See Sebastian’s City – Dortmund

For this month’s “SeeTheirCity” interview, we spoke to Sebastian Spasic – also known as @AKUsepp. Sebastian is a professional photographer from the Dortmund/ Ruhr area. He mainly focuses on architectural photography and images of the streets, underground stations and people of the city.

1. Featured pictures

Sebastian documents the city of Dortmund in his photography. He says that the city isn’t known for its beauty – “maybe for its football club, but not for its beauty!”. Dortmund is grey and dirty – an industrial area in the heart of Germany. More than any other German city, though, Dortmund has seen enormous changes in recent years. Sebastian explains that the former steel city has now developed into a modern and cosmopolitan metropolis, and though the days of heavy industry are over, the impressive old buildings still remain: witnesses to days gone by.

2. Style

We asked Sebastian to choose the options that best describe his style. His choices are highlighted:

1. Spontaneous or Planner
2. Lone shooter or Social shooter
3. Colours or Black & White
4. Gadgets or Simply mobile phone
5. iOS or Android
6. Innovative or Traditional
7. Edit or No edit
8. Filter or No Filter
9. People (in pictures) or No People

3. Sebastian’s top 3 reasons to visit Dortmund:

1. The people
2. The industrial culture
3. The beer and currywurst

 4. Sebastian’s best “secret” hot spots to visit in Dortmund:

1) The Südtribüne: There are no hidden gems left in the city, but the Südtribüne terrace in the Westfalenstadion is one of a kind – even if you are not a football fan. 25,000 fans on the famous terrace fill the largest existing standing area in European football. Famous for the intense atmosphere it breeds, the south terrace has been nicknamed the “Yellow Wall”. You will never forget it.

2) The U-Tower: A former brewery building near the train station, the U-Tower – or “Dortmunder U” – has served as a centre for the arts and creativity since 2010. It showcases artwork from the 20th and 21st centuries and helps develop innovative concepts of cultural education in the digital age.

3) The Westfalenpark in the heart of the city: It offers a blend of peace and variety. Frequently the venue for large-scale events, this is a park in which the view changes every few steps.

5. Sebastian’s suggestion for a future SeeMyCity project: Tokyo

There are cities and then there is Tokyo. Tokyo is a marvellous mix of modern living and old-fashioned manners. There are shrines and stone lanterns and other traces of old Japan scattered amongst the skyscrapers, swanky shopping malls and hole-in-the-wall noodle shops.

6. Sebastian’s app recommendation:

Snapseed and VSCO.

7. Sebastian’s top 2 recommendations of other Dortmund Instagrammers to follow:

1. @palomaparrot
2. @densschoof

Here are some of Sebastian’s pictures of Dortmund:

Thank you @AKUsepp for such a fantastic interview and for providing us with such amazing images. Check back next month as we chat with another Instagrammer and SeeTheirCity!