East Side Gallery: How to Make Photos Of Stunning Street Art
This portrait is a wonderful example of Street Art at the East Side Gallery in Berlin, Germany.
East Side Gallery
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At 1,316 meters long the East Side Gallery is a popular tourist destination in Berlin. Once I decided to travel to Berlin it became important to include a visit to the East Side Gallery in my itinerary. And I’m so glad that I did. The quality, diversity and historic relevance of the street art on display is simply stunning.
The East Side Gallery is located on Mühlenstrabe in the central Berlin district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg. Founded in 1989 and completely renovated during 2009 receiving over 800,000 visitors per year, the East Side Gallery is visually interesting and historically significant site.
The above photo is a good example of the wonderful street art on display at Berlin’s East Side Gallery. The contemplative nature of the figure depicted presents an interesting counterpoint with the bold style of the painting.
In this part of Berlin, the actual border between East and West German was the River Spree, literarily a stone’s throw away from the East Side Gallery.
Given the absolutely stunning quality of the street art on display, I’d certainly recommend an extended exploration, with camera in hand, of the wonderful East Side Gallery.
What’s more, visiting this important historical site is a time capsule that showcases the irrevocable desire East German citizens felt for freedom and the end of the repressive existance they were forced to endure under the totalitarian former East German state.
Prepare yourself for highly symbolic and visually dynamic street art. Full of message and meaning, these simple works speak of the desire for freedom experienced by East Germans suffering under the yoke of a soviet-sponsored state.
The artist Birgit Kinder's painting of a soviet manufactured Trabant car breaking through the Berlin Wall shows a license plate displaying the date the wall fell.
This photo showcases a great example of street art from the East Side Gallery. Featuring a Trabant, better known as a Trabi, which was a popular vehicle in the former soviet occupied East Germany.
While not a terribly reliable car, it was considered a source of freedom for folks on that side of the border.
The artist Birgit Kinder chose to depict the Trabi breaking through a wall. But not just any wall.
Notice that the licence plate on the Trabant shows the date November 9, 1989.
That’s the actual date the Berlin Wall finally fell and Kinder’s famous street art symbolizes the freedom that iconic event represented for many thousands of East German citizens.
The dynamic moment of the car busting through the wall is juxtaposed against the muted gray and orange colors of the Trabi and the surrounding cool aqua colored wall.
I’m not sure if the aqua color represents the sky, and it’s association with freedom, transitions out of the dark, indigo blue of night expressing the dash for freedom for the individual silhouetted behind the wheel of the vehicle.
This excellent example of street art at the East Side Gallery in Berlin, Germany is a painting by Kani Alavi, an Iranian born artist depicting people breaking through the wall.
Here’s photo Likewise, the above photo showcasing a more openly expressive painting by artist Kani Alavi, an Iranian who moved to West Berlin in 1980.
Alavi’s painting depicts faces breaking through the wall.
I find it to be a particularly poignant image, particularly as most of the faces appear to be expressing relatively neutral emotions.
Perhaps there’s a suggest of the sameness of life for East German citizens at the time.
Other faces appear to display quite negative emotions, no doubt representing the anxiety associated with their ordeal.
Once again, the sense of movement is suggested as the faces emerge through the barrier that had previously separated Germans on either side of the border.
That separate was multifaceted.
Two disparate states, encompassing two very different political and economic systems. One system that celebrated freedom of expression and rewarded hard work and entrepreneurial endeavors. The other, demanding loyalty and actively suppressing thinking and .
The Power of Great Street Art
Great street art serves numerous purposes. It enlivens and renews urban environments, it visually engages folks passing by and promotes thought and from
It the case of Berlin’s East Side Gallery, the large and comprehensive collection of street art on display showcases the skill of the artists involved and their ability to tell the story of relations between east and west and this most crucial time in history.
While German continues to face all manner of challenges, the advancements that have come to this great nation since the Berlin Wall fell and the former West German Federation and East German states reunited should not be forgotten.
And a visit to the East Side Gallery in Berlin provides a great reminder of just how far this great country has come.
