One photo, one story: The library from Wings of Desire
One photo, one story - a series where we tell a story behind one photo from our travels
“I can’t see you but I know you’re there.”
It’s how I always felt about Berlin. That Peter Falk line from Wim Wenders’ Wings of Desire. I knew Berlin was there, but I couldn’t see it. At least not the Berlin we grew up in pop culture. The one where Nick Cave played. Where Einstürzende Neubauten formed. Or David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Depeche Mode had such formative moments.
What Amy and I really wanted to do was travel to Berlin in 1987. It had been so present in the films of Wenders and Uli Edel. Even James Bond crossed Checkpoint Charlie in Octopussy. In a way, it turned out we could travel back in time.
The photo
Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin by Travel While Nerdy (after Wim Wenders)
The story
“Als das Kind Kind war…”
Inspired by a classic scene in Wings of Desire, where angels Damiel (Bruno Ganz) and Cassiel (Otto Sander) visit the library, our first major stop in Berlin was the Berlin State Library (Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin).
While we each came to the film separately, the film means a lot to us both. It doesn’t just speak to the importance of art and libraries in a divided Germany, but the amazingly curated soundtrack spoke to music that meant so much to us as well.
In the film, Henri Alekan's cinematography makes the industrial look beautiful. Stepping into the library, we had an instant, dreamlike connection to the place. We walked past the familiar desks, stood on the same stairs and stared at same ceiling. This photo was my attempt at recreating a little slice of that film and 1980s Berlin as it will forever exist in my head.
