black-and-white Entry Reserved

Exploring Leipzig (eastern Germany) a year after the Berlin Wall was

opened, I was struck by how the city felt frozen in time. Sights you

wouldn't have seen in the West for decades were common: people pushing

wheelbarrows of coal through the sidewalks, soot-covered chimney

sweeps walking around with their brushes, battered old trolleys

clattering down cobblestoned streets, and the odd 1945 war ruin. East

Berlin still had plenty of war-ravaged neighborhoods left too, but

they were somewhat offset by the monumental socialist governmental

buildings and apartment blocks which had been put up along the main

streets.

I took a lot of photos in Leipzig (I'll upload some more in the

future), but I keep coming back to this one. Eleven years later, I

think it recalls a now-distant central Europe of worn-down cities

where spies lurk in dark streets. I'm curious whether others think it

works both as historical glimpse and on its own -- particularly the

composition with the windblown newspaper on the ground. (Note that

I've previously printed this with a tighter crop, removing the darker

areas on ths sides and a little on top.)

I love the tonality in this image, harsh and rich at the same time. Not something that I've seen before from TMY, did you push the development?

This is great photog work!

Ich mag es. Die Gebäuden sehen ganz unfreundlich aus, man kann auch von dem Mann sehen, daß es kalt ist, und die Kontrast zwischen den beleuchteten Seiten des Gebäudes und die Schatten am Rand des Bildes verstärkt dieses kalte unfreundliche Gefühl.

Diese Photo steigt aber in Bedeutung mit Ihrer Erklärung von der Geschichte hinter dem Bild - es würde mich interessieren, anderen Photos zu sehen, die die Erlebnissen von Leipzig nach der Wiedervereinigung darstellen.

Hi--

The development was not pushed; if I recall correctly this would have been shot with the film rated at 400 ASA, and developed in T-Max developer with the standard dilution in a handheld inversion tank.

OK, my German is pretty rusty but let me try to translate this (please correct any errors, Oliver!).

"I like it. The buildings appear very unfriendly; one can also see from the man that it is cold, and the contrast between the lit sides of the buildings and the shadows on the periphery of the picture intensifies this cold, unfriendly feeling.

"This photo climbs (?) in meaning, though, with your explanation of the history behind the photo -- I would be very interested in seeing more photos which show the experience (?) of Leipzig after the reunification."

To answer this, I do have a few more shots I'm planning to post (a couple in color), but it might take me a few weeks or so.

This oozes atmosphere - the tones, the blunt, massive, dark corner work, the smeared Kommando to NOT block the entry, and the slightly ominous, diminutive pedestrian by the heavy spiked doors.

Ausgezeichnet!

Hi Eric, that's a pretty good translation. Sorry about the language thing, when I saw your comment about photos from Leipzig combined with your last name, I assumed you were German.

Looking forward to seeing the rest,