shops laid waste on Kristallnacht in 1938. Battmann/Corbis
I’m headed to Berlin Friday (24th Oct), I would really like to check this out. I doubt I could get anywhere near it though. I’m not even sure they’ve released the exact location yet. Here’s a video of Yaron talking about what he found.
Posted on October 20th, 2008 in Europe, Kristallnacht | Leave A Comment
This says, "We're Cleaning Up"
It’s disturbing, and a little bit scary, when I see these kinds of blatant displays of hate and racism in a country like this.
It’s from a political party here called “National Democratic Party”. One poll cites that the majority of the population in Germany considers the NPD to be undemocratic and damaging to the image of the country. The NPD is viewed by its opponents and the mainstream media as a de facto neo-Nazi organization. The party opposes the increasing number of non-whites, Jews, and Muslims living in Germany. Don’t misunderstand me, I think they should have the right to speak and express themselves. What I worry about is the fragility of this culture and inciting the people here. This is a very fragile place that way.
This poster says, “We’re Cleaning Up” and the other one says, “We’re Cleaning Up In Hessen“. We live in Hessen. Think about the metaphor of cleaning up as it relates to this history. And the sheep! Wow! I suppose they know their demographic.
I’m not saying that if I lived in the United States, my neighbors would be tolerant and peaceful. However, I wonder if I drove down the street in Littletown, USA if I would see something like this?
"We're Cleaning Up In Hessen"
We were walking down Oranienburger Str. and I look up and see these huge ornate gold balls/domes. I immediately recognize it as the New Synagogue. It’s really huge and really beautiful. The Synagogue was burned during Kristallnacht (November 9, 1938) but the blaze was put out before much damage was done. The Nazis occupied the building in 1940 and desecrated the Synagogue by using it for storage. The Nazis also destroyed the Jewish cemetery in Berlin. The Synagogue sustained severe damage by Allied bombs during the war and for years it was left as an empty shell. Restoration began in 1988 and the Synagogue was reopened on May 7, 1995, the 50th anniversary of the German surrender. Like many of the Synagogues it is guarded around the clock.
