Street Photography in Berlin

Alexanderplatz is a big open square of East Berlin architecture under the TV tower, with trams sliding through and a steady flow of commuters. Ishay Lindenberg, who has shot Berlin for years, likes to sit by the World Clock and let people come to him, and I would do the same. Late afternoon sun cuts long shadows across the paving. Composition idea: one figure crossing a hard shadow with a tram as the backdrop. Caution: the square has pickpockets and some rough edges at night, so keep your gear close.

Kotti is the heart of Kreuzberg, with a large Turkish community and the elevated U-Bahn running overhead. It is gritty and full of life, from market stalls to late-night kebab shops. The Maybachufer Turkish market runs along the canal nearby on Tuesdays and Fridays. Shoot under the elevated tracks, where the steel frames people and throws patterned shadows. Composition idea: a figure walking through a stripe of light under the viaduct. Caution: Lindenberg warns that not everyone here likes being photographed. Keep the camera low, and if someone objects, delete and move on.

The East Side Gallery is a 1.3 km stretch of the Berlin Wall along the Spree, painted by 118 artists from around the world after the Wall fell. Tourists posing in front of the murals are the obvious subject, and people interacting with the art give you juxtapositions. Check the sun before you go: Chasing the City found the light on the wrong side for silhouettes in the afternoon. Composition idea: a passerby whose pose or color echoes the mural behind. Caution: stay off the busy bike lane that runs beside the wall.

Karl-Marx-Allee is a wide socialist boulevard of 1950s palace-style apartment blocks, running from Strausberger Platz to the twin towers of Frankfurter Tor. It is not crowded, which is the point. You get long, empty sidewalks and lonely figures against strong repetition. Shoot in low morning or evening sun, when the colonnades throw long shadows. Stand across the boulevard with a longer lens to compress the facade behind a walker. Composition idea: one person in a sea of repeating windows. Caution: the road is very wide and fast, so use the crossings.

Potsdamer Platz is glass towers and office workers, rebuilt after the Wall on what had been no man's land. Reflections are the main tool here. The U-Bahn and S-Bahn stations below have long corridors and rows of pillars that make strong lines. Midday works because the glass bounces light into shaded streets. Stand near the station entrances at rush hour for commuters, or frame people through the steel and glass of the Sony Center roof. Composition idea: a commuter doubled in a glass facade. Caution: some forecourts are private property, and security may ask you to stop.

The Ku'damm was West Berlin's grand shopping street and is still busy with shoppers and tourists. Breitscheidplatz, with the bombed Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church next to the Europa-Center, is the anchor. Walk west along the boulevard for cafe terraces and older Berliners in good coats. Afternoon light comes down the avenue from the west. Composition idea: a shopper framed between the ruined church tower and a modern facade. Caution: this is the part of Berlin where the 2018 constitutional court case began, so think twice before publishing a clear, unflattering face.

Every Sunday the Mauerpark flea market runs from about 9 am to 6 pm, and from spring to autumn Bearpit Karaoke fills the stone amphitheater from mid-afternoon. It is Eric Kim's pick in Berlin, and it is the easiest place in the city to photograph crowds having fun. Shoot the stalls in the morning, then sit high in the amphitheater and shoot singers and audience. Composition idea: a singer mid-note with rows of faces behind. Caution: stall holders often do not want their goods photographed up close, and the amphitheater counts as a public event, but still ask for close portraits.

The colonnades on Museum Island are a long covered walkway of columns next to the museums. At sunset the low sun rakes through the columns and lays stripes of light and shadow across the paving. Lindenberg suggests coming in the late afternoon for light and shadow frames. Stand at one end and wait for walkers to step into the bars of light. Composition idea: a silhouette between two columns with a stripe of light on the face. Caution: fashion shoots use this spot often, so do not get in their way.