Test, learn, debate: here’s what to expect at the third edition of Berlin Photo Week. Photo: Kolja Eckert
Between August 26 and September 4, Berlin Photo Week will be held for the third time. While the more well-known European Month of Photography revolves around artistic photography, Photo Week’s perspective is much broader: a colourful mix of product fairs, workshops, live shoots and exhibitions, aimed at a broad public.
The founders of the photo portal EyeEm – a successful player in the Berlin start-up scene – held the first Photo Week in the supermarket on Jannowitzbrücke in 2018. The next year, a larger version followed at the Heizkraftwerk on Köpenicker Straße. This year, Messe Berlin is on board as the third partner, and Photo Week now operates as a limited liability company.
Photography as a creative tool
“We want to present photography as a creative tool – in a world where producing images is fully integrated into everyday life,” says Wolfgang Heinen, managing director of Berlin Photo Week. “But because the classic camera has been displaced in numbers by the mobile phone, we have to find new ways to convey the fascination of photography.”
For example, visitors can take photos with cameras and smartphones from well-known brands in so-called Funplaces. They also have the opportunity to observe well-known photographers – such as Ava Pivot or Sallyhateswing – at work on the set.
After all, good photos always tell their own stories about the times in which they were taken. For example, about the sites of the Berlin Wall in the past and today, about the architecture of the city or even about Berlin humour.
Evening photo shoots by the pool
The many workshops including night shooting and photowalks through the city. Panel discussions deal with topics such as copyright and the marketing of photography in galleries. And, of course, there are exhibitions, such as the show of the work of experimental Berlin photographer Heinz Hajek-Halke at Chaussee 36 in Chausseestraße 36 in Mitte and the show on George Hoyningen-Huene, a classic of fashion photography, at Villa Grisebach in Fasanenstraße 25 in Charlottenburg.
