BERLIN PHOTO WEEK makes its big comeback this summer – kicking off its third edition on 26 August 2021. The central location will be the multi-functional R.A.W. area, located in the heart of Berlin-Friedrichshain. BERLIN PHOTO WEEK also features a revised concept this year. Its merger with Messe Berlin and new strategy was announced in autumn 2020: ”With a unique concept – combining photography, video, and art with the latest innovations from the imaging industry – BERLIN PHOTO WEEK brings together creatives, artists, imaging professionals, photo enthusiasts, and celebrities with media companies, leading brands in the imaging industry, and many other brands who appreciate compelling images as an important element of their corporate identity,” says Jens Heithecker, Executive Vice President Messe Berlin Group; IFA Executive Director. This year, the public can once again look forward to numerous top-class exhibitions, exciting talks, and expert discussions on contemporary photography – as well as the popular Funplace, where visitors can discover leading brands such as Panasonic, Leica, WhiteWall, etc. and participate in special interactive brand experiences. One of the exhibition highlights is the exclusive presentation of work by iconic American-Russian photographer, George Hoyningen-Huene, who helped shape international fashion and portrait photography in the early 1920s and 1930s and worked for renowned magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, and Harper’s Bazaar. On the initiative of Benjamin Jäger, art director of Berlin Photo Week, and with the kind permission of the George Hoyningen-Huene Estate Archives, an exquisite selection of iconic photographs will be on view in the exhibition space of Villa Grisebach Berlin. Combining the mediums of photography and film, the second exhibition highlight celebrates the legendary work of famous Magnum photographer Thomas Hoepker. His poignant b/w series Mauerkinder (Children of the Wall), which was last shown in 2011, will now be presented at the Schlesischer Busch watchtower, a historically charged building which once overlooked the border strip of the Berlin Wall. This outdoor exhibition will be rounded off by a preview of Hoepker – Beyond Life, a documentary film currently being made about the life and work of Hoepker, directed by Nahuel Lopez. The premiere is planned for late 2021 (distributor: DCM); Berlin Photo Week will host a talk with the film’s protagonists. Furthermore, the camera manufacturer Leica is planning an intergenerational exhibition dedicated to three female Leica photographers, to be shown on the grounds of Arena Berlin. More information will follow shortly.

New York in the ‘70s and ‘80s – Joseph Rodriguez sits behind the wheel of his taxi. During his shifts, he created his first photographic works, documenting everyday life from the perspective of a worker on the job. TAXI: Journey Through My Windows 1977 – 1987 takes viewers back 30 years to the past of the most famous metropolis in the world. From his taxi, Rodriguez begins to capture the moments whizzing by with his camera. He goes from Manhattan to the Bronx, from Queens to New Jersey, from Brooklyn to Staten Island, from Downtown to Uptown, from the Meatpacking District to the East Village, and back to Midtown Manhattan. During his shifts as a “traveling flaneur” he also witnesses the darker sides of life on the street. His routes are unpredictable, as are the encounters that become his motifs. The taxi driver’s gaze sees prostitutes waiting for customers, homeless people begging for a few cents, and the dreary facades of buildings that reach for the sky. Houses and cars fly by in the rearview and side mirrors; at the red light, a father pushes a stroller across the street. A peek into the back seat of the cab reveals his passengers: depending on the time of day or night, they could be well-heeled Upper East Siders, partygoers out on the town, or families en route to Sunday Mass. Like the 1976 film classic Taxi Driver, Rodriguez captures the pulsating life of New York City in his images. Both these works – the feature film and the photographs – also bear witness to the fascinating aura of taxi drivers, who, in turn, use their cars as silent observation posts. Rodriguez’s photographs convey the emotional complexity of the people he meets, and serve as a pinhole for the stories and insights jotted down in his diary. His images can be seen in the exhibition as silver gelatin prints. For Rodriguez, who was once a self-described drug addict and criminal, photography saved his life.