Hamburg – Berlin – Germany

Only 4 months ago, but this trip now feels like a lifetime ago.

Germany was gorgeous, the cities felt new and modern, but still had so much reverence for the past as well as acknowledgment of its complex history. We could learn so much from them. We can’t regale the atrocities of the past as footnotes. We will be destined to repeat them.

I think back to this trip and get flashes of memories.  The delayed trains, jumping from one platform to another, and back again. The lovely Ukrainian lady helped translate the train announcements for us. And coincidentally, at one point lived in LA and knew of Disneyland, Anaheim, and Santa Ana. The sudden downpour rain in Hamburg left us soaked only to be left with the most beautiful sun the next day. The group of students who finished exams, and were walking the streets cheering loudly on a beer crawl. The Romanian tour guide at Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp told us at the end of the tour, that we should reward ourselves with a cold beer after spending all day learning about German history. The atrocities at Sachsenhausen, the unimaginable atrocities that left you breathless and just pondering how we could do such evil things to each other. The exuberant police presence at a train station. Like 20 cop vehicles, dozens of uniform officers, and plainclothes officers. As an American, my mind wonders about the worst, a mass shooting. Come to find out it was a soccer hooligan brawl that broke out maybe 1 hour before we arrive at the train station. Finding a Mexican food restaurant in Berlin. A legit Mexican food restaurant. You walk and hear Luis Miguel being played, and you know it’s gonna be good. Transplants from San Francisco, now have a popular and booming restaurant. Shoutout Dolores. Just a glimpse of the memories that come to mind when I think of Germany. Forever grateful for being curious and for the people that nurture my curiosity my whole life. They mean the world to me.

All images were made with a Leica M10 and Leica M6. Film scans by Rewind Film Lab.