Michael schmidt f1

Michael Schmidt, who just won the Prix Pictet photography prize for his epic Lebensmittel project, died on Saturday in Berlin. He was 68 years old.

Schmidt was born in Berlin, the year World War 2 ended and the city was divided into two parts. The city’s division was literally cemented in 1961 when the East German government erected the Berlin Wall. Legally, the government of West Germany had almost no power over the enclave. While on the one hand looking like most other West German city, in reality West Berlin was also “an occupied territory under the formal sovereignty of the allies” (source; the same was true for East Berlin, a fact not recognized by the East German and Soviet governments).

As a consequence, West Berlin became a very strange city. Large parts of the past were frozen in place. At the same time, the desire to join the Wirtschaftswunder had the same effect it had elsewhere. In addition, West Berlin would attract those unhappy with what wa Helmut newton!