August 2003
Dear Shooters...
As I mentioned last month, I´m spending some time in Dortmund, a western German city that must get the prize for the most uninspiring place I´ve ever seen. So, why am I here? Ok, "I did it for the money!" Yes, really. It´s Summer and the whole of Germany is on holiday again (more holidays than any other country) and we are still struggling with an unprecedented heatwave (George, can you fix this too?), and there´s just not enough work for me "at home" in Leipzig in the east to keep the wolf from the door.
And now for your German language and culture lesson: The former East Germany is nowadays known as the neuen Bundesländer (the New States), and the West is called the alten Bundesländer (the Old States) which East Germans often jokingly refer to as the "used part" - a hint that the divide still exists. Initially, reunification in 1990 was welcomed, but despite the billions of deutschmarks and euros that have been poured in to rebuild the East, the recovery just hasn´t happened. West Germans (Wessies) see the East Germans (Ossies) as lazy, backward, uncultured etc, although barely 1 in 5 have been there to see for themselves. However, impartial observer that I am, I´d be only too happy to try to correct this but on the other hand, a Wessie that was once forced to move east because of a job thing, once told me that he discovered "Leipzig is the best secret in Germany...!" and it seems to me that many Ossies wouldn´t mind keeping it that way. The people are sometimes initially suspicious of "foreigners" but once you get past that you´ll find them warm, friendly, helpful and open minded and they do know how to work hard (except after 1pm on Fridays!). I know I´m generalising here, but in comparison, Wessies are said to be cool, calculating and disparaging. Culture in the East is not in short supply either, and the landscape is more charming than most clichés, so there! But it´s often the small things that are easily overlooked that can tell you so much, for example: heading west on the autobahn I noticed that the abundant wildflowers growing along the sides and the median strip suddenly disappeared after I crossed what was once the border!
Not many new photos - I just haven´t had the urge to get my camera out here in Dortmund, save for one hot and frustrating afternoon when I was sufficiently incensed by the lemming like hordes of Summer sales bargain hunters to charge from one end of the trendy street to the other snapping wildly from the hip...the proof sheet looks ok but I haven´t had much darkroom time...
So, here´s a shot of a hunter mate, East German, name´s Wolf (really!). He doesn´t shop...he gets his dinner the old fashioned way (although somehow we ended up in McD´s on this occasion!).
Ach ja, Scheisse passiert!
Dean