Cold War, a photo from Berlin, East

Photographer's Note

East German military guarding the Brandenburg Gate in 1966 at the height of the Cold War (and perhaps at the height of my naivety in thinking they would not mind being photographed).

Since its construction began in the late eighteenth century, the Brandenburg Gate has played a highly symbolic role throughout Germany's history. During the Nazi period, it became a symbol for fascist Germany. From 1961-1989 the Brandenburg Gate was located in the no-man's land between East and West-Berlin and symbolised Berlin as a divided city.

For Jack: I used Neat Image, a slight levels adjustment via the middle picker, and contrast masking.

nwoehnl, nbournas, by911, mdchachi, bscheller, LoneWolfREV, Dr_Nibbles has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

jrj (34843) 2004-01-10 6:10

Interesting shot Martin of a motive no longer to be seen. In spite of the age of the picture the colours seems crisp and natural.

Some notes of your post work could have been of interest.

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snsk (796) 2004-01-10 6:12

A nice historic shot & good composition .
Thanks for shareing.

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PeskyPolecat (0) 2004-01-10 6:27

I like the bored but slightly aggressive stance of the front guy, and the dawning interest in you on the guy behind. Good neutral background to highlight the two soldiers...good strong image.

nwoehnl (122) 2004-01-10 6:41

Martin, that is a poignant picture to commemorate an era that is fortunately history. I vividly remember the agonizing experience of crossing the East German border, when traveling there on an annual basis with my parents as a youngster. In your shot, I'm particularly drawn by the look of the guy in the back. Even though half of his face is obscured, his eyes seem to be clearly saying "What's up with that guy pointing the camera at us?". Hope you didn't get into any trouble. Thanks for sharing this.

Mireille (2604) 2004-01-10 7:40

Did you really take this picture in 1966 ? (I wasn't born at this time...) The quality is really good ! Well done !

richtersl (3546) 2004-01-10 7:48

WOW, I'd like to know what you scanned that with. The photo has still retained a lot of clarity and detail after nearly 40 years.

The soldier is an interesting-looking fellow. He's obviously not German and based on his pose, a bit full of himself.

This is a wonderful documentary shot and a stark reminder of times that are thankfully past.

hipnoz (520) 2004-01-10 8:00

Very good quality of image. I like the colors, the brightness, the saturation. I also like the artistic and dramatic position of the models

padam (186) 2004-01-10 9:34

A nice historic shot worth to be presented here on TE.

manny (22032) 2004-01-10 10:08

The one in front looks Asian. Anyway, the colors and the DOF makes this shot very compelling. A classic one. Congratulations.

emax (920) 2004-01-10 11:23

Even if they do not exist more, they are still seems very frightfully.
I consider this pic still important to remind us, that something like this never happens again. The pic has the artistic value too. Good shot.

Ebbe (9625) 2004-01-10 12:03

Thank God those times are over. The picture is fine though, I like he hard glance at something and the short DOF make them stand out from the rest of the city.

avigur_11 (22553) 2004-01-10 16:57

What an excelleny shot, Martin.
You created a dramatic atmosphere from a very simple scene, by hiding one guard behind the other one, and by a narrow DOF. This drama works out even though the guard is smoking his cigarette, and his body is calm. His face are tense and say "danger". It's a very important piece of history, well captured and very well composed by you. A great and favorite one, Martin.

philip_coggan (11) 2004-01-12 17:57

I'll take yr word that this is germany, but that guard looks Chinese!

dsidwell (9783) 2004-01-14 17:23

Wow, these guys look "cold!" Nice use of tone to enhance their mood and expressions. Having the second guy behind really adds to the mystery and atmosphere of this photo. Nice work!

nfriedli (1060) 2004-05-13 17:19

Trиs belle image de temps aujourd'hui rйvolus.

bscheller (56) 2005-03-10 14:19 [Comment]