Brilliantly Extraordinary: Berlin Through the Lens of Mary Ocher

Mary Ocher has quite an interesting life, that’s for sure! She was born in Moscow, raised in Tel Aviv and is now living in Berlin. Mary is a singer-songwriter, poet, artist, and an occasional DJ. If you think this is off the hook, then you should take the chance and go to one of her gigs. With her eccentric and extraordinary style and voice, she will definitely blow you away. Meet our latest LomoAmigo and LomoFriend of the Berlin City Guide!

NAME: Mary Ocher
CITY: Berlin
COUNTRY: Germany

Tell us something about yourself.
What sort of something? Something trivial? Something embarrassing? I just lost my ‘’list of things to do’’, which was amongst the data on my desktop, which is all gone now.

Why did you choose Berlin as residence? Ever wanted to live here or was it just a lucky coincidence?
It wasn’t so much that I wanted to come particularly to Berlin, but that I really really wanted to leave Tel Aviv. Berlin seemed like the best option.

Why did you want to leave Tel Aviv?
Mostly for political reasons, but also because I was tired of never fitting in and because of my notoriously limitless ambitions.

Did you enjoy shooting with the Diana F+? Where did you take her?
Certainly, it has seen the insides of dark rooms, smokey night clubs, beaches and parks. It is a well travelled camera now.

You were also shooting with the Horizon Perfekt. Which one do your prefer? Horizon or Diana?
I enjoyed both of them very much. But they’re good for completely different things. The Diana’s perfect for close ups, (and weird colorful double/triple/quadruple exposures, especially with those colorful plastic covers for the flash). The Horizon’s great for well-lit open spaces, the outdoors. Anything large, long … and hard (ok ok, that’s just me getting a bit carried away. lol).

Was this your first experience with analogue photography?
I’ve always been taking pictures as a kid, in the age of analogue, always with very basic cameras, but I enjoyed it tremendously, I used to take pics of everything, which my parents sometimes found irritating. Especially the one time I dedicated an entire film to my bike, after that I wasn’t encouraged to take photos anymore.

If your pictures could have a soundtrack? What songs will fit the most?
Just like the art house underground film that I will one day direct, it’ll probably have loads of no-wave and 70s electronics and some ocassional overly emotional torch singers. Ann steel/Roberto Cacciapaglia with ‘’Measurable Joys’’, Lizzy Mercier-Descloux and perhaps something by Irma Thomas.

Which photo of your snapshots is your favourite one? Why?
Probably the one with the family with the pastel graffiti in the background. To me that’s ironic. How normal they are and they are both looking up, hopeful? curious? perhaps worried? And there’s a bloody limousine drawn in the background! …which makes it all look somewhat ridiculous. But then again, two people with a baby stroller, what can be more ’’normal’’ than that? I wouldn’t know anything about normality, but this must be it.

A person (living or deceased) you really would like to photograph. Who would it be?
Interesting question. I’ll have to think about that. ok. I’ve got two actually. Andy Warhol and a certain someone I know. Warhol’s dead and I won’t take the other picture either, I took a few before but they were on those unlucky films that turned out to be blank. Maybe it’s karma.

How did it feel to be chosen as LomoAmigo?
It was exciting, very exciting. I was asked to do something that I would’ve loved to do whether it was for a project or not!

In our brandnew Berlin City Guide you are giving tips where to go out. Have you discovered any new places in the meantime that are a must-see?
Yes! Well, no. There are a lot of one-offs, events and festivals but not so much locations that put on events regularly. I wish there were more! Or maybe my standards are a tad too high.

What’s coming up next? Where can we see you live on stage?
Everywhere! At all times! Well, almost. The plan for summer/autumn is a few shows in Berlin, Hamburg, Austria and Portugal. And then perhaps the states in 2012.

Watch Mary’s latest video to “Six Dead White Men” from the album War Songs and check out her website or become a fan on Facebook.

written by zonderbar on 2011-07-29 #people #interview #musician #berlin #amigo #city-guide #lomoamigo #lomofriend #berlin-city-guide #mary-ocher #friends-tip