My book, Berlin, Second Hand, focuses on the flea market at Mauerpark, which takes place every Sunday on a strip of land where the Berlin Wall once stood. The symbolic value of a lively market taking place on a former death strip  needs no explanation. However, as Berlin continues to gentrify and become a more expensive city to live in, Mauerpark’s flea market represents something important that I hope doesn’t get lost. The flea market is about creativity and ingenuity. It’s about finding value in the used, the vintage, and the slightly dog-earred items for sale. It’s about reusing and recycling. It’s about stepping away from the computer and participating in life.

This book is my quiet protest against the commercialization, gentrification and homogenization of a city I love.

Berlin, Second Hand
by Valerie Palmer

5.5 x 8.5 inches/ 14 x 21 cm
46 pages
Edition of 100 (signed & numbered)
Full color, offset printing, perfect bound
$20 + shipping

The book was featured on the UK’s Independent Photobook blog:

“The book contains 37 portraits of flea market sellers at Berlin’s Mauerpark. It also contains a short essay on the changes Berlin is currently facing, how Mauerpark is a microcosm of this transformation and the valuable role flea markets play in the face of gentrification.”