Tempelhof

I was thrilled to recently visit and tour the now-closed Tempelhof airport in Berlin –one of the world's most unique airports– and to wander through empty departure halls, baggage rooms, bunkers, corridors, tunnels and hangers; empty that is only of passengers and aircraft, because much of the interior has been frozen in time. The airport has a wild, colourful history and was never actually finished –mostly because of the war. Parts of it were just left as they were back then, other parts were abandoned in the seventies or after the cold war ended when the US military left and boasted interiors very much from these times, and much of the rest remains just as it was when it closed for civil air traffic a few years ago. I am so glad that it was not torn down or redeveloped –now the vast building is used for corporate events, art exhibitions, product launches and kick-offs. And the whole place is a photographer's dream! Perhaps nowhere more so that below the curved roof of the departure gates –so unlike any other airport. I felt that black and white worked best here –a little because I had seen so many such images taken here during the Berlin airlift, but also because the contrast worked so effectively. And there is a spookiness about the picture –the planes that would once lined up here are made so much more potent by their absence. It's as if the emptiness conjours up their ghosts. Location: Berlin, Germany