Ping-Ponging around Berlin
Students watch as Agence France Presse’s John MacDougall speaks about photojournalism in Berlin.
The day really began with a discussion with the AFP’s John MacDougall on working as a wire photographer in today’s environment. He shared with students that the variety of events he covers is what keeps him going. A few groups split up for the evening, and I accompanied the optional trip to Mercedes World and the shopping area around KaDeWe in West Berlin. The church that was left as a memorial to the Second World War now stands in a wrap of scaffolding that makes it appear to be a narrow office building, ending some of the tourist attraction for the moment. We finished the evening at Dr. Pong in the former east. The unique bar features a single ping-pong table that the entire bar rotates around until only two players are left. They then play a normal game of ping-pong.
John MacDougall of Agence France Presse speaks to students about photojournalism.
John MacDougall explains one of his photographs to students in Berlin.
Visitors at Mercedes World in Berlin.
A train crosses a bridge on the edge of the Tiergarten in Berlin.
A student photographs love locks on a bridge bordering the Berlin Zoo in the Tiergarten in Berlin.
The Schleusen Krug beer garden in the Tiergarten in Berlin.
A pedestrian passes a window display at KaDeWe, said to be Europe’s largest department store, in Berlin.
A passenger at Wittenbergplatz U-Bahn station in Berlin.
Players rotate around the table during the early stage of a ping-pong game at Dr. Pong in Berlin.
A graffiti-covered cigarette machine at Dr. Pong in Berlin.
Players during ping-pong game at Dr. Pong in Berlin.
The City of Culture
A skateboarder walks through the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin.
With 12 hours of walking clocked in on my feet, we finished the tour portion of the trip. Students were introduced to some of the heavier tourist areas today, with stops on Museum Island, the Brandenburg Gate area and Checkpoint Charlie. Berlin’s Carnival of Cultures parade took up the evening, a massive undertaking that moves slowly over hours down a relatively short parade route. In contrast to New York, where almost every group has their own parade day, Berlin shares them all in a four-day festival. The crowd on the streets was immense and it took walking blocks away from the route for it to thin. With no open container law in Berlin, alcohol was as much a part of the festival as most gatherings here. The side effect was streets littered with broken glass bottles. Students are starting to line up subjects for their projects and will begin shooting in earnest soon.
A boy plays on the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, with the TV Tower in background, in Berlin.
A visitor stands in light coming through the oculus of the Neue Wache, which houses a war memorial, in Berlin.
Dancers with a Bolivian group perform during the Carnival of Cultures parade in Berlin.
Glass bottles and trash litter a curb during the Carnival of Cultures parade in Berlin.
Park-goers relax at the base of a waterfall hill in Viktoriapark in Berlin.
A crowd watches the sun set in front of the National monument for the Liberation Wars atop a hill in Viktoriapark in Berlin.
A Rain-soaked Ride in Berlin
Rain can be very exciting to ride in, but that’s usually when I’m on a dirt trail and not helping 20 students move through a crowded city. For our second day, we took the students on a tour with Fat Tire Bike Tours to add to their knowledge of Berlin. Despite the steady rain and cold gusts, everyone kept their spirits up and we completed the ride with only a few spills. Tomorrow completes the introduction to the city with a walking tour, and then students will begin their multimedia projects.
Students talk to our guide, Sophie, before the start of the tour at the base of the TV Tower in Alexanderplatz.
A student stretches her feet before the ride.
A graffiti mural at Urban Spree in Berlin.
Cans of spray paint become artwork in their own right at Urban Spree in Berlin.
A visitor checks out artwork by Etienne Pottier at his exhibition They Live at the Urban Spree Galerie in Berlin.
A visitor at Urban Spree in Berlin.
Rain-soaked students talk to the guide while taking refuge from the weather on the Oberbaum Bridge in Berlin.
This year’s study abroad group outside the Berghain nightclub in Berlin.
Wheels Down in Berlin
Students pass the fairy tale fountain as they leave the Volkspark Friedrichshain in Berlin.
The students are assembled in Berlin and today we ventured out to the Volkspark Friedrichshain down the road from our hostel as way to burn some of the jet lag off our leg before the planned trips. The park was blanketed in pollen from dandelions, like an allergy-causing snow. It was a very enchanting sight until the volume hit even those of us without allergies. We followed up with a visit to the Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Strasse. It’s one of the last intact sections in Berlin and has been preserved for the future. Tomorrow begins the first set of tours for students get a deeper feel for the city.
Students photograph pollen at the tall bunker mountain, made up of debris from the Second World War, at the Volkspark Friedrichshain in Berlin.
Mounds of pollen along a path in the Volkspark Friedrichshain in Berlin.
Students photograph Chapel of Reconciliation, right, built where the Reconciliation Church was destroyed in the Berlin Wall’s no man’s land, at the Berlin Wall Memorial.
Students photograph the Window of Remembrance at the Berlin Wall Memorial.
Pieces of the Berlin Wall that were removed to check for Second World War-era graves stand at the Berlin Wall Memorial.
Back to Berlin
I’ll be heading back to Berlin with the University of Florida Photojournalism program on Thursday as a teaching assistant for this year’s study abroad trip. I took part in the program as a student in 2008 and hope to catch a new view of the city on my return. The students’ photo blogs for the trip can be found here. I’ll be working with them on their photo projects throughout the trip. I’ll also be updating my personal work here.
Engineering an Event
Every semester I photograph design and final reviews for the IPPD program at the University of Florida. It’s one of those events where most of the interesting visuals are being displayed on Power Point slides. So while also I record the teams presenting, the best images are made away from the projectors.
Chicago, Briefly
Santa sits with children at the top of the John Hancock Center in Chicago.
A cold, wet and of course, windy, weekend in Chicago kept me off the streets more than I would have liked. The visit was highlighted with a revue at Second City, jazz at the Green Mill and reconnecting with friends working in the city’s journalism world.
Visitors look out over Chicago from the observation deck of the John Hancock Center.
Commuters wait under a heater for an evening train on the Red Line in Chicago.
A pedestrian looks in a window at dogs inside The Anti-Cruelty Society in Chicago.
Ping-pong in the basement of the Chicago Tribune building.
A small room with its own exterior windows that is accessed by a secret door and a staircase above a closet in the Chicago Tribune building. It is said to be a hideaway for Col. Robert McCormick, who led the Tribune when the building was constructed.
A damaged car sits near the city impound lot on Lower Wacker Drive in Chicago.
The Chicago skyline on the only sunny day of my visit, seen from the top of the Navy Pier ferris wheel.
Gainesville Unicycle Festival
The Gainesville Unicycle Unit hosted its first unicycle festival during a Florida football bye weekend. Joined by a club from Florida State, the unicyclists spent the afternoon racing, jousting and in a polo match. I caught the polo and jousting matches, and there was some nice light to play with in the shade under the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
Lionel Batiste Jazz Funeral
James Andrews plays trumpet during a jazz funeral for Lionel Batiste in New Orleans, July 20, 2012.
Lively musical tributes to the dead are a long New Orleans tradition. When Lionel Batiste died on July 8 at 82, some in the Treme neighborhood sought to make his celebration one of the grandest. The unusual step was taken to embalm him standing for his viewing. Two weeks of celebrations of the life of Batiste, who was a member of the Treme Brass Band and a local jazz legend, culminated in his jazz funeral procession. Neighbors, friends and the curious joined musicians in a parade through the neighborhood to locations that Batiste had frequented in life.
Musicians play during a jazz funeral for Lionel Batiste in New Orleans.
A beer is poured on the ground during a jazz funeral for Lionel Batiste in New Orleans.
Lionel Batiste’s casket is carried out during a jazz funeral in New Orleans.
A pall bearer rests his hand on Lionel Batiste’s casket after carrying it to a hearse in New Orleans.
Participants dance during a jazz funeral for Lionel Batiste in New Orleans.
A participant in a jazz funeral for Lionel Batiste in New Orleans.
A man dances on a fence pillar during a jazz funeral for Lionel Batiste in New Orleans.
Spectators watch as a jazz funeral for Lionel Batiste passes in New Orleans.
A participant dances in a puddle outside the Candlelight Lounge in New Orleans.
A mural of Lionel Batiste outside the Candlelight Lounge in New Orleans.
Residents watch as a jazz funeral procession for Lionel Batiste passes their home in New Orleans.
A spectator records with a camera from one of the many puddles that plagued the route of the jazz funeral procession for Lionel Batiste in New Orleans.
A participant holds a portrait of Lionel Batiste during a jazz funeral procession in New Orleans.
Micanopy Fourth of July Parade
Participants in the Fourth of July Parade in Micanopy, Fla.
The Fourth of July Parade in Micanopy, Fla., has a small-town charm to it and is only minutes away from Gainesville. It made for a great stop-off before heading to work on the holiday.
A woman kisses a veteran taking part in the Fourth of July Parade in Micanopy, Fla.
Participants throw candy from a truck bed converted into a pool during the Fourth of July Parade in Micanopy, Fla.
Children wave American flags during the Fourth of July Parade in Micanopy, Fla.
A participant rides during the Fourth of July Parade in Micanopy, Fla.
A dog along for the ride looks out from a car during the Fourth of July Parade in Micanopy, Fla.
A participant drives an antique car in the Fourth of July Parade in Micanopy, Fla.
Children watch as horses pass in the Fourth of July Parade in Micanopy, Fla.
Participants throw candy from a pool in the back of a truck during the Fourth of July Parade in Micanopy, Fla.
The Fourth of July Parade concluded with a fish fry in Micanopy, Fla.
A man drinks a soda next to a Coca Cola advertisement during the Fourth of July Parade in Micanopy, Fla.
