Culture | Fotoeins Fotografie

Posts from the ‘Culture’ category

“Science is an integral part of culture. It’s not this foreign thing, done by an arcane priesthood. It’s one of the glories of the human intellectual tradition.” – S.J. Gould.

My Berlin: Dussmann Kulturkaufhaus, more than a bookshop

Pieces & places in Berlin

If I have 3 days or 7 weeks to spend in the German capital city, I make time to stop at Dussmann.

Conveniently located near Berlin’s Friedrichstrasse train station, the “department store of culture” offers more than simply German-language books to serve fiction read-needs or magazines to gauge what’s happening near and far. There’s a separate English language bookshop, as well as an enormous catalog of music, film, and television. The space is also large enough to hold some cultural events. Naturally, there’s a “BerlinShop” for my postcard and your souvenir requirements. And because it’s Berlin, they stay open past 11pm Monday to Saturday.

Dussmann is an important place and piece to the extensive conceptual mosaic I’ve created over the years with the amount of time spent in Berlin since 2002. I never regret any visit to Dussmann. I always regret what’s about to happen: my wallet gets a little lighter, and that I somehow have the massive fortitude to leave with “only” a handful of books.

Dussmann Kulturkaufhaus, Berlin, Deutschland, Germany, fotoeins.com

Completed in 1997, the lower 5 floors of the 8-storey building is all about the Kulturkaufhaus, whereas the upper 3 floors are reserved for office space which includes the Dussmann Group. Photo, 27 May 2025.

At the far end on the ground floor (Erdgeschoss) is the sphinx of Egypt’s Queen Hatshepsut (about 1475 BCE), on permanent loan from the Egyptian Museum of Berlin. The inscrutable statue greets visitors to the café below, as well as the English language bookshop at right. Photo, 27 May 2025.

From the 2nd floor (erste Obergeschoss) this view along the central aisle shows how the combination of natural light from above, mix of artificial lighting and colours, and hanging leafage provides a welcoming atmosphere, which undoubtedly makes it easier for customers to spend. Photo, 30 May 2025.

“Under Berlin’s skies, there’s only one Dussmann.” On the 2nd floor, the theatre banner-like display highlights the movie and television section, and if the quote is indeed from Wim Wenders, it’s an interesting play on the title “Der Himmel über Berlin”, a film Wenders directed in 1987. In the television section, I found DVDs for early-seasons (series) of New Zealand’s “The Brokenwood Mysteries”, distributed in Germany as “Brokenwood – Mord in Neuseeland”. Photo, 30 May 2025.

Café Nénom, Dussmann Kulturkaufhaus, Berlin, Deutschland, Germany, fotoeins.com

Afternoon break at Café Nénom with coffee and book: “The Wall” (“Die Wand”), a work of fiction published in 1963 and written by Austrian Marien Haushofer. Photo, 27 May 2025.

Directions & Hours

• BVG U-Bahn U6 train to Friedrichstrasse station.
• S-Bahn Berlin train: S1, S2, S25, S26; S3, S5, S7, or S9 to Friedrichstrasse station.
• Leaving Friedrichstrasse station, it’s a short 120-metre (400-ft) walk south to the shop.
• BVG Tram M1 or 12 to stop “S+U Friedrichstrasse Bhf”.

Monday to Friday: 9h–0h; Saturday: 9h–2330h; Sunday (BerlinShop only): 13h-18h.

( View this location in OpenStreetMaps )

I received no prior support or subsequent compensation for this piece. I made all above images with a P15 on 27 and 30 May 2025. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-wj0.

Nuremberg: Fuji(film)-Store

“Home of X Photography”

It’s a busy active crowded Saturday in Nuremberg’s city centre. There’s a big music festival with acts ranging in size from solo artists to 3-piece bands. But as I walk across town, I see a big Fujifilm sign, and as I approach, I can see this is no ordinary camera shop.

I learn there’s been a Fuji shop in the city for a number of years, and only this past February did they move to this new location. Judging by layout and the upstairs gallery, the Fuji shop has a feel similar to aLeica shop. That’s because the owner of Nuremberg’s Fuji-Store created the shop based on their experience operating the city’s Leica shop nearby. I chat with Peter, the gentleman in the shop about what’s out now and what else might be expected. We agree to a common wish: to have Fuji fill a current niche with a compact portable point-and-shoot at the right price point. How about an X80 product variant?

