DETAILS:

• Content: 5 postcards picturing different Berlin moments

• Measurements: A6, 105 x 148 mm

• Format: Front - Upright with Berlin motif. Back - landscape format.

• Paper: coated, 350 g

• Printed in Berlin, Germany

Hello Marie, would you like to introduce yourself to us? How would you describe yourself?

I'm Marie, 25, a graphic designer and I’ve been living in Berlin for over 2 years now. I’d describe myself as a person with a pragmatic optimism. When I have experienced something, I will tell you about it in a bubbly, euphoric way and will lose my train of thought at least tree times. While my physical body is very much in Berlin and slowly learns how to handle this city, my heart is in the South and somewhere lying under a pine tree at the Mediterranean Sea.

When and how did the idea for your photographs come about? What is the story behind them?

I moved to my boyfriend in Berlin in March 2020, from Lake Constance, at the other end of Germany. Finally, we were out of a distance relationship and out of the tiny village! However, Berlin is exactly the other extreme of the much too small and yet idyllic Constance: here it is ugly, grey and big. I despised it. Half a year later, my bachelor thesis in graphic design was due and the question of what the physical environment does to our mind and mood had crystallized out of my despise for the city. In my research, I found out that the impact of our surroundings on how we feel about our quality of life and even health is actually huge! But: We can trick ourselves and put the visual focus on the beautiful little things that are everywhere to discover, even in Berlin. So I went on the streets and started looking for these details.

Where have you taken these photographs of the bundle?

I live in Neukölln and have discovered many motifs in my neighborhood. But I also rode my bike and camera all over Berlin – from October to December, in the most challenging season to find beautiful things. And even when I wasn't actively on my mission, I always kept my eyes open and took pictures with my cell phone if necessary.

In what sense does photography help you connect with the city Berlin?

I've learned to shift my focus: Instead of being taken in by the ugliness of the overall picture, I find beautiful details in it that could even be mailed as postcards. In the same way, I no longer let myself be overwhelmed by the size of Berlin, but hop from one beautiful spot to the next and dangle my way through the city. This confrontation, also quite intensively through my bachelor thesis, has helped me enormously to reflect what is going on inside me and how I can influence it. Many people I meet tell me they only felt comfortable in Berlin after 2 years. Then, I always think: Why do you stay in a city for 2 years if you don't like it? What a pain! I moved to Berlin for love and I wouldn't call myself a Berliner by choice as many like to do, but rather a Berliner by no choice. But little by little, things are slowly getting better and better, the ugliness is peeling off and the beautiful, colorful, diverse, everything-is-possible sides of Berlin are becoming visible to me. I am convinced that my hunt for postcard motifs has laid an essential foundation for this development.

Which is your favorite motif out of the bundle and why?

I love the bell sign that says Reisen (travel) very much. For me, it stands for the longing for being somewhere else, which felt so impossible during the pandemic period and at the same time, it stands for the fact that travelling can nevertheless always be possible when needed, when I ring the bell for instance. At least it is a little escape into a daydream to my pine tree at the Mediterranean Sea.

@marieundjanda