Berlin

These images are part of a series of 43 hand-embroidered photographs that were taken along the entire 104 mile path of the former Berlin Wall.

Sections of the photographs have been obscured by cross-stitch embroidery sewn directly into the photograph. The embroidery is made to resemble pixels and borrows the visual language of digital imaging in an analog, tactile process. In many images, the embroidered sections represent the exact scale and location of the former Wall offering a pixelated view of what lies behind. In this way, the embroidery appears as a translucent trace in the landscape of something that no longer exists but is a weight on history and memory. I am interested in the porous nature of memory as well the means by which photography transforms history into nostalgic objects that obscure objective understandings of the past. By using the embroidery in a way that is reminiscent of pixels, a connection is being made between forgetting and file corruption.

The images were taken in the city center as well as the outskirts of city where I followed the former path of the wall through suburbs and forests. I was particularly interested in photographing locations where no visible traces of the actual wall remain but where one can still see subtle clues of its previous existence. Often the embroidered sections of the image run along the horizon line forming an unnatural separation that blocks the viewer. This aspect of the sewing emphasizes the unnatural boundaries created by the wall itself.

© Diane Meyer - Stairs, Bösebrücke
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Stairs, Bösebrücke

© Diane Meyer - Heidelberger Straße
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Heidelberger Straße

© Diane Meyer - Bernauer Strasse II
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Bernauer Strasse II

© Diane Meyer - Engeldamm
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Engeldamm

© Diane Meyer - Invalidenfriedhof
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Invalidenfriedhof

© Diane Meyer - Treehouse, Former Border Area Near Frohnau
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Treehouse, Former Border Area Near Frohnau

© Diane Meyer - Fence and Hedges, Former Wall Area Rudow
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Fence and Hedges, Former Wall Area Rudow

© Diane Meyer - Basketball Park, Park am Nordbahnhoff
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Basketball Park, Park am Nordbahnhoff

© Diane Meyer - Erna-Berger Strasse
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Erna-Berger Strasse

© Diane Meyer - House, Former Wall Area Near Landswehrkanal
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House, Former Wall Area Near Landswehrkanal

© Diane Meyer - Bernauer Strasse, Hand Sewn Embroidered Archival Ink Jet Print
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Bernauer Strasse, Hand Sewn Embroidered Archival Ink Jet Print

© Diane Meyer - Former Guard Tower, Deutsche Waldjugend Nature Conservancy
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Former Guard Tower, Deutsche Waldjugend Nature Conservancy

© Diane Meyer - Gleinicke Bridge
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Gleinicke Bridge

© Diane Meyer - Plants, Former Offices of the State Secret Police
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Plants, Former Offices of the State Secret Police

© Diane Meyer - Reichstag
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Reichstag

© Diane Meyer - Griebnitzsee
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Griebnitzsee

© Diane Meyer - Mauer Park
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Mauer Park

© Diane Meyer - Brandenburg Gate
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Brandenburg Gate

© Diane Meyer - Checkpoint Charlie
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Checkpoint Charlie

© Diane Meyer - Former Guard Tower Off Puschkinallee
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Former Guard Tower Off Puschkinallee

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