I’ve done my fair share of drooling (but no buying) at Leica shops in Frankfurt and Vienna, and I enjoyed doing the same to available X-models on display at Nuremberg’s Fuji-Store. Did I buy? No. Am I thinking about life after the X70? Yes.

I can also see Fuji X Weekly having some fun here in the shop.

I received neither support nor compensation for this piece. I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 2 August 2025. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.

Vienna in (the) 5: artist Julia Bugram

(“Raising Hands”)

The sculpture provided the introduction three years ago. Two clasped hands, each as tall as a person. Each hand made of 1-million 1-Eurocent coins. Seen in 2022, next to St. Stephan’s Cathedral. Seen next in 2023, the sculpture moved near the big fountain at Schwarzenbergplatz. A wonderful crowdfunded project, created by Austrian artist Julia Bugram.

This past spring, I receive a kind invitation to visit her studio. It’s July and I’m in Vienna’s 5th district. I make my way up to the 2nd floor of an “Altbau”, and arrive at a cozy working art-space shared between Julia and another artist.

Julia is presently exploring themes surrounding community and society; and how art can create, enhance, and strengthen connections among people. Artistic influences include: Hilma af Klimt, Mela Diamant, Renate Bertlmann, Margot Pilz, Jakob Lena Knebl, Martha Jungwirth. Her “Raising Hands” sculpture is presently in storage, waiting for new benefactors and fresh eyes.

We spoke at some length about the economic and cultural challenges contemporary Austrian artists face in the creation and distribution of their work, as well as the difficulty of commuting between Vienna and her home in Burgenland. Despite challenges, I’m looking forward to seeing what she’ll create in the near future.

Links to her website and Instagram.

*Working art space shared by Julia Bugram and Elisabeth Hansa. (I’ve greyed out their contact numbers.)*

Julia’s recent book with images of her recent art pieces, including extensive discussion and the context of her work: “Widerstand & Neugierde: Kunst, die Veränderung fordert.” (Resistance & Curiosity: art that demands change).

*Most who directly supported the publishing her book are from Vienna, other parts of Austria, and Europe.*

Her triptych creation, “Fut – Mut – Wut”, presented here in alphabetical order with carefully selected wallpaper-like background motifs. Three words of equal length that rhyme, each word an expression of an essential facet or dimension for a woman.

*Defiance and empowerment, body autonomy, questioning the gaze, control of their own narratives*.

*Many of the pieces on the wall include sketches of plants, emphasizing her desire to commune with and derive inspiration from nature.*

My thanks to Julia for her invitation and her time. I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 11 July 2025. I received neither support nor compensation for this piece. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.

San Francisco: that golden bridge again

Above/featured: In San Francisco Bay on board Golden Gate Ferry westbound to Sausalito, the Golden Gate Bridge traverses over the deep narrow strait called Golden Gate, and connects San Francisco County (left) with Marin County (right). Photo, 18 Mar 2025 (X70).

It’s easy to mistake the association of the bright “international orange” colour of the Golden Gate Bridge with the Golden Gate. The name given to the deep narrow strip of water has much more to do with the Golden Horn in Istanbul. As part of his expeditions and geographic surveys in northern California in the mid-1840s, John Charles Frémont wrote the following for 27 April 1846 (Frémont 1848, pp. 31–33):

… The bay of San Francisco is separated from the sea by low mountain ranges. Looking from the peaks of the Sierra Nevada, the coast mountains present an apparently continuous line, with only a single gap, resembling a mountain pass. This is the entrance to the great bay, and is the only water communication from the coast to the interior country. Approaching from the sea, the coast presents a bold outline. On the south, the bordering mountains come down in a narrow ridge of broken hills, terminating in a precipitous point, against which the sea breaks heavily. On the northern side, the mountain presents a bold promontory, rising in a few miles to a height of two or three thousand feet. Between these points is the strait — about one mile broad, in the narrowest part, and five miles long from the sea to the bay. Passing through this gate,^* the bay opens to the right and left, extending in each direction about 35 miles, having a total length of more than 70, and a coast of about 275 miles. It is divided, by straits and projecting points, into three separate bays, of which the northern two are called San Pablo and Suisoon bays.

