Photography workshop at GTZ Representation Berlin: Photographers from around the world examine the Spotlight of the Year through the lens

Lowered kerbs for pushchairs and wheelchairs, bicycles that can safely be locked to the nearest tree, soup kitchens for the hungry - at first glance, the issue of ‘security’ does not seem to be an issue at all in Germany. GTZ Representation Berlin had commissioned seven photographers from South Africa, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Colombia and Germany with the same challenge: to give visual expression to GTZ’s Spotlight of the Year for 2009, Developing security - Securing development. For one week the photographers scoured Berlin for appropriate images, visiting prisons, homeless shelters, a boxing club in Berlin's Wedding district, and a mosque in Pankow.

Despite some initial scepticism, the results of the photographers' work are impressive, illustrating how diverse the subject is even in Germany: veiled women outside the mosque, an eight-year-old boy hiding behind his boxing-gloved fists, a bed in the homeless shelter. The photographers selected their own venues and decided themselves how to approach the issue.

Through the course of the week-long workshop the participants’ position gradually shifted. While the focus on the first day lay on ‘security’ and its various manifestations, as the week progressed the group came to realise that ‘security’ and ‘development’ are inextricably connected. For instance, the images from the homeless shelter illustrate every human being’s need to create their own little piece of security. By the end, the team had even reversed the Spotlight theme – development should come first, such as a roof over one’s head, and only then can security develop.

Besides the challenge of illustrating the Spotlight of the Year, the workshop also focused on intercultural dialogue. How does a photographer from Kabul experience ‘security’ in Berlin? And how does a Cologne photographer teamed with a Colombian find a way to interpret such a culturally specific issue?

The best photographs will go on display in the hallways of GTZ-Haus Berlin for one year and later also be shown at the Eschborn and Bonn offices.