TITLE: Eyes on concrete

The project

06:30am. The building site fence opens. Clocking in. Cześć. Merhaba. Good morning Juten Tach och. A last sip of coffee. You can already hear the circular saw. Let's go.

On the streets of Berlin, beyond the meter-high building site fence, you know nothing of all this. You do not see them - the faces and stories of the people who play such a significant role in shaping our city. What you see from the outside is: another major project, another construction site, another thing changing the neighborhood. Berlin is booming and people have to be vigilant about keeping up. The fear of strangers, of being controlled by others in one's own neighborhood, is growing. Just like the desire for community, for a counterpart who looks back when you look at him.

With the portrait photo project Eyes on Concrete, we break up the anonymity of the big city and give the many (migrant) workers of Berlin's countless construction sites a face that you can meet at eye level - literally. The portrait photographs, printed in large format, are attached directly to construction fences and are on display as a traveling exhibition, as well as in many other pop-up actions at ever new locations in Berlin. This project is a personal and social cause of the project initiator, film producer Janine Baumeister. At some point, her curiosity about the people on the other side of the fence became insatiable and moved her for the first time to pick up a photo camera herself.

AUTHOR: Janine Baumeister (Germany)

The project "Eyes on Concrete" is a personal and social cause of the project initiator, film producer Janine Baumeister. At some point, her curiosity about the people on the other side of the construction fence became insatiable and moved her for the first time to pick up a photo camera herself.