Reuters Recreates Images of Postwar Berlin

At the Military History Museum in Dresden photojournalist Fabrizio Bensch found a series of the photos taken by Soviet photographer Georgiy Samsonov in 1945. Bensch decided to recreate the images and shot photos of the exact places in 2015.

The photographer used olds phone directories, address books, street maps, and services like Google Earth and Streetview to pinpoint the exact locations. When he came across a portrait of Samsonov, and realized that he was using FED camera, Bensch bought the same camera on Ebay and used it to create the series.

“I’m a passionate photographer with my own memories of covering the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. I always marveled at how, in the midst of total destruction and the naked fight for life in Berlin, photographers could find the courage to take pictures of the plight they witnessed.

I admire Samsonov for his portrayal of Berlin – a battalion’s moves in one of history’s key moments, it portrayed a city in a state it had never reached before and hopefully never will again. Pictures never lose their significance – even if it sometimes takes detective work and time travel to recreate them.

Photos are memories – of history, events, ourselves. Who will shoot the same images again, 70 years from now. And what will the images show?” writes Bensch.