What I saw and observed in Berlin
...and why I want to come back!
At first I didn't like the city very much. I went there with an American mindset, thinking that Europe would be perfect and delicate. It was a bit cold and windy on the first day, which may have interfered a bit. But from the second day onwards the weather cleared up, and I got the hang of it.
I took the X-Pro3 and the 23mm f2. This is a lens I had when I bought the camera, but I sold it to a friend to buy a 16mm. I missed it and bought it again, because I think it is one of the best lenses for street photography. Not too far, not too close, it’s the equivalent to a 35mm in a “full-frame” sensor size. I think I would have taken good photos with the 16mm too, but I ended up not taking it so I wouldn't have to carry a lens in addition to the one on the camera.
The main purpose of my trip was to go to the Roger Waters concert at the Mercedes Benz arena. My friend Kate works with him and I got to see her working too, it was super cool! I took 5 days off to do this unmissable event, and of course I took a lot of pictures, it was a solo trip, and of the 450 photos, I got many bangers.
All the photos you'll see in this post are JPGs straight from the camera, none edited other than cropping. I used the FUJI X Weekly film recipe for Kodachrome 64 a lot and if I'm not mistaken another one for Velvia, for when the temperature was hotter and I wanted to cool down. The year was 2023, and I was already flerting with film photography with a rangefinder digital camera and no LCD screen.
For street photography, I used the technique of placing the camera on my shoulder and taking photos using the Fujifilm mobile app.
For those who saw me on the street, I appeared like this, a guy using his cell phone, but with the camera to the side, seeing everything on my cell phone screen through the camera sensor. I think that if there is an advantage on doing digital photography, it’s the fact we can explore the most modern things technology can offer us.
Sympathy / anonymous smiles / public displays of affection
This really took me by surprise. As a Brazilian, I arrived thinking that Germans would not be very friendly. Not only did I not hear anyone shouting (or honking) during the five days I was there, I saw several public displays of affection and knowing smiles. This was so obvious, so obvious, that I managed to photograph scenes like this in a space of 20 minutes while I was wandering around doing street photography, just imagine! And that's how some of my favorite photos came out!
Bicycles / transport / respect for cyclists
This is obvious. There is no debate. Cyclists are always in the right, and there are special traffic signs for cyclists (you can see some of them in the photos). Cyclists also respect traffic rules, and there are bicycles everywhere. I don't think I've ever seen so many bikes in my life.
(I’ve never been to Amsterdan).
No cars horning / almost zero traffic / good public transportation system with trains
For those coming from NYC, I must admit that it was a huge relief not having to wear noise-canceling headphones all the time. The ambulance sirens are quite loud, but ambulances don't come all the time. Public transportation works very well, with several little trains running through the city, and I didn't see any traffic either!
Large architecture / wide squares / huge buildings
Visually polluted mini galleries / postings
At first I was carried away by negativity when I saw the visual pollution, but then I realized that things are not dirty, they are just very graffitied and have lots of posters and stickers stuck everywhere.
Dead ends between buildings
I think this comes from European architecture, the fact that there are not many wide avenues in the heart of the city causes crossings under buildings, which are often explored by bars and art exhibitions with urban interventions.
Top coffees / qualified baristas
All, absolutely all, of the machiattos I had had the perfect texture and milk temperature. And there, if you order a machiatto, you get an espresso with milk foam on top, a predominantly espresso drink. To get the machiatto that they have in the US, I had to order a cortado (which is the right thing to do, actually).
Urban comfort / observation
Again, I think this is typical of Europe in general (although I didn't get that impression when I went to Porto and Lisbon). But it is related to the previous point, to the point that the arrangement of the chairs at the tables on the sidewalk are not facing each other, but rather all facing the street, it's as if there was an imaginary urban parade going on. And I saw an incredible scene of a girl sitting in the window with people below. An Austrian friend of mine said that it is very common for Europeans to sit in the window like that!
