Show "Signs"

[Levina de Ruijter]

West Berlin looking into East Berlin. Scan from a slide I took in November 1986.

View attachment 21046

You are posting some fascinating pics, fotoi.

 

[fotoi]

You are posting some fascinating pics, fotoi.

Thank you very much!

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

Somewhere in the Red Light district

 

[inphoto]

I'd love to see a blog story about the red light district, I don't know if photos are allowed.

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

I'd love to see a blog story about the red light district, I don't know if photos are allowed.

You mean taking photos of the women? I don’t know if it’s not allowed but it is most definitely not appreciated. Big muscular men with big tattoos might take your camera and smash it against a wall. And throw the photographer in the canal. Or the other way around.

I went there a few years ago for a POTN theme. Early in the morning, most windows closed. But I didn’t dare take a picture of the one women who was in a window. I was closely observed by one of those men I mentioned and he didn’t look friendly. I did take pictures, but not of working women.

Here’s another sign I shot that morning. The red neon in the lower left corner is an open window.

 

[inphoto]

I guess it's a dangerous photo adventure. I sure think that taking pictures of women is violating their privacy, but photographing the streets and ambience as you did with the sign, using something unobtrusive like a phone would be quite a task, especially from a woman's sight!

A special WET maybe?

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

I guess it's a dangerous photo adventure. I sure think that taking pictures of women is violating their privacy, but photographing the streets and ambience as you did with the sign, using something unobtrusive like a phone would be quite a task, especially from a woman's sight!

A special WET maybe?

LOL

Of course I could take photos of the streets and the ambience, sure, like I did 7 years ago but the problem is that there is nothing to see in the morning but nothing to see at night either as the narrow streets and alleys are crammed with tourists who behave like they are in a zoo (this is actually a serious problem - those big men with tattoos are there for a good reason). But I wouldn’t want to go there at night anyway.

I have a few more shots from the district. I will look them up and post them somewhere else.

 

[inphoto]

Looking forward to your pictures! Best pictures come at day, plenty of light, everyone is working and the streets are not full of people.
I never visited Amsterdam so I'm curious about the place. It is very different than Paris where the ladies were on the street. Anyway, these places aren't dangerous if you behave as expected, it's a business after all, but anything that is not politically correct is observed strictly.

 

[Levina de Ruijter]

Looking forward to your pictures! Best pictures come at day, plenty of light, everyone is working and the streets are not full of people.
I never visited Amsterdam so I'm curious about the place. It is very different than Paris where the ladies were on the street. Anyway, these places aren't dangerous if you behave as expected, it's a business after all, but anything that is not politically correct is observed strictly.

You're not wrong in that the place is quite safe during the day. It is after all located in a residential area, so people actually live there too. Some of the university buildings are there too. I used to pass through a few alleys on my way to the faculty when I was a student. Nobody thought anything of it. But showing up there with a camera does change things a bit, even during the day. But it helps that I am a woman. I should go back some time and take new pics. During the day though, not at night. At night the place is very different and I wouldn't feel comfortable.

 

[inphoto]

Nowadays showing up with a camera frightens everyone everywhere, while with a phone no-one cares....