Harald Hauswald . Voll das Leben! Retrospektive

Raucous, flamboyantly dressed punks, hippies, and kissing couples in a sea of Trabi cars; banner-waving demonstrators at Alexanderplatz; shadowy figures and drunks at neighborhood bars and community festivals; law-abiding citizens waiting patiently at tram stops: Harald Hauswald’s eye is authentic and tender. His photographs exude sympathy for the objects and people he photographs. They capture the monotony and slowness of life in East Germany, and bear witness to an insular and isolated world shortly before its downfall. In contrast to the West’s prevalent images of the GDR as a country defined by the socialist state and the Free German Youth organization, by the Berlin Wall and barbed wire, by marches and military parades, Harald Hauswald (b. 1954) offers penetrating, singular insights into everyday life under socialism, in particular showing the evolving cityscape of East Berlin and the activities of opposition groups, artists, and youth subcultures. Rather than simply documenting c