People also don’t kick you out when you’re idling on a table. As a New Yorker, this was something that really caught my attention, maybe because I come from the most capitalist place in the world where time is money. You can literally sit in a coffee shop for hours and no one will bother you. I can attest to this because I sat there looking at the photos on the camera, without asking for anything to snack on or drink.
Castle-style buildings
I think this comes from the time when things were built, I saw many buildings that look like a classic capitol.
Graffiti / visual saturation / street art
This scared me at first because I associated it with dirt, but then I understood the cultural scene and urban interventions. There's a photo I took of a public telephone that literally looks like a telephone from a cyberpunk movie.
Anti-Nazi/Anti-War Culture
It’s clear to see that this is still a topic there. And no wonder…
I hope it stays like that, I saw these in 2023, and we are in 2025 now…
Culture of complaining/snorting (I found myself)
I got a BULLSHIT from the hotel breakfast lady, just because I put a French roll in the toaster. A friend of mine told me that this is very typical of Germans, they create their own mechanisms and trust them blindly, and they don't adapt the user experience of their systems if something goes wrong, it's always someone else's fault (this aligns a bit with the topic above that they don't have a culture of customer obsession there).
Parts of the Berlin Wall scattered
In several parts of Berlin you can see pieces of the famous wall. There is a tourist attraction called Topology of Chaos, which tells a bit of the story, but the wall spreads across the entire city. There are more documentary parts, but a large part of the wall has, guess what? Graffiti, art, and urban intervention, lol.
Privacy awareness / difficulty of street photography
There was a time when I went to a café and spent about 10 minutes chatting with the barista about coffee. I told him I was Brazilian and that I was also a barista. The conversation was wonderful. I was looking for a cool photo of him making a coffee or something like that (photographer stuff, lol), and at the end of the conversation I went up to him and said, “Can I take a photo to put in my 5-star review on Google Maps?” The guy replied, “Of course you can, but please don’t put me in the photo.”
I also noticed that everyone was more aware of this issue. If you look closely at the street photos, you’ll notice that some people were looking at my camera, even though it was practically hidden under my arm. There was one photo I took where even a baby was looking at the camera, lol! I think this has to do with the privacy issue, which is reflected in the digital laws innovated by the European Parliament!
Polizei always in groups of 4+
The police never travel alone. There are no police cars. There is a van with 5 or 8 police officers inside. I have never seen a police officer alone (or in pairs) at any time.
Sacred respect for demonstrations and freedom of expression (with the proper limits) / politics
Maybe I saw this because I went to a Roger Waters concert, and there was a demonstration going on in front of it in support of Roger. The police were there to protect them, and there was no fuss. His Frankfurt concert was canceled because of a character he plays, and a court overturned the decision. In the image you see FCK AFD, AFD is a German far-right party.
Women without makeup
This really caught my attention too. I don't think I saw any women wearing makeup, at most lipstick (note that I'm not judging anything, just observing). These photos all have a really good street photography feel.
Gothic / Punk Culture
I saw more men wearing makeup than women! The gothic culture and the presence of things like leather pants and the color black are very striking, especially when I went to less touristy places, like underground galleries and the subway.
Low consumerism / weak stores / no desire to buy
I didn't feel like buying anything, there wasn't the pressure to consumerism like there is in the US. There were simple items in the stores, and few shop windows with promotional offers. It's so rare that I even took a picture when I saw one.
Horrible and ugly souvenirs that say “BERLIN” in the worst font /colors possible
Honestly, I thought the souvenirs were horrible, lol. It's not that they're cheap stuff made in China, it's just in bad taste. I didn't even take pictures, lol. I had a hard time finding a cool fridge magnet.
Berlin has a little green figure that is the city's mascot. It looks like the green pedestrian signal symbol, but the thing has no charisma whatsoever, lol. It's the silhouette of a green figure walking to the left. I think that in the US, capitalism has already realized that these things don't sell, so the souvenirs are more elaborate (but of lower quality, it's worth remembering).