Dougal Squires chats to Berlin-based street photographer Christian Reister…
Christian Reister
“I’m not one to say, “back in the day everything was better than now,’” says Christian Reister, a photographer who seems to relish change and movement, and the natural dynamism of cities and people.
Perhaps best known for his photographs of Alexanderplatz — collected together in his wonderful book, “Alex” — Reister’s work is about capturing the life stories of ordinary people and the environments that bear silent witness to those tales.
Though known as a street photographer, Christian could just as well be described as a documentary historian. His camera takes in a broad sweep of citizenry and places: the (unfashionably) unkempt and the grey-haired as well as the dashing and dramatic.
One sunny, blustery morning, I chatted with him in his shared garden and the front room of his Prenzlauer Berg flat about his life and work – past, present, and future – his collaborations, and the Fenster 61 gallery project, which he runs on Torstrasse.
Click the video below to hear more…
About The Author
Dougal Squires has worked with Insight Radio in Glasgow and BBC Switch in London. He now lives in Berlin and has contributed to Artconnect Berlin and Slow Travel Berlin.
