Eva Mahn Halle / Saale, Universitätsplatz

Many of my friends had already left the GDR legally or illegally, most recently the father of my daughter. He had left behind everything he owned, incomplete wall paintings, his pictures and graphics, a car, the sailing boat, the books. It was usual for the state to seal the home and confiscate everything. The family had no claim to anything. A further depressing fact was that entire streets of half-timbered houses in the centre of Halle were being dynamited and torn down. Everything familiar, home and ties were disappearing at breakneck speed. It was as if someone had pulled the rug out from under my feet. In these circumstances I photographed my crumbling city, with anger and sadness.