photos: Mascha Leskien.
Naked Solidarity has slipped into our DMs and we asked a few questions on the occasion of the release party for their new calendar.
But who and what is behind Naked Solidarity?
Naked Solidarity, founded by activist Mascha Leskien, started in 2021 as a solidarity and photography project. Triggered by feminist literature, the questioning of her own privileges and the confrontation with sexist structures, inspired Mascha to combine her feminism with activism, she explained.
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Whenever a new post by Alina Rudya a.k.a. rrrudya pops up in my social media feed my heart gets filled with warm thoughts about Berlin. Like no other photographer that I follow, Alina has a way of capturing the city in such a charming, beautiful, often tongue-in-cheek, and always authentic way – it makes me feel really connected, not just with the city, but with her as a fellow Berlin content creator.
For iHeartBerlin’s new feature series in collaboration with Squarespace – the iconic all-in-one website and commerce building platform – we get to meet some outstanding talents in Berlin showcasing the limitless creativity that the city harbors and the endless potential of a strong online presence.
For our interview I meet Alina in one of the most beloved places of the neighborhood we both live in: the famous Mauerpark. It’s a really popular spot to capture good Berlin vibes, but also a beautiful backdrop for portraits. Usually, it’s Alina behind the camera, but today it’s two photographers pointing their cameras at each other while chatting about the job in process.
The Wilhelm Hallen saw their first ballroom take over last weekend for their Berlin Art Week kick-off and the art was shaking on the walls! The Cuntemporary Mini Kiki Ball hosted by Father Dante Telfar and Princess Joana Juicy Couture was a testament that ballroom and voguing are a true art form. Of course, we were present at the function to capture the hottest moments on the runway. Enjoy!
If you were performing at the ball and want to check if I snapped your moment here is the complete set with lots more photos than here as a download. Make sure to tag us when you post the photos.
Last month was already such a blessing with all the ballroom events around Pride, this month the action continued with an extra special ball happening during the Long Night of Museums in the beautiful hall of the Museum for Communications. Embedded into a very diverse and very queer-friendly program that also included a performance show by Fifi Fantome and her crew the Earthly Delights Mini Ball hosted by Ambrosia and LaQuefa 007 went down. It was all very mini, very demure, very mindful toward the holy halls and floors of the museum.
The message ‘Love Is Stronger’ could not me more important right now as we live in a time where we have to watch videos of Nazi salutes and police violence against peaceful protestors on social media on the daily. It’s the motto of this year’s edition of Rave the Planet – the reincarnation of the iconic Love Parade from the 90s – and the love could really be felt in the street between Siegessäule and Brandenburger Tor this weekend. It’s our third time joining the parade and capturing some of its visitors for you and we really had a great time there once again. The energy and the vibe is just so infectious.
Following our big photo series of the Superheroes Ball from Friday we are already back with another ballroom set from the Colors of Pride Kiki Ball hosted by Gina Angels and Papi 007 at the Social Hub on Saturday.
I was a bit late to the function, but nonetheless I managed to capture some killer performances. The energy was really high, the performers were on fire. Having seen many of these young ballroom members compete over the last couple of years it was great to see their progress – they are more talented and beautiful than ever. It’s great to see how people really grow into themselves with so much grace and confidence. It was also fun to see The Social Hub being transformed into a ballroom arena – the vibe was such a good match to the space.
I’m really proud of this photo set – it’s done with a different much smaller camera from the Superheroes ball and therefore has a different aesthetic but I think it really brought out some other aspects and details of a ball than my usual photos. I hope you enjoy it!
Stay tuned for another photo set for the Colors of Pride Kiki Ball by Gina Angels and Papi 007 that will follow shortly…
PANSY’s Halloween events are truly legendary. Of course a lot of events and parties slap the word Halloween into their title these days, but let’s be honest, most of them will not diverge much from their regular program and not a lot of guests will really dress up for the occasion. It’s also not really in the spirit of Halloween to move the event conveniently to the weekend. It is, after all, a holiday on the 31st of October – for a reason.
photos: Frank R. Schröder.
The Berlin Ballroom Scene has been cooking something up over the past months that finally came to light this past weekend. With the event “10s Across the Board: A Ballroom Showdown for the Trophy” the local scene took a new format to the stage of Theater des Westens that has never been done before in Berlin. It proposes an alternative to classic Balls with their competitions and battles on the runway, elevating Ballroom from the underground to the limelight of the big theater stages of the city.
Two Ballroom Legends are behind this spectacle: Mother Leo from the House of Saint Laurent and Mother Ambrosia from the House of Gorgeous Gucci. They teamed up with Tingel Tangel – the new program at Theater des Westens – to create something truly unique and fantastic.
The last weekend was full of queer joy for us with several pride parades and queer parties going on. It felt a bit like Christmas for the LGBTQIA+ community and there was something going on for every sub-group. This year, we not only visited the main pride on Saturday but also the Dyke* March on Friday and the Internationalist Pride that happened on Saturday evening at Hermannplatz. Both of these were pretty much in contrast to the main Pride parade, but nonetheless what stood out was the smiling faces and happiness of all the queer people who joined. And that makes us very happy. Because queer joy matters so much – it’s the rebellion, the antidote, the protest against discrimination, hate, prejudice, prosecution, and inequality.