I’ve been back in Germany for a few days.
I’m here to work with my dad on two different projects, also do some filming for a little personal side-project and maybe even get some editing in – besides spending time with family and friends. Not much time left for relaxing, but hey, I can do that when I go on vacation sometime…
The first few days have already been wonderful with lots of fun experiences, much needed reunions and a few new acquaintances.
Here are a few pictures…
Day 1: switching plains in Zurich
so charming after leaving from JFK
Day 2: Hamburg Stadtpark Open Air – my friend Thimo Sander playing guitar for Ich & Ich (supported by Radiopilot) – kind of a cruddy photo, but I like the moment and the view through the umbrellas
Night 2: This is becoming a regular “last stop of the night” when out in Hamburg – when the entire city seems asleep you open the door of BP 1 and find it packed full of cheery people with a DJ playing until the early morning – Thimo is here on the right, the rest of the band, who were all super nice and fun, must have fallen out of the picture already (could’ve been the vodka?)
Night 2: while walking with Amir, one of my oldest friends, another typical Hamburg-at-night impression
Day 3: and something I would consider to be more artistic wall deco – this artist apparently has been working all over downtown Hamburg – everything is cut out of paper in separate pieces and glued to the wall
Day 3: my dad, Günter Westphal, showing me around his Münzviertel, where a plant grows right in front of a poster he created for a neighborhood meeting which shows that very plant (or the other way around)
Day 3: back at Hamburg Stadtpark for another show of Radiopilot and Ich & Ich – and another rather blurry photo, which still I like again for the moment it captured: support band Radiopilot (which my brother Asterix Westphal works with) giving it all
Night 3: After Radiopilot has taken off for Tübingen, Ich & Ich for Austria, my brother for Berlin and my friend Erik is setting up the stage for the next day’s show, I took a quiet moment in the now empty backstage area to reminisce about the day 16 years ago when I met Nick Cave and Blixa Bargeld at that very spot – I remember Nick Cave giving my teenage self the advice to just pursue my dreams, to just do it – that’s how he was able to be a singer, a writer, an actor… and here I am 16 years later, still trying… feels good to know I am
Day 4: Stopping by the Hamburg harbor on my way to my parents’ house – oh those cranes… Red Hook just can’t quite live up to this
Day 5: Obviously not one of mine – this is one of my dad’s (Günter Westphal) fabulous flower photos that is part of one of his projects involving photographs, sketches, texts, meetings, interactions and center around social and aesthetic improvements (I’m currently trying to help him capture some of his work digitally)
Day 6: during a wonderful day in the city with my mom – the Hamburg main train station and former main post office (now library): Hühnerposten
Day 6: tonight at 9:50pm the sun is finally setting – view from my parents’ front yard And now I’m done for the day. Tomorrow I’m off to Berlin for a few days.