Voyeur. Berlin. Kinky: KitKat Photographer Gili Shani Captures Kinky Berliners in their Homes

Voyeur. Berlin. Kinky: KitKat Photographer Gili Shani Captures Kinky Berliners in their Homes

photos: Gili Shani. 

After Berlin clubs closed their doors to their worshippers during the ongoing global pandemic, many kink lovers who found their refuge in these sanctuaries had to get more creative to maintain their inner desires. The legendary KitKat pool had to be replaced by our bathtubs and our music in compliance with the Hausordnung. The nascent lockdown rules were getting tougher and the end of the tunnel was getting more blurry along the way. 

During this difficult time, Gili Shani, the only person who was allowed to take photos at KitKat Club, photographed 250 people in their houses, who were willing to show their kink for his book Voyeur. Berlin. Kinky. He drove all around Berlin to capture these intimate moments inspired by the pre-pandemic kink scene. With a sexually suggestive front cover of a lower front tattoo that says “fuck”, the book is already promising. Through Shani’s lens, these domestic shots reflect nothing different from a moment in KitKat; a man in a harness kneeling before the camera and a domina ready to spank someone in another photo. After all, you can get the Berliner out of the club but you can not get the kink out of Berliners. 

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7 Awesome New Books from Berlin

7 Awesome New Books from Berlin

A great way to support your local artist community and look smart at the same time is investing in some books! In this post, you’ll find an assortment of recent publications from or about Berlin, representing all kinds of genres – some will broaden your knowledge about the city, while others are simply too fun to miss. Prepare to impress your visitors with a cool Berlin book on your shelf (once dinner parties are a thing again!). 

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HUSH Captures Berlin’s Empty Clubs During the Lockdown

HUSH Captures Berlin’s Empty Clubs During the Lockdown

photos: Marie Staggat. 

It was only a few months after I moved to the city that I was eager to discover the infamous Berlin clubs as a fresh Berliner. I was neither a techno listener nor a raver at the time, but I heard ample amounts of folktales about Berlin clubs that excited me from the beginning. It had only been a few months and somehow I managed to get into Berghain. I was thrilled amateurishly. Not knowing what would befall me, I was feeling confused but eager to partake concurrently. Little did I know that in the following months, Berlin nightclubs would become an inseparable part of my life. Among dancing, sweating, intimacy, and giving in to the moment, they became my Mecca for a sex-positive environment where I did not have to pretend anything other than my very queer self. 

However, last year at the peak of the pandemic in our city, silence hit the walls of our clubs and they were left to utter solitude imminently. Photographer Marie Staggat and journalist Timo Stein capture these unrecognizable club spaces and tumultuous silence in their new photobook HUSH: Club Culture In Times Of Silence. From April 2020 to December 2020, they collected their impressions of abandoned clubs in 360 pages of interviews, observations, and photos, and they reflect the inevitable despair highlighted by strong optimism. 

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Learn Deutsch with iHeartBerlin: A Different Kind of German Language Book

Learn Deutsch with iHeartBerlin: A Different Kind of German Language Book

“Learn Deutsch with iHeartBerlin” is our Christmas present to all those Deutsch A1 drop-outs in need for some other kind of motivation to get into the German language. We collected some of our most beloved features about the German language (such as the one about casual German skills) and turned it into a sassy little book. And to make it even sassier we asked internet sensation and stand-up comedian Daniel-Ryan Spaulding to write the foreword to the book who is elaborating on his own naughty reasons why you should learn German – at least a little!

With vocabulary gems such as “Arschgeige”, “Feierabend”, “Wegbier” and the all-embracing “Na?” you will be equipped with the most practical and comprehensive terms that will fool any German into believing you are proficient in the language.

If traditional German classes make you cry our book will be an excellent remedy. Because everything is easier with a good portion of humor.

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The School of My Life: The New Book by Berlin-Blogger Matze Hielscher

The School of My Life: The New Book by Berlin-Blogger Matze Hielscher

photo: Ferdinand von Schwilden. 

Who wouldn’t like to be told by famous German TV host and producer Frank Elstner how to shape a career like him? Or how to learn to have an answer ready for every situation by iconic talk show host Anne Will? Or how to become as free and unbiased as former MTV host and writer Charlotte Roche. Matze Hielscher, co-founder of the digital city magazine “Mit Vergnügen” and host of the popular interview podcast “Hotel Matze” has written a wonderful book in which he has captured the wisdom of impressive people. For whom this book is made? “For all people who find themselves standing at the edge of the pool and don’t quite dare to jump in. Because most of the people in the book felt the same way at some point.”

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Bell Collective: The New Female Travel Photography

Bell Collective: The New Female Travel Photography

photo: Alina Rudya. 

The times when travel photography – or any other field, for that matter – were strictly men’s’ domain are gone. And yet there are still instances when following your passion as a female is synonymous with challenging the status quo. The new photography book by the Bell Collective is a celebration of 14 bold women who are truly carving their own paths across the globe and documenting this journey with pictures on Instagram.

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A Review of the Like A Berliner Book Launch Party

A Review of the Like A Berliner Book Launch Party

This was fun! On Friday we launched our new book Like A Berliner that we’ve been working on for the past 3 years with illustrator Sophia Halamoda and that is available to order now in our new online shop. We had the incredible honor of doing our party at Kantini in collaboration with Bikini Berlin. It was such a match made in heaven – the wonderful design of the place mixed with the cute illustrations of Sophia that we pasted all over the place.

To make the evening extra special we invited a couple of really unique performers to embody the spirit of our book and take our guests by the hand to make some memorable experiences. From Jennifer Aniston tarot readings by Esben Holk, to anti-confessions with Olympia Bukkakis, tactile sensations with crochet artist Anto Christ, fetish research with drag queen Purrja, and unsolicited plant advice by Miss Poppy Cox – there was something for everyone – and it was great fun. As a special treat, we invited The Darvish to give us a little belly dance, and boy did he deliver!

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Like a Berliner: The New Book by Sophia Halamoda & iHeartBerlin

Like a Berliner: The New Book by Sophia Halamoda & iHeartBerlin

Get ready for something really exciting. For years now we have been quietly cooking up a very special project together with the talented illustrator Sophia Halamoda, whose amazing work we’ve been featuring on the blog for a few years now. You might remember her iconic Berghain comic, the hacks on how to become a “Real Berliner”, the Winter guide and the Flatmate Roulette. All of these beloved illustrated stories have just been the foreplay for something bigger: Our brand new big book “Like A Berliner” is coming out in just a few weeks is out now! It is most likely the cheekiest Berlin guidebook you’ve ever seen – and we‘re throwing hosted a party to celebrate its launch in collaboration with Bikini Berlin – the innovative concept mall in the West of Berlin.

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The Stories of Berlinstagram

The Stories of Berlinstagram

Michael Schulz‘s Instagram account with the catchy title Berlinstagram has always been one of our favorites. If, like us, you’re fans of his unique take on our urban aesthetic, you’ll be excited to know his most iconic photographs (along with some previously unseen ones) will be featured in a brand new book from the Berlin Stories series. Today, we would like to give you a sneak peek into the photo selection!

A bird’s eye view of two hot-dog sellers, a Chewbacca-lookalike getting his späti groceries or a stash of discarded plastic cups are intertwined with impressive shots of architecture and familiar images of classic Berliners just going around their everyday lives. The photographs from Berlinstagram capture the Hauptstadt life in all its surprising variety.

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