Photo courtesy of George Nebieridze.
New York might be the city that never sleeps, but Berlin is the city that keeps on giving. It might seem scruffy or a little run down, hard to crack at first glance, but once you open yourself up to its possibilities there is no place quite like it. The images of Berlin-based, Tbilisi-born photographer George Nebieridze capture the porous quality and infinite potentials of the German capital—late late nights, bodies against bodies, the glassy neon scape of endless beer bottles lining a Späti fridge. And for the third year in a row, Nebieridze has published a photobook documenting the fullness and variety of Berlin life, from the hedonistic parties to the joy of a newborn baby, from fashionable young club kids to apricot sunsets, from its graffitied, trash-studded streets to fireworks exploding like glittering flowers in a New Year night sky.
Following on from ‘15 and ‘16, the Georgian image-maker is back with ‘17—a book chronicling his 2017 (books for 2018 and 2019 are already in the works). In chronological format—through bleak January to festive December—Nebieridze’s characterful photos are arranged in scrapbook form, layered over one another like sacred fragments, kept safe for posterity. For the photographer, the year 2017 was a remarkable one, punctuated by developments in his career (most notably getting involved in the music industry) and the birth of his second child—the cover of the book is the gory mass of a placenta; throughout are pictures of his children side by side snapshots of twilight Berlin revelry. Seen through Nebieridze’s open and non-discriminatory gaze, the juxtapositions of the city are all celebrated as wild, wonderful and free, from the woozy expression of a party-going stranger to the dreamy magic of a wide-eyed baby.
Read on below to find out more about Nebieridze’s ’17.
Photos courtesy of George Nebieridze.
You are originally from Tbilisi and are now based in Berlin. How long have you been living here? In what ways does Berlin inform your work? What is it about the city that appeals to you?
For the last six years I have been mostly living in Berlin. The city has been treating me very well, however I don’t really see it as the main inspiration to my work. I’d be doing the same thing regardless of my location. My thirst of image making and curiosity finds its ways everywhere I go. Obviously it’s cool to be here, meet all these interesting people and benefit on low prices comparing to other big cities. I am known to be the photographer who is very closely associated with this city and documents some important and attractive aspects of it, but honestly it doesn’t matter where I am. Sometimes I even believe I could achieve the same level of success living in the farm.
This book is the third in a series of photo books documenting your year. Did you take a photograph a day?
There was no such routine of taking a photo a day, sometimes weeks pass by without taking a single photo. Being an artist and a photographer involves doing way more things than just making photos or art pieces. I have to deal with a lot of admin stuff for instance, social media, invoices, paper work, interviews, logistics and so on. The material for my books gather from various sources, it can be spontaneous photographs taken at parties or in the street, some of them from the commissioned photo shoots, events or art projects.
What was the year 2017 like for you? In what ways do you think this book differs from the previous two? Will there be a 2018 book?
2017 has been a crucially important period in my work for several reasons. Firstly, I got very actively involved in the music industry and took photos of lots of important and interesting artists. It is a delightful experience to work with creative people and to be able to contribute to their careers in certain ways.
I learned a lot of essential things which helped me a lot in the future, also learned from my own mistakes which I made during making my previous books. The new book has definitely improved a lot of faults, obviously it’s not perfect, but I’m really glad how it turned out.
There will definitely be ’18 and ’19. I’m almost done with the material and will start working on ’18 in November.
Photos courtesy of George Nebieridze.
There is a very intimate quality to your work. Who are the people in your photographs?
The part of it is definitely intimate, but not everything. Some of the moments are very spontaneous and show lots of strangers. But I think you are referring to people on parties and after parties, some of them are friends, some are not. It’s very individual, but there’s definitely something attractive in them which made me take their photo. Things get interesting to me when I manage to take an intimate photos of strangers, it has happened in several occasions and the results generally are very exciting.
What sort of things are you most inspired by? Are there any particular photographers who you admire?
It can be anything, from the big budget movies, to some fragments found in street. I’m generally a very curious person and that quality in my character never stops providing me with inspirations. If you really have to have some names here are some, I love Gregg Araki movies, photos from William Eggleston, music from Richard D. James and paintings by Mark Rothko. Very different from each other, but somehow they all have place in my heart.
Photo courtesy of George Nebieridze.
Your photos frequently depict nightlife and aspects of club culture. Considering that Berlin has a strict attitude toward cameras in nightclubs, how do get around this?
I have my ways. I think it’s more accurate to say that one club has this big issue with photos. I understand and respect that, but the parties I go to I’m very comfortable taking photos. Most of the times I even get paid to take photos there. Sometimes it’s complicated however, people don’t always know that a photographer is present at a party and feel that their privacy is violated. On the other hand I don’t tent to be sneaky or take photos in a paparazzi kind of way at parties, I always have a friendly approach to people I photograph and if I feel I’m making anyone uncomfortable with my camera I don’t take the photo.
What are the ethical implications of taking photographs at parties?
There are many: as I said it’s better to make people feel that you come in peace and don’t have bad intentions. I don’t expect everyone to understand my artistic approach of taking their photos in their private moments, but sometimes people do understand it which often starts interesting conversations and even friendships. I’m not saying people always know when I’m photographing them, sometimes it even spoils a photo when one is aware that they are being photographed, there’s this thin line when things are ethical and okay and when they stop being ethical and okay. So if I had to give an advice to someone who plans to take photos at parties, I could tell them they should be very careful and always remember to communicate with people instead of running away. It’s very different in street photography though.
How would you describe your new book in three words?
Not for everyone.
See more from ’17 below:
All photos courtesy of George Nebieridze.