^* Called Chrysopylae (Golden gate) on the map, on the same principle that the harbor of Byzantium (Constantinople afterwards) was called Chrysoceras (golden horn). The form of the harbor, and its advantages for commerce, (and that before it became an entrepot of eastern commerce,) suggested the name to the Greek founders of Byzantium. The form of the entrance into the bay of San Francisco, and its advantages for commerce, (Asiatic inclusive,) suggest the name which is given to this entrance.

Frémont’s description in 1848 is most likely the first documented mention, as San Francisco’s Chrysopylae (golden gate) reminded him of Constantinople’s Chrysoceras (golden horn). Today, the Greek noun has been dropped, and the world recognizes the narrow water entrance into San Francisco Bay simply as “Golden Gate”.

Around the Bay & City

Over a number of months in the Bay Area, I examined many lines of sight to the Golden Gate Bridge. My favourite has to be the Bay ferry between San Francisco and Sausalito.

Crissy Field, Crissy Field Marsh, The Presidio, Golden Gate, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Bay Area, California, USA, fotoeins.com

Crissy Field Marsh – 31 Oct 2024 (P15).

Fort Mason, Golden Gate, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Bay Area, California, USA, fotoeins.com

Fort Mason, next to the Great Meadow – 2 Dec 2024 (P15).

Lands End, Golden Gate, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Bay Area, California, USA, fotoeins.com

Lands End – 3 Dec 2024 (P15).

Treasure Island, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Bay Area, California, USA, fotoeins.com

In morning light, facing west from Treasure Island – 6 Dec 2024 (P15).

China Beach, Golden Gate, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Bay Area, California, USA, fotoeins.com

Midday light at China Beach – 6 Dec 2024 (P15).

Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center, The Presidio, Golden Gate, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Bay Area, California, USA, fotoeins.com

Dusk from the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center – 9 Dec 2024 (P15).

Torpedo Wharf, The Presidio, Golden Gate, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Bay Area, California, USA, fotoeins.com

Torpedo Wharf – 26 Dec 2024 (P15).

San Francisco National Cemetery, The Presidio, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Bay Area, California, USA, fotoeins.com

San Francisco National Cemetery, facing northwest – 28 Dec 2024 (P15).

Powell-Hyde cable car turntable, Maritime Park, Aquatic Cove, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Bay Area, California, USA, fotoeins.com

Powell-Hyde cable car turntable at dawn – 31 Dec 2024 (P15).

Coastal Trail, Lands End, GGNRA, Golden Gate, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Bay Area, California, USA, fotoeins.com

From the Coastal Trail, east to Lands End. Photo, 5 Jan 2025 (X70).

Hamon Tower, De Young Museum, Golden Gate Park, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Bay Area, California, USA, fotoeins.com

At upper right, the tops of the bridge towers appear over The Presidio, from de Young Museum’s Hamon Tower – 7 Jan 2025 (P15).

Battery Godfrey, The Presidio, Golden Gate, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Bay Area, California, USA, fotoeins.com

From Battery Godfrey in The Presidio. Access is from the Coastal Trail or the Golden Gate Bridge Visitor Center. Photo, 13 Jan 2025 (X70).

Twin Peaks, Christmas Tree Point, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Bay Area, California, USA, fotoeins.com

From Twin Peaks’ Christmas Tree Point, the Golden Gate bridge appears at top-centre; at right are St. Ignatius church and the University of San Francisco campus. Photo, 28 Jan 2025 (P15).

Marina Promenade, The Marina, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Bay Area, California, USA, fotoeins.com

Marina Promenade – 5 Feb 2025 (P15).

Aquatic Cove, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Bay Area, California, USA, fotoeins.com

Aquatic Cove: the bridge is almost fully covered in fog. Photo, 16 Feb 2025 (P15).

Emeryville Marina Park, Emeryville, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Bay Area, California, USA, fotoeins.com

From Emeryville Marina Park: sunset intercepts one of the bridge’s towers – 25 Feb 2025 (P15).

Fort Point, The Presidio, Golden Gate, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Bay Area, California, USA, fotoeins.com

Underneath the bridge at Fort Point – 28 Feb 2025 (P15).

