The picture of Klaus-Dieter Bohm was taken in March 2006. I was inspired by a discussion in Hamburg’s biggest daily newspaper in the run-up to the World Cup, where Hamburg was also the venue for games. It was about the question of whether in view of the expected tourists homeless people would fit into Hamburg’s inner city. I was annoyed by this question and then had the idea to make the portrait of a homeless person and to show him as belonging to Hamburg.
The search for a homeless man turned out to be difficult, because around the station homeless people are displaced by employees of private security companies. But near the train station, in a big shopping street, I saw a gentleman. In the cold January air, wrapped in a blue jacket, with a knitted cap on his head, he was sitting on a blanket on the floor, leaning against the wall of a building. I spoke to him and we talked. I told Mr Bohm – as he had imagined – my picture idea and he agreed. I took a picture of him, took a lot of pictures of him. Looking at the picture, I soon realized that the wall on which Mr Bohm leaned was too background for the background. I wanted to relate my image more to Hamburg, also to the silence on the part of our elected city representative. So I came to the city hall with the Hamburg coat of arms. I set the clock to “5 to 12”.
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