Night life Berlin is the title of a great book of photos that tells the visual history of drinking, celebrating and dancing in Berlin from 1974 until today. Check out a preview after the jump.
The book starts with punk in West-Berlin. What we get to see: Christiane F. doing Tequila shots (not Heroin shots this time), David Bowie’s transsexual lover Romy Haag, Kippenberger and “Ratten-Jenny” (the punk that beat him up badly), Nick Cave, Marc Brandenburg as a young man with red hair, Rio Reiser, Blixa Bargeld, and many, many more.
By looking at the photos we then see how punk more and more disappears and how techno arises – by transforming punk in a way that was very typical for Berlin. Generally, the most beautiful thing about this book is that the focus is on underground culture. It is a book about punk and techno, not about the parties of the rich and famous.
This is not only a photo book. There is in fact a lot to read as well. The book features detailed texts by nightlife veterans such as Westbam, Christiane Rösinger and many more. My favourite text is Anton Waldt’s brilliant and extremely funny history of techno in Berlin in the early 1990s.
All photos in this book have a certain distinct charme. These are not glamorous promotion pictures. What we get to see are spontaneous and intimate snapshots, which gives you the feeling of looking at a strange family album.
Wolfgang Farkas, Stefanie Seidl, Heiko Zwirner (Hrsg.): Nachtleben Berlin 1974 bis heute
304 Seiten
36 EUR
http://metrolit.de
Photos: 1) Blixa Bargeld auf boot by Ilse Ruppert. 2) Clubparty by Stefanie Seidl 1976. 3) Sven Väth Loveparade 1992 by Ben de Biel. 4) Chromapark im E-Werk 1995 by Kay Itting. 5) Platz vorm Tresor Sonntagmorgen nach der Loveparade by Christian von Steffelin. 6) Photo: Ritter Butzke by Ben de Biel.
