Small World Story

May 24 - So here I am at JFK airport in New York after the 7-hour flight from Berlin, when dead ahead of me is a familiar face -- Bill Frakes, a Sports Illustrated photographer who lives in Jacksonville. "Hey, John Freeman," Bill says while continuing to chat on his cell phone and eyeing the crowd gathering for a flight to Atlanta. Always on the go, Bill was headed home after a trip to Venice, Italy.

While I struggled to charge my cell phone and make a call from the Delta gate, he circled around me with his Leica digital to record the moment. Bill had visited the UF College of Journalism and Communications in April, when he talked to our National Press Photographers Assocation student chapter. The one-hour presentation was webcast and archived.

The Farewell Dinner

I've got 12 minutes left on the T-Mobile wireless account, so only time for a quick sign off for the end of the Berlin trip. We just completed our 500-euro farewell dinner at the TV Tower, the Fernsehturm, where the restaurant revolves every 30 minutes. It was a fitting send-off to the Berlin trip, where everyone got to experience a new culture, make some new friends and learn new techniques about telling stories with photos and sound. A few students are traveling on to other countries, but most are returning to the USA in the morning. All will remember the setting sun tonight and their adventures in Berlin, the unified city with its own personality.

Chances are good I will make a couple more post-trip postings to the blog and include a few more photos.

Getting Near the End

Our time in Berlin is rapidly coming to a close. I posted several more projects online before noon today, and then lost the T-Mobile internet connection at the hotel, delaying any more progress. Having sound really adds a dimension.

Link to the Berlin 2007 mulitmedia projects

Our course, today was already designated a semi-celebration day as we ventured out for a group cultural activity. Our last tour of the trip resulted from a student’s story on the 2006 study-abroad trip about Ollie the Brewmaster at BBB. The only independent brewery in Berlin, BBB sits on the Muggelsee Lake in the far southeastern suburb of Friedrichshagen. Ollie charmed the group with extensive scientific knowledge and included a few Q&A items to keep the group on its toes. Then he included a test at the end, where five students got perfect scores as we were served refreshments. We then took the pedestrian tunnel under the lake to explore the waterfront a bit. On the way home (a long S-Bahn ride on a warm bumpy train), Rachel, who claims to be the most adventurous because she also went to a basketball game, stopped near the Ostbahnhof and took in a “Daddy Cool” concert.

Wednesday night: the farewell dinner atop the Fersehnturm. (Flash site with audio)

Posting to the Web

Monday, May 21 -- Today the final projects are starting to come together. The students who started the earliest are wrapping it up. Depending on when visitors click on the link, there may see more projects, but as of midnight Monday, I posted multimedia slideshows by India Lane, Kristen Huff, Laura Heald, Jackie Rosanky and Ben Wilhelm. Each student shot the photographs, recorded and edited sound, wrote captions and together we edited the work to one-minute presentations.

Berlin 2007 multimedia projects

Good Day Sunshine

Saturday, May 19, was the warmest blue-sky day we’ve had since arriving on the 11th. The city has been abuzz with people, probably the result of some spillover from the Ascension Day holiday Germany observed on Thursday. I’ve had relatives (Mary Beth and Dave) visiting since late Friday night, so have let the students work on their own for a couple days. On Saturday we took a new Fat Tire Bike Tours five-hour tour and it was great. Then we kept on a roll by doing a 2 ½ dinner cruise through west Berlin, also lots of fun. We finished off with a slow float through a part of Berlin I’d never seen, drinking coffee on the top deck and soaking in the cool evening air. As we disembarked at Schloss Charlottenburg, I noticed the bridge and pedestrians above. Sunday was also warm -- about 80 -- and people were again everywhere. The three of us walked to Armit Indian restaurant near Tacheles and had a wonderful meal, with first-class service and atmosphere. Dave and Mary Beth leave tomorrow, and it's going to be crunch day with the students editing their projects to prepare for Soundslides.

Let's Hear it for Wireless

This is the scene most evenings when the group heads a block away from the hotel to check email. Since our hotel has only one pay computer, it's best to visit Grad Celsius, where you can sit on a couch and surf the web as long as your glass is full, so to speak. The owner lets his Golden Retriever roam the place, which is part restaurant, part bar, part Internet cafe' and part laundromat. Yes, Berlin is an interesting place.

Today, May 18, was a designated work day for the students. We've been discussing more of the steps for gathering sound, doing a little PhotoShop and working up to the Soundslides show they will put together and post to the Web before we leave next Thursday morning. This weekend, no tours or group activities are scheduled. That's probably a good thing, because with the 60-ish weather today, the city seems to be crawling with visitors.

Mercedes and Museums

We’re on visual overload tonight after an evening of looking. The first stop was a self-guided tour of Mercedes World, another Berlin architectural wonder. The glass building, five stories high and with an atrium that includes a rock climbing wall, ponds, fountains and a white-tablecloth restaurant, showcases more than 200 Mercedes, including the C200 Kompressor shown above (yours for only 47,689 euros – about $65,000). Of course, that’s peanuts compared to the Maybach sitting on the top floor behind glass – the sticker on it was 327,000 euros, about $440,000. (I still find it hard to believe I saw a Maybach parked once on the main street of Micanopy, Fla. It had a personalized Florida license plate with simply the letter J.)

From Mercedes World we walked to the Ku’Damm area and found a fast-food restaurant with choices to please almost everyone, although the group is actually starting to feel a need for occasional vegetables and fruits. French fries are easy to order (“Pommes”), but are getting a bit tiresome. Last night at the group dinner some of us ordered desserts of fried pineapple, apples and bananas, covered with honey and chocolate. Does that count for fruit?

The museums of Berlin are free every Thursday evening from 6 until 10, so the Helmut Newton Museum was our second stop for the outing. Last summer’s study-abroad class saw a moderate collection of his work (mostly high fashion portraits from the 40s, 50s, and 60s), but tonight there were three incredible guest exhibitions that were overwhelming. First were vibrant color portraits and highly constructed scenes photographed by David LaChapelle. Film stars and entertainers posed in lavish outfits and in outlandish situations to create provocative works. The next section of the museum was in stark contrast to LaChapelle’s happy but whacky world of Hollywood. Nitty-gritty photographs, most in unflinching black-and-white, showcased the work of globe-trotting photojournalist James Nachtwey. With no prints smaller than 16” x 20”, visitors grew quiet as they examined more than 100 images from the wars of our world. Rwanda? – Nachtwey shows the horror of mass graves and disfigured faces. Iraq? – Nachtwey shows the young children’s eyes as they scream. New York City on 9/11/2001? – Nachtwey was there as the Twin Towers’ rubble engulfs a church cross.

By the time we got to the third floor of the Newton Museum, the final exhibition was almost too much to handle, mainly for its sheer volume. Featured there were close to 600 framed images for an exhibit called “Humanism in China.” Displayed for the first time outside of that country, the work depicts documentary style photographs by 250 Chinese photographers; the collection transcends the past 50 years. Everyday living is shown to communicate a better understanding of how the Chinese live.

Overwhelmed by Mercedes World and all of photographs, about half of the group decided to head back for Alexanderplatz and our favorite ice cream shop (freshly churned and about $1.25 a scoop). Rachel, Jackie and Sarah Hsu did an email check at Dunkin’ Donuts EasyInternet Café. Many of the others continued on to Museum Island, where all the major museums are concentrated.

Down the street from Alexanderplatz, the Rotes Rathaus (Red City Hall) was basking in the late-evening glow of sunset. I’m not normally one to photograph architecture, but this was too stunning to pass up. Since Kelly’s Canon Rebel on loan from UF has decided to not work, she’s been using my Canon Rebel XT. Luckily this scene didn’t need a professional camera, just an effort at composition, so I pulled out my point-and-shoot Canon SD500 and caught the last glimpse of daylight here on May 17, 2007.

Wonderful Wednesday Weather

Today has been beautiful, clear and in the 70s. It's also a work day for the students. Now that they've been introduced to the highlights of the former west and east, it's time to nail down a subject or topic to profile. With a city so on the edge it constructs government buildings like the one pictured above, narrowing down a story idea is sometimes tough. I walked with India through Prenzlauer Berg to a chocolate store that had unfortunately closed. Now she's talking to someone on the hotel staff about a story idea. Christine is meeting a real estate developer who was featured in the Los Angeles Times. Jeffrey Fleishman, who met with my 2005 group, kindly furnished us the lead. Carlos is pursuing a British artist who's been in town only a few months. Laura is waiting to confirm contact with a chimney sweep. Kyla is trying to find a lead about all the graffiti that's sprayed everywhere. Kelly has several ideas, including the immigrant angle. Sarah Jones hopes to find a trendy hairstylist who will agree to a photo story. Jon Michael is pursuing an Americans bar owner living in Berlin. Ben is talking to a record store owner; Alternative music is big in Berlin. Anything alternative is big in Berlin.

Tonight we are meeting together for a group dinner down the street from the hotel. Everyone is pretty tired of the wurst we find for take-out on the street, so we are eating at a Thai restaurant. Great food and friendly service. The tradition in Germany is not to wait for the whole table to get served -- you eat once the waiter sets the hot food down for each person. Tomorrow: more time to work on picture-story projects and then on to the Mercedes World showroom (a very cool place with a very cool Flash website) and the Helmut Newton Museum which includes an exhibit ("Men, War and Peace") by James Nachtwey and David LaChapelle.

Riding in the Rain

May 15, Tuesday – Wouldn’t you know it? The weather today started off fine, but as we saddled up on three-speed beach cruisers for a previously postponed, rain-delayed tour to the former Russian sector, it started sprinkling. Then it rained. Then it cleared. Finally it flat-out turned cold and nasty and poured. Our cheapie ponchos were little protection against the steady downpour. Once we marveled at the massive Soviet architecture and monuments in Treptower Park, I asked tour guide Mike Blakely of Fat Tire Bike Tours to get the soggy group back to the shop. He’d done a great job in the rain, making the explanations full of fun facts and a few silly jokes. Fifteen minutes at the East Side Gallery, a 1.5-mile section of the Berlin Wall, gave everyone a chance to shoot a souvenir photo and gain a better understanding of how dismal and separated East Berlin was from 1961 until 1989. Halfway through the tour today, we stopped along the Spree River for lunch. The UF students are gaining more confidence, often ordering their own Currywurst (grilled sausage with curry powder and ketchup), French fires and Coca-Cola. A few are also considering renting bikes for more exploring. Berlin is generally flat, with bike lanes and strict rules for being in traffic.

Tuesday evening we took in a great cultural event – the musical revue, “Rythmus Berlin.” Everyone thought the show was incredible. It was like Las Vegas meets New York City in Berlin. Every act had a surprise, including a rotating stage with a water fountain that disappeared below. Plus the couple cavorting in the giant fish bowl that was lowered from the ceiling was rather spectacular. The show was at the Friedrichstadtpalast, Europe’s largest revue hall. Although photos were not allowed during the performance, a picture from the lobby shows how elegant the place is, almost Frank Lloyd Wright like, in fact. We walked half way back to the hotel and stopped at the Tacheles art house, an old squatter building full of graffiti and alternative art. Late at night, it was a scary place to a few visitors, but Tacheles is typical of the free spirit that is Berlin.

TIME is on Our Side

On Monday, the group got some great leads for story topics to pursue during our remaining 10 days. Andrew Purvis, TIME magazine’s Berlin special correspondent, and reporter Stephanie Kirchner met with us for nearly two hours. Both were very helpful and encouraging about finding interesting people. Andrew has been with TIME since 1989 and deals with about 25 languages in the countries he covers now. Afterwards, it was work time to check out story leads. Kristen checked back on the Chinese protesters and had a good session. Katie ran in to a dead end and will regroup. Rachel’s story about a basketball-playing nephew of track star Jesse Owens fell flat because the team is going into the playoffs and offered her only a five-minute session. Sarah began the day before 7 a.m. with a long trip to Zelendorf to find the JFK School, where her subject teaches physical education. Nick is checking out a Mexican restaurant.

