Berlin Mitte, the center of Berlin (once part of East Berlin) has undergone a dramatic change in the last 20 years. Once the preferred quarter of artists, free-spirits, and youngsters seeking alternative life-styles, Berlin Mitte has gone through a major gentrification process. Real estate prices have soared and middle-class and upper middle class residents have substituted the poor and creative people who used to live there. Many buildings have been demolished, others have maintained just the outside walls, almost all of them have gone through significant structural upgrades. The original entryways - covered with revolutionary slogans, colourful graffiti, and political messages painted by occupants who no longer live there, have become the first victims of this real estate boom. They were definitely incompatible with the new tenants (and the new prices per square meter).

The project wants to capture these entryways before they disappear for good. Some of them, in fact, are gone already.

The choice of using a fish-eye (definitely an out-of-fashion lens today) has not been easy but I am convinced of its validity. By looking at these entryways through a peephole in what seems to be a door in front of them I tried to move the viewer as close as possible to them, as if they were a visitor who just rang a bell. Using a linear lens and respecting the rules of architectural documentation was not one of my goals, clearly. I wanted to establish some intimacy between the viewer of the photo and the entryway. Make the latter a visitor, i.e., human. The fisheye served me well.