Beauty & Decay

The story of three artists with a shared history in the rebellious and creative East German youth scene of the 1980s. Their careers have been marked by their radicalism and openness, as well as their unorthodox and multifaceted view of the world.
 
Before the fall of the Berlin Wall, photographer Sven Marquardt made black-and-white portraits of people in East Berlin’s arts subculture, of which he was also part. He has now returned to photography and is once again working with Dominique Hollenstein, one of his favorite models, known as Dome. They also talk with Robert Paris, the ‘pretty’ punk who was one of Marquardt’s models and himself a photographer. Paris’s 1980s photos of East Berlin wastelands and facades recall the radical transformation the city has undergone in the interim. But, as they recollect and revive the past, it becomes clear that the lives of these former rebels still reflect their idiosyncrasies and creativity.