Sonnenallee Emergency Call

Shot through the window of my apartment building, as an emergency vehicle passes through traffic.

As a child, I had an acute awareness of the sense that we are all the centre of our of own lives. Yet, as much as we may be consumed by our individual thoughts, feelings and narratives, this is also true for everyone else; each of us in the midst of our own daily dramas.

I learned much later that the word used to describe this sensation in English is ‘sonder’. I learned even later that this word in German, translates to ‘special’.

Sitting alone in my apartment, looking out into the world, these other lives pass in and out of my frame of vision and reference. Unable to fully comprehend or represent their specificity, the are present only as shining abstractions.