Ostkreuz . Westwärts

Zoo, train station, universities, boulevards, kerb crawling area, luxury, tourist attraction and poverty  all within one square kilometre. What contrasts! What a place of longing! The west area of Charlottenburg has for a long time been characterized by dynamic bustle and parallel worlds. An endless flow of people and an urban obstacle course without real encounters. Here, everyone is moving alongside one another, seeking their own free space in the slalom. C/O Berlin has asked 13 photographers from the agency OSTKREUZ to explore Charlottenburg and its residents and to reveal the diverse stories and social strata behind the hectic activity and facades.

Jörg Brüggemann, Espen Eichhöfer, Sibylle Fendt, Annette Hauschild, Tobias Kruse, Werner Mahler, Dawin Meckel, Thomas Meyer, Jordis Antonia Schlösser, Anne Schönharting, Linn Schröder, Maurice Weiss and Heinrich Völkel will make a visual inventory of this urban microcosm that oscillates between clichés and reality, run-down buildings and splendour, commerce and science, decline and new beginnings. Their photographic essays deal with the theme of current change and the special characteristics and myths of the zoo quarter.

In 2010, in the exhibition Die Stadt . Vom Werden und Vergehen at C/O Berlin, the OSTKREUZ photographers presented different forms and developments of global, urban life. The current exhibition “Westwärts” takes up this theme, however it focuses on local structures. The presentation includes 100 black-and-white and colour photographs and was curated by Felix Hoffmann.

OSTKREUZ was founded in 1990 by seven photographers and is considered one of the most important agencies in Germany. Today, the agency has eighteen members. Almost all of them have received both national and international awards. Their works are represented in numerous art collections. The photographers work for renowned magazines, including Newsweek, Stern, GEO and New York Times Magazine. For more information, please visit www.ostkreuz.de.

Amerika Haus is currently being renovated. The opening of the building is initially planned for spring 2014. However, C/O Berlin will present the first exhibition in the new location during the conversion phase. Not in Amerika Haus itself but open-air in front of the building. 24 hours a day, seven days a week, accessible to everyone free of charge - a visual intermezzo that will continue until the re-opening. In July 2013 C/O Berlin opened an exhibition with 15 panels about the history of Amerika Haus and its surroundings. The OSTKREUZ photographers will continue this series by documenting the present.