Bruno
08/07/2025
In the streets of Neckarstadt in Mannheim, you come across many faces — but one of them stands out in a special way. Bruno, always on the move with his shopping cart, filled with the few belongings he owns.
I see him regularly. Despite his difficult circumstances, he radiates a remarkable kindness. With his long beard, warm hat, and weathered face, he looks like someone who has seen a lot in life. He speaks very little German or English, but during a brief conversation, he told me that he is from Ukraine.
What strikes me every time is his dignity. He greets people with a smile, and sometimes with a gesture like in this photo — a salute that says more than words ever could. A quiet hero of everyday life, whose full story we may never know, yet who has become an unmistakable part of this neighborhood.
03/29/2025
03/22/2025
This photo was taken in the underpass near the train station in Mannheim - a place crossed daily by thousands of people, yet rarely truly seen. Between haste and indifference, between arrivals and departures, a different, often overlooked reality unfolds here.
The scene feels cold, almost anonymous - but it tells a powerful story. The person in the image - perhaps lost in thought — stands as a symbol for those living on the margins of society. Without a fixed place, yet right among us.
The train station underpass is more than just a transit point. For some, it’s a place of refuge, a last resort, a space to survive. This photo captures a quiet moment of that reality
- without judgment, simply with an honest gaze.
Nico from Romania
08/07/2025
Alter Messplatz
Cengniz
08/28/2025
The photo was taken in Mannheim at the Alter Messplatz. It shows Cengniz, who lives on the street. He was born in Germany and has family roots in Turkey. In this moment, he is playing a small drum - an expression of rhythm, concentration, and perhaps even a sense of joy that unfolds in the present.
The image reminds us that homelessness is not only linked to deprivation, but also to individual stories, abilities, and forms of expression. Cengniz's playing suggests that culture and creativity persist even where life is marked by uncertainty and improvisation.
This creates a tension between the harsh realities of life on the street and the moments of human dignity that reveal themselves in gestures, music, or encounters. The photo thus opens a space for reflection on visibility, belonging, and the way society looks at people like Cengniz.
06/15/2025
I met her in Mannheim, alter Messplatz. Not a loud place, but not one that listens either. She sits there, day after day, with calm hands and a gentle gaze. No one knows her name, but many know her work- she cleans the toilets, for just a few euros. Work that most would avoid. Work that’s easy to overlook. But she´s there. Quiet, unassuming, present.
Her clothes speak of effort and dignity, her face of a life that doesn’t need a stage. And on her arm-a simply drawn cross, radiating light. She told me she got it at 18. A mark that’s stayed with her through everything.
Maybe comfort. Maybe hope. Maybe memory.
I wonder who she is. What she dreams of, who she loves. A person who deserves our respect. Not pity-respect. We walk past people like her every day. But they are the ones who carry the weight of the everyday. They keep the world turning— quietly, in the background.
Arman
06/06/2025