The stickers and graffiti of St Pauli
A mini-project, capturing the street art of Hamburg's trendiest district.
In the years I've been going to Hamburg, I've rarely strayed outside the stretch from the Hauptbahnhof to St Pauli and the Reeperbahn. That's always been “my” Hamburg. And much of that area is riddled with stickers and graffiti.
This year, while walking from our hotel to the opening party, I asked Martin if this was a Hamburg thing.
“No,” he replied. “It's a this part of Hamburg thing.”
And that makes sense. I wouldn't judge the whole of London by the standards of Soho.
A quick sticker project
With some time to myself on the Saturday morning, I decided to capture some of the stickers and graffiti that caught my eye. One thing I found fascinating is that there's geological layers being created. Old stickers and posters aren't removed when they're out of date. They just sit there, slowly getting covered up as new ones take their place.
It's like a visual record of the cultural moment that have impacted St Pauli, and perhaps Hamburg in general.
I listed to some tracks Christin Nichols after spotting the sticker above. It's pretty good – even if I have no idea what she's singing:
