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Nightlife Photography: A Club-Hopping Journey Around the World
Sergey Melnitchenko takes us behind the scenes at a Chinese club, while Jesús Madriñán captures nightlife in the rural villages of Galicia, Spain. Oliver Eglin documents clubbers leaving Berghain, the world-famous club in Germany. Bene Brandhofer and Leif Marcus photograph the people who were turned away. Take a journey around the world, to famous nightclubs and little-known spots, through the art of nightlife photography.
Sergey Melnitchenko first arrived in China as a dancer, ultimately taking us backstage at the nightclub where he worked.
“’This is the invisible side of the club, the atmosphere, a part of which I became,’ Melnitchenko says. ‘Behind the scenes, there is more burlesque than on the stage, the concentration of sexual fluids is more powerful than oxygen. There’s no falsehood – it’s not a scene, it’s their everyday life, our life, or rather mine.'”
Jesús Madriñán documents the club scene across the rural villages of Galicia in his nightlife photography.
“Madriñán captures his subjects with chaos often raging in the background. Our eyes search for telling clues of who these young people are when the sun rises.”
Oliver Eglin’s nightlife photography captures the illusive clientele of one of the world’s most infamous techno clubs.
“A former power generation plant in a desolate part of East Berlin, Berghain remains open from Friday until Monday afternoon, its 1500 person capacity easily filled two or three times over. The club’s stringent no-camera policy coupled with its exclusive cortege of partygoers leads to wild speculation of what really goes on in this urban palace.”
One night in March, Bene Brandhofer and Leif Marcus waited outside the Berghain to capture the faces, and stories, of those who weren’t allowed in.
“One thing is clear as you approach the line at the Berghain: people are desperate to get in. Since its inauguration in 2004, it continues to host the world’s best DJs, and has gone from being a local secret, infamous for its drugs and sex parties, to the city’s most high-profile tourist attraction. This could explain the selective door policy – trying to retain the exclusivity factor, without becoming another overrun tourist destination.”
