Ben Wilhelmi

Cologne, Germany, street photography, 80's

 

I was born in Cologne, or Köln, and left when I was a teen but Mom stayed there for quite some more years. So when I turned 18, I asked a camera and got a lot of practice while visiting her on holidays

Street photography before it became fashionable. I was young, eyeing Doisneau, Cartier-Bresson…I learnt a lot with a great Minolta X700.

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah I know I should clean those white specks and scratches. But I wanted to show what it looked like in B/W before hitting the brush and ink and correct the whole lot. Painful work. As opposed to the various editing programs nowadays.

Germany, street photography

 

I started photography in 1987 with a wonderful 35mm Minolta X700. Cologne, where I spent much of my holidays, looked much more alive than Brussels for instance.

 

 

 

 

Cologne, street photography, 80's

 

 

 

 

 

street photography, Germany, 80's

 

late 80’s, Cologne, my early years in photography. Great opportunities.

 

 

 

 

Cologne-Köln, street photography, 80's

 

I loved it by then, a new camera and a lot of practice with these artists were my luck. The street performers liked best to act at the foot of the cathedral (the Dom), with a large square.

as a would-be artist, I’d hate this for myself; Lose my piece of art everyday…wasted under the wind, the rain, the soles…

 

 

Cool artist giving a demo to a homeless man.

 

Cologne, Germany, street photography in the 80’s

 

at the foot of the impressive cathedral, the Dom, street performers were always numerous.

 

this pretty girl was a regular.

Cologne, street photography in the 80's

My early years in photography. Cologne and its lively streets were my playground where I honed some skills. 

the Dom, that is the famous cathedral is provided with a large square, which allows many artists to perform. The place was always alive! Here capoeira dancers.

tattoos were still a baddie attitude by then. Good girls didn’t event think of having one.

Cologne in the eighties, street photography

 

Capoeira dancers, pretty unusual in Europe by then.

street photography in Cologne, 80 or 90's

 

I was young and practicing my photography skills, way before digital age and Photoshop. You had to be happy with the color photo labs gave you back…I’m glad I didn’t throw away the negatives of ‘bad’ pictures as some could be easily salvaged with a scanner and some editing.

 

 

 

 

 

DM 10,-? That was Deutsche Marks.

 

 

 

Capoeira dance was by then quite new in Europe, those dancers became regulars in Cologne (Köln).

 

Cologne, street photography in the 80’s-90’s

 

I grew up close to Cologne (or Köln), Germany, so when I got my first camera in 1987, a Minolta X700, this is where I learnt my street photography skills. That city was, and still is I heard, buzzing with people, tourists, artists…especially in ‘89 with the collapse of the Iron Wall, suddenly a flock of musicians came out and performed on the streets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was a bunch of similar artists. It must be sad to see your work disappear within a few days.

Cologne, street artists in the 80's

 

I don’t know why but Cologne was always well provided with street artists, usually located at the cathedral square.

 

B/W street photography in Cologne, Germany, 80's

 

From Mom’s place this tram would get me to Cologne, or Köln, in 30 min. Nr 3…

 

Yes I know…I should have waited half a second to get that black leg out of the viewfinder… I was a self taught beginner. Maybe that pretty view also got me and I lost my concentration.

 

street photography, the eighties in Cologne

 

 

that  girl was really interested in the capoeira dancer’s abs amongst other things.

 

street photography, Cologne in the eighties

 

the colors by then...adults would wear that too!

Cologne, street B/W pictures, eighties

 

I was just 18 or 19, roaming Cologne streets and practicing street photography…

B/W street photography, Cologne in the 80's

 

During holidays and some weekend, I’d pay a visit to Mom who lived very close to Cologne, Germany, like 20 min by train. Funny enough I was not that inspired to go to Brussels and shoot street pictures there. Of course I lived far from Brussels, and it was quite a mission to reach the capital…

these guys were numerous on the cathedral square…

once in a while, a priest would come out and ask for calm…

 

street photography in Cologne, Germany, 80's

 1987, I turn 18, Mom asks what nice gift I'd like. Instead of a car, I chose a camera, an excellent Minolta X700 with a 50 mm. Perfect lens to learn the basics and later improve greatly. So since I visited Mom a few times every year in Germany, Cologne, the next big city, became my photographic playground.

2 regular drunk dudes.

 

Köln is Cologne in German.

 

Cologne had a slight advantage over Belgium where I could share my pictures with friends: fashion was distinctly different. There were also a lot more of street artists of various kind. And a lot more would pour in from Eastern Europe and further when the Berlin Wall collapsed 2 years later.

street photography in Germany, 20 years ago

 

my early days of photography in Köln, late 80’s.

this tramp enjoyed the good weather and the public fountain.

 

sect recruiting?

 

aaah white socks and short.

 

hot weather though…I read tramps sometimes lose their ability to feel or regulate body heat.

 

Germany, Köln streets, 20 years ago

 

I grew up nearby Köln. It was a cool place to roam when I became teenager and even more later with my first camera (Mom’s gift, did I mention that already?). So Köln, or Cologne, became my photographic playground, the place to polish my skills in street photography on Saturdays usually, way before it came back into fashion these days.

this beautiful mime girl was a regular. I gave her some pictures.

street artists have been numerous in that city. A lot more, usually musicians and highly qualified, flocked in after the Berlin Wall fell down in 1989.

I always wondered if she was blind colored. But then I was told I understood nothing in fashion….

 

survivor punkette.

 

would-be McGyver.

 

the girl in red was Karen, an American au pair, she asked for some pictures to send home, we stayed pen friends for a while…

my early pictures in street photography, Germany

 

When I turned 18, Mom offered me my first reflex camera, a nice Minolta X700 with a 50mm lens, I started to shoot where I lived partly by then, that is the greater Köln or Cologne. I got into street photography right away. Which makes me smile because street photography is all the rage right now. Excellent school for learning a camera handling and understanding the light.

here we go back in 1987…

I’m pleased to see that nevertheless I’d shoot some pictures differently, I was already busy trying to spot details, like these 2 who obviously had each troubles with their trousers bottoms.

 

I remember this blonde girl, I kept on seeing her on many of my field trips over the years.

 

there was always a car exposed like that to win on some lottery, the Dombau Lotterie as written on the board.

 

around the famous cathedral, the Dom, the square was large and often used by various artists or acrobats. There were those funny jean’s by then, even the jackets were hilarious seen from 2011…

 

my first lovers, Doisneau in mind but far from as interesting.

 

the Dom and its unmistakable silhouette.