Overlooking the Spree river: an eclectic meal. A near-empty glass of Prosecco; a chicken bone cleaned off its skin in a pool of powdered sugar; the remains of a salad, drenched in dressing; a suspended fork. Who put this hodgepodge together? More important still: why was it abandoned so hastily?
As I walk down Berlin’s Maybachufer on a sunny April day, the interrupted lunch holds my attention for a long moment. Disgusted yet unable to turn my gaze away, I take out my camera to capture from a safe distance what I am too shy or apprehensive to physically touch. As viewed through my lens, the food becomes less dangerous. An alternative image emerges in the afternoon light: the sensual transgression at play in the mixing of flavors and containers; the intimacy of the half-finished state; the clandestine playfulness in the public accessibility of the leftovers. Yes, there it is, the invitation: eat me, if you dare.
Overlooking the Spree river: a meal, half-naked, undressing.
Panagiota Stoltidou –
Panagiota Stoltidou (b. 2000 Thessalonik) is currently pursuing a master’s in Comparative Literature at Freie Universität in Berlin. Her reviews, poetry, and translation have appeared or are forthcoming at Comparative Literature Review, Hopscotch Translation, The Columbia Review and elsewhere. She is the editor-in-chief of Filmpost.
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