A berliner portrait

A Ber liner portrait

By German Palomeque

I felt the need to know where these people were heading.

How their day had been. What was concerning them.

What were their stories. And I finally started approaching these strangers.

Some of them were shy, others more open to talk.

Here to travel Europe. His next stop was Porto.

He was waiting for her and convinced her not to get on the train when it arrived. It would have been another 9 minutes till the next one.

She’d just come from Kit Kat. She wanted to take a photo of me taking photos. She blew me kisses as her train pulled away.

I asked about their outfits, they said they were just for fun. He was really happy to be photographed. When I took his photo, he taunted his friend: “He asked me, not you!�

Then I invited the Panda too.

from Russia. He was looking for couch-surfing options and for somewhere nice to go. I suggested Potsdam - he went straight in that direction right away.

She’d been partying all weekend and was hungover now, and not feeling very motivated. But she said she had to study. She had her notes with her for the train.

On her way to a barbeque with friends.

He was going home, but beyond that I couldn’t get more information. He didn’t want to talk about his personal life.

Too tired to speak, even though it was midday.

A Russian guy had hit him while watching a world cup match, gaving him the scar on his head. He didn’t talk about the scars on his nose.

He was holding his grandma’s hand. I asked if they spoke English and she said he did. They were in a rush, but I got the photo of him. “That was quick,” she remarked

He’d just lost his phone in a taxi. Drunk, but happy, on his way to meet his friend. He had to wait a while for me to take his photo, because I had to change the roll of film. He didn’t mind: “You help me, I help you.” He even stayed and tried to help me convince people to be photographed but he was a bit brutal, he kept grabbing people by their hands. “Not very easy huh?”

...But he did convince her. She’d just come from a second date with a guy. He translated for me. “Why don’t you take one photo of her for you,” he said “and give one to her?” That’s what I did.

She seemed to like it.

Her name was Beverly. Of course I asked: “Like Beverly Hills?�

Then I apologized.

Both of them were from England, on their last night of holidays in Berlin, and had just come from C/0 Berlin.

As he hung up the phone, he told me what’d just happened “I just got fired. I don’t know what to do now.

Do I ask for my job back, do I just forget about it?”

I advised him to go for a beer with his friend for now.

A tile craftsman. He rooted for Argentina in the World Cup, or he said so after I told him where I was from.

She didn’t have much to say. She reminded me a little of my ex girlfriend.

He was excited because Brazil had won the match against Serbia hours before. As I was leaving he invited me to Que Pasa to celebrate. He hugged me before he left.

He knew the woman with the dog. They were both moving quickly. At first he didn’t want to take the photo.

At first she passed me, but she came back to ask me about the project. She was working on a film about a band here in Berlin.

He came from Alaska to travel the world. Eagerly he told me about all the places he’d already seen in Europe. Finally, he said, he was starting to enjoy his life. He runs a brewery in Alaska and gave me a sticker from the company: a bear sipping a beer.

Firstly he told me he had no time, then he came back. He looked straightforward and honest, right into the camera. He felt like he might have been a good friend.

I noticed her headsets first and could faintly hear her music. She was chatting with someone on the phone who made her laugh.

There were tears at the edges of her eyes. I wanted to talk longer but there were too many people around. She watched me quietly for a while before she approached. I didn’t have to convince her to participate at all.

I was excited that I could explain about this project speaking Deutsch. I didn’t have to tell him much for him to seem interested. He was kind, and he left quickly.

He didn’t want to share much. After I took his picture he jumped into the U-bahn.

From Russia. I asked about his day and he told me about his healthy breakfast, yogurt with cereals, and that he went running too. He was energetic and happy and added me on facebook. He texted and told me I made his day.

He didn’t have much time but he agreed to be photographed. Later a friend recognized his photo - he was his hairdresser.

Immediately interested in my project.

Happy because she had just finished working for the day.

There was a constant smile on her face.

When I asked him if he had a minute for Kunst, he said “Die Flasche sind mein Kunst.” He looked at the pictures I had so far.

He told me I should go outdoors for my photos and criticized the normalcy of the people I’d already found.

Just moved to his new flat. He worked for an Italian newspaper and was excited about publishing his work one day.

Stressed with finals at Uni. He couldn’t wait till the semester was over so he could smoke a big joint.

A nurse from Spain. She started speaking with me and let the train pass to talk even longer. She told me she was living with her boyfriend, he’d lived here for five years but she had just arrived.

On his way to a drag queen show in Moscow.

Š 2018 German Palomeque Berlin, Germany.

All rights reserved.

This work is protected by German Palomeque www.germanpalomeque.com