Will McBride: 1931-2015

Will McBride was born in St. Louis in 1931. In 1955, he moved to Berlin where he created his first extensive photographic series – and where he acquired his first Leica.

"I got my first Leica in the mid-fifties. There was a camera shop in Berlin's Schloßstraße, and in exchange for taking a portrait of the owner's children, I was given a second-hand Leica."

It was to become McBride's tool for documenting post-war Berlin. However, instead of focusing on the city's ruins and destruction, he captured the joye-de-vivre of its inhabitants, emerging from the time of war. In his later years, the artist predominantly worked as a painter. In 2004, the German Society for Photography (DGPh) awarded him the Dr. Erich Salomon Prize in honour of his life's work.

Most recently, his work was showing at the photo gallery C/O Berlin – the exhibition ended on 17 January.