"The trailer camp people lived like they were on an island."
Ralf Marsault was born in Angers (France) in 1957. In the 1990s he lived for periods in Berlin’s East Side Gallery trailer camp and later in the "Kreuzdorf" trailer camp for a stretch of fifteen years (from 2004 to 2019). He first gained access to the Wagenburgen and their residents through his photography, even though taking photos of and in the trailer camps was considered taboo. But his work gave the people he photographed an opportunity to show themselves how they wanted to be seen. Ralf Marsault was fascinated by the trailer camp people’s goal of building a democratic community beyond social norms. A doctor of cultural anthropology, he now lives in Paris. His work has been shown in numerous exhibitions and publications.
Ralf Marsault gave Wagenburg residents the opportunity to portray themselves in his photos the way they wanted to be seen.
Book recommendation: In his series "Fin de Siècle", Ralf Marsault portrayed youth subcultures of the 1980s and 1990s in Berlin, Paris and London , a joint work with photographer Heino Muller: Faintly Falling, Berlin 2020: https://ralfmarsault.org/