Author: Sally Wakelin

Germany – Divided and Reunified

Architecture

border

Drei Linden, or Checkpoint Bravo as it was also known, on the motorway between Berlin Tergel airport and the former East Germany. No doubt originally unpainted concrete, the current funfair colouring, red with blue windows belies its former grim purpose.

Kasseturm

Part of the medieval fortified walls of Weimar, this tower is now a club for students.

Kasseturm club

This sign is made from Corten steel the lettering cut out by water-jet. Space below is left for chalking up the day’s events.

These two empty apartment blocks, in Weimar and Dessau respectively are run down, abandoned, no-one wants to live in them. It is a problem in both of these cities, their populations have diminished dramatically since re-unification, especially in Dessau where more than a third of the population have left, mostly those in their middle years.

Weimar social housing

Dessau social housing

There is still a marked difference between the shops and goods in former East Germany compared to the former West Germany. Weimar shopping streets are quiet, there are no crowds, the shops are not commercialised , there are few advertising boards, no neon signs,  just shopkeepers and shoppers quietly going about their business.

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Weimar is an historic cultured town, hardly damaged during the war, whereas Dessau lost a great many buildings and so, much of its current architecture is of the Eastern Block brutalist model. There is a steady programme of transformation to create more desirable dwellings, adding balconies and colour to the flat grey facades and re-fitting the interiors.

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The addition of a new lighting plan has transformed this vast grey arcade in one of the Brutalist East German buildings.

Modernised Weimar

One of the last remaining stretches of wall at Niederkichenerstrasse has been preserved and the cells on the east side in the basements of the SS and Gestapo headquarters, have been exposed. It is a chilling place.

Berlin Wall

The Topographie Des Terrors is an exhibition pavilion, documenting the history of the place. architect Ursula Wilms (Heinle, Wischer und Partner, Berlin) and the landscape architect Heinz W. Hallmann (Aachen) An extraordinary building where numerous horizontal bars both inside and outside filter and fracture light creating an ethereal quality.

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I noticed this man determined to take his “selfie” against the  “Wall”, in some ways it seemed disrespectful but who am I to pass judgement, having the privilege of being free all my life.
selfie

Finally here is Checkpoint Charlie, a replica, the original wooden building is now preserved elsewhere but it was here, at this very point where the first East Berliners crossed legally to freedom in West Berlin into the US Sector at 10:45pm on 9th November 1989.

Checkpoint Charlie
Checkpoint Charlie copyright Adrian Purser

Freddie Darke (illustrator) – Boz and the Boy

Art, Writing

Boz and the Boy

It is March 1837. A young, heavily mortgaged Charles Dickens has newfound fame to nurture, and a family to feed. One ill-fated day, a chance encounter and a single act of kindness together leave ‘Boz’ bereft of his precious ‘mems’ – his author’s notes for a new novel, entitled Oliver Twist.
A nano-novel written by Kevin Millicheap and illustrated by  Freddie Darke, is now published and available for Kindle.

This is an interesting way to read a story, akin to wandering around Dickensian London in the bustling half-dark, taking turnings at random and coming upon unexpected scenes. The notion of reading a story from two points of view at the same time is cleverly set up, and the illustrations are a delight. Freddie’s black and white drawings are filled with detail and touches of accent colour. To quote Proving House Digital‘s press release “Freddie Darke’s perfectly judged illustrations. . .  born out of shadowy caricature, yet subtly communicating the  ambiguity of human emotions … transport the reader to the secret passageways, louche inns and tricksy nooks and crannies of Dickensian London

Even if you don’t own a Kindle, you can download the free software to read the book on your computer.
Go on – buy a copy – you know you want to see and read more.

Boz and the Boy

The Chops
The Chops and Gin

Weekly Photo Challenge: Horizon

Photography, Writing

Horizon

For the first time I braved the challenge of walking down Snowdon, I had taken the train up but walked down via the Pyg track. It was a scorching day in late July, I was with four friends, all probably fitter than I. It started off well enough, the views were spectacular, I had plenty of water and the route was well known to our leader, I was enjoying it immensely. But after a long tiring struggle – downwards walking is so hard on the knees – I was enjoying it a lot less.  Using the last of my energy I pushed on a bit faster, to end the seemingly interminable descent a little quicker. I lost sight of the others but sensibly stopped and waited. The sun was behind Snowdon and the light was falling across the ridge, I hoped I might just be able to take a good photograph as one or other of them appeared over the intermediate horizon.

I was pleased when the first one to appear was wearing a wide-brimmed hat, silhouetted against the light. Just seconds later the composition might have been spoiled by the appearance of two other walkers following behind, in fact the tops of their heads are just visible, catching the sunlight to the right.

The rest of the descent took another hour, nearly five in all but well worth it for the exhilaration, the views and that one photograph.

A Woman in Contemplation

People, Photography

On the upper level of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul you can look out through windows, guarded by a fine mesh to keep out the birds, towards a gilded spire. It is pretty dark inside with inky shadows set against the intensely blue sky outside. Photographically it was a challenge to get the balance of light right so that one can see into the shadows without losing sight of the spire.

I took many photos on different settings trying to replicate what I could actually see by just looking at the scene. Whilst peering through the tiny viewfinder, I was not fully aware of the figure who had stopped in front of me, I didn’t see her properly until I reviewed the photos later on a computer. She appears to be a serene figure in contemplation of this great spiritual place, head bowed as though in prayer, the sun lighting up  the top of her red scarf and her right hand. The scene has something of the Caravaggio Chiaroscuro style of painting about it.Hagia Sophia dark

I liked the image so much I began to adjust it slightly for exposure and began to see a very different scenario developing from the shadows. The atmosphere and mood changes utterly once the shadows are lightened, only then you can see the Smurf toy attached to the woman’s backpack. It changes from a study of spiritual contemplation into  just another one of the thousands of mildly curious tourists who pass through the Hagia Sophia every day, perhaps just stepping back off a bench and looking down for her foothold, after trying to peer out of the window. Nothing is as it first seemed.Hagia Sophia