Frankfurt Nights - Pictures of a Metropolis

As much as many a Frankfurter likes to think of his city as a little New York - Mainhatten, that is - it becomes clear at night that Frankfurt, despite its imposing skyline, is quite different from its big American brother. For while the Big Apple was not sung about by Frank Sinatra as the city that never sleeps for nothing, in Frankfurt, with the disappearance of the numerous commuters to the suburbs and with the closing time in the clubs and pubs, calm returns to the city centre. The fact that Frankfurt also exudes a certain fascination at night is what photographer Philipp Zechner has tried to capture in his book "Frankfurter Nächte".

It would have been easy to concentrate only on the shiny, really photogenic sides of the city and especially to put the illuminated skyline, which of course makes a particularly impressive motif at night, in the focus of the book. But that's exactly what Zechner doesn't do. Of course there are such skyline pictures, because after all the skyscrapers contribute considerably to the very special position that Frankfurt holds, not only in Germany. They are an unmistakable trademark of the city, and Zechner certainly knows how to appreciate that in his pictures. Nevertheless, his focus is on the aspects of the city that make Frankfurt so special for the people who live here. The mixture of tradition and modernity, of the original and the ephemeral, of the provincial and the international, which shines in a very special light, especially at night.

Simple house fronts, walls sprayed with graffiti, small alleys, streets where bulky waste piles up or illuminated industrial buildings, but also shop windows, snack bars and historical landmarks have been captured by Philipp Zechner with his camera in a very special atmosphere. Sometimes this looks beautiful, such as the view of Saalgasse or the walk through the sparsely lit Klappergasse in Sachsenhausen. Other pictures almost radiate something uneasy, such as the dreary entrance to an underground car park in the city centre or the grounds of the Europaturm. Still other places seem downright alien in their nocturnal lack of life, even if you've passed them hundreds of times during the day.

"Frankfurter Nächte" does not always show the Main metropolis from its most beautiful side. But even if the pictures show rubbish, dark corners or unsightly concrete blocks, they also radiate something of what makes the city so fascinating at night. The mixture of attractive sights, the imposingly staged skyline and the gloomy corners make this nocturnal foray through Frankfurt a very special illustrated book, in which the city shows itself to connoisseurs from an unusual and perhaps even completely new side. Absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp