Podcast #018 – Foto Sven [German Language]

Who is Photo Sven? This question has certainly been asked by many graffiti writers from the capital of Germany in the past (at least) 20 years, may have met him or even had contact with him.

Foto Sven is an exceptional figure in the German graffiti scene. So to speak, the father of what is currently being practiced to an extreme extent by numerous actors worldwide: documentation of graffiti. Sven has been taking photos for 26 years: He has never been active himself. Whether street walls, trains, hall of fame or sketches, he simply photographs everything. Or let’s say almost everything. With an archive of almost 300,000 images, Sven now houses one of the most valuable graffiti collections in Germany, if not Europe. Everything is meticulously filed, sorted and managed.

Over the years, numerous Berlin graffiti writers from all generations have sought contact with Sven, friendships have developed and trust has been built up. How important someone like Foto Sven really is for such a large graffiti scene will probably only become clear in the future.

It was just time to meet Foto Sven in Berlin and talk about all of this. What drives him again and again, what he photographs and what maybe not. How does his archive work, how do you find something? And what do you actually do with it?