Sunday, A Walk in the City

Sunday, May 14, was clear and dry, finally. We met with our Discover Walks tour guide and saw many of the major sites during a three-hour walk through the former East Berlin, ending at the famous Checkpoint Charlie. Then it was Doner Kabab time for lunch. After a minor bus detour the wrong way because of a closed-for-construction S-Bahn stop, about six of us made our way to the far west side of Berlin. We checked out the Wannsee, a major lake, and then rode a double-decker bus through the Gruenwald, ending the long journey with a ride on the U2 back to Alexanderplatz. A couple students found some good enterprise photos during the outing. Back at the hotel, quite a few students called home for Mother’s Day. We think India set the record for the most time in the phone booth. She got that phone card figured out and really racked up the minutes! Luckily we are six hours ahead of Florida time, so calls at midnight were still well-timed. Everyone also sang “Happy Birthday” to Jackie, who got to celebrate her 21st on Sunday in Berlin.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Once we moved our meeting with photographer John MacDougall outside Friday night because of a rowdy group of Brits in the hotel lobby, the visit was fine -- except for occasional gusts of howling wind in the courtyard. John explained that unlike American photojournalists who attended college, many European photographers fell into their jobs by various and often unplanned paths. We all took a couple trams to Prater, but the biergarten was soaked by rain and we couldn’t get a table for 17 inside. The solution? – a nearby Thai restaurant.

Afterwards, Carlos, Christine, Rachel, Sarah and I made it to the Dunkin’ Donuts internet café and then into the Alexanderplatz train station for fresh ice cream. At dark, the weather was cool enough to see your breath.

After a long delay at the Tegel airport Saturday morning, Nick and Jackie made their way to the hotel, wet and tired. Jackie’s luggage, which had arrived unaccompanied yesterday, had been sent off to a deserted area at the airport surrounded by barbed wire. Nick’s earlier Delta flight, which he missed because of a late Jet Blue connection, forced him to fly one day later on Delta at an exorbitant price. But as of noon Saturday, the group was complete.

As we feared, annoying rain again set in and I decided to cancel the bike tour. For an alternative activity, we hopped on the Bus 200 and rode to the former downtown of the west. Of particular interest was KaDeWe, the largest department store in Europe, with seven floors of high-fashion and incredible-looking pastries on the top level. In between bursts of scattered rain, we saw a bizarre street demonstration against the illegal harvesting of organs in China, complete with a caged Chinese woman and another woman undergoing a bloody mock operation. Then it was off to a flea market and finally a stop at the Sony Center at Potsdamer Platz. As if the group hasn’t had another walking, Sunday’s major activity will be a Discover Berlin Waking Tour. Here’s hoping it’s dry.

A Rough Start

Well, we made it to Berlin. At least most of the group did. Everyone showed up as scheduled except for Nick and Jackie, who had connection troubles getting to JFK airport in New York City. They are set to be here Saturday morning. Kelly should arrive this evening from Spain. So far we’ve checked into the hotel and hung around Alexanderplatz a bit, where people ordered their first Bratwurt. Everyone also got to see the pay-as-you-go EasyInternetCafe inside Dunkin’ Donuts. John MacDougall, a photographer with AFP is scheduled to visit with the group at 5 p.m. – then we are walking through the neighborhood to have dinner at “Prater,” a long-time German biergarten.

Departure is Near

Tomorrow, May 10, is when most in our group of 15 heads for Berlin. The majority of us will be on an overnight flight from JFK airport in New York (Kelly is already in Spain) and we'll arrive bright and early Friday morning. Students have been researching ideas that will produce good photo features. We're hoping the weather the first few days is not as rainy and cool as predictions call for.