Next to the entrance for Fort Point and in front of Golden Gate strait – 28 Feb 2025 (P15).

Baker Beach, Golden Gate, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Bay Area, California, USA, fotoeins.com

Baker Beach – 11 Mar 2025 (P15).

Richardson Bay, Golden Gate Ferry, Golden Gate, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Bay Area, California, USA, fotoeins.com

In Richardson Bay, on Golden Gate Ferry westbound to Sausalito. The Sutro Tower also makes an appearance at left. Photo, 18 Mar 2025 (P15).

Battery Marcus Miller, The Presidio, Golden Gate, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Bay Area, California, USA, fotoeins.com

The Presidio, over Battery Marcus Miller – 26 Mar 2025 (P15).

UCSF Parnassus Heights, Parnassus Heights, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Bay Area, California, USA, fotoeins.com

From UCSF Parnassus Heights: at left-centre is The Landmark at Presidio (former military hospital), and at upper-right are the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge. Photo, 29 Mar 2025 (P15).

Presidio Tunnel Tops, The Presidio, Golden Gate, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Bay Area, California, USA, fotoeins.com

From the Tunnel Tops at the Presidio – 31 Mar 2025 (X70).

Sources

• Fremont, J.C., “Geographical memoir upon upper California, addressed to the Senate of the United States in 1848“, 30th United States Congress, no. 148 (Philadelphia: William McCarty, 1848). Digitized in 2015 by and online access at Internet Archive, via San Francisco Public Library: https://archive.org/stream/geographicalmemo00frmo_0/geographicalmemo00frmo_0_djvu.txt [last accessed May 2025].
• Fremont, J.C., “Map of Oregon and upper California from the surveys of John Charles Frémont and other authorities“, U.S. Library of Congress online: https://www.loc.gov/item/79692905/ [last accessed May 2025].

Golden Gate, Charles Preuss, John Charles Frémont, Northern California, San Francisco, Bay Area

Section from Charles Preuss’ 1848 map included with John Charles Frémont’s 1848 memoir of his expeditions into Northern California. Reminding him of the Golden horn in Constantinople, Frémont named the narrow strait into San Francisco Bay as Chrysopylae or “Golden Gate”.

I made all photos above between 31 October 2024 and 31 March 2025 with a Fujifilm X70 fixed-lens prime (X70) and an iPhone15 (P15). I received neither request nor compensation for the content described here. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-uS3.

David Oppenheimer: Germany to Vancouver

Featured: Alter Markt, facing southwest to the former Schloss Blieskastel at upper-centre: Blieskastel, Saarland, Germany (X70).

David Oppenheimer: ✵ 1 January 1834 – 31 December 1897 ✟

As a child of the city, I learned the name of Vancouver’s 2nd mayor, David Oppenheimer, who served in the top post from 1887 to 1891. Escaping the violent revolutions spreading through Europe, David Oppenheimer and his brothers had long been immigrants from Germany, and after time in New Orleans and California, they arrived in what is now southwestern British Columbia and developed business success with their supply stores during the Gold Rush, and with wholesale trade and real estate in the newly incorporated city of Vancouver, where the national railway established its western terminus one year later in 1887. The Oppenheimers stamped their civic legacy not only with the location of the railway terminus, but also with an expansive infrastructure program including a new grand city park, fire department, extensive roadworks, a city-wide electricity grid, streetcar public transport network, and a city cemetery. On 11 April 2008, the Government of Canada’s Historic Sites and Monuments Board designated David Oppenheimer as a National Historic Person.

There’s little doubt the Oppenheimers spent plenty of time in what are now Vancouver’s Chinatown and Strathcona with their business interests and connections to the city’s Jewish community. These are neighbourhoods, respectively, where my parents sought closer ties with the Chinese-Canadian community, and where they bought a new house to raise their family. Decades later, I’ve flown out from Vancouver, and I’ve been on the train from Frankfurt to southwest Germany’s Saarbrücken for its proximity to the Völklingen Ironworks world heritage site. I also recently learned David Oppenheimer was from the area and born in the city of Blieskastel. I arrange to meet with a representative of Stadtarchiv Blieskastel (city archive), and I make my way to Blieskastel to see what I can learn about the Oppenheimer family.

( Click here for images and more )