Gallery: Europe 2004-05

Iraqi-German Protest, Berlin, Germany

While walking around the streets of Berlin, we came across this protest by Iraqi-Turks. Despite the menacing look of the security forces above, the police were remarkably restrained. The protesters were also remarkably orderly (this is Germany, I guess) and after chanting, furling banners, and several passionate speeches, they disbursed peacefully.

In terms of equipment, the Leica excels in this type of environment. Lightweight and inobstrusive, it allowed me to approach much closer than I would have with a SLR. There are some other photos where I'm literally nose-to-nose with the protesters. However, as you can see from my frame numbers, I ran out of film half-way through the protest and only had one roll remaining! That's one thing I dislike about film cameras...

The Iraqi Turkoman Front is a political group for Turkish-Iraqis. Apparently Muslim and Christian Turks migrated to Iraqs several hundred years ago but with the political situation currently unsettled, they're finding themselves in a bit of a bind. The present-day Iraqi constitution doesn't recognize them (I think), which is why they are protesting for recognition as a formal minority group. There's a bit of background on this webpage here.

To add a totally strange dimension to this protest, about 300 meters away was another demonstration -- for the innocence of Michael Jackson accused in a child sexual molestation case in the United States. They were not nearly as passionate as the Iraqi-Turks, however.

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Equipment: Leica M7, Summicron 35mm f/2