Michael Schmidt's work has always focused on his hometown of Berlin and the book format has always been a fundamental element of his work. His book Waffenruhe is a renowned and highly collectible book of the late 20th century. One of his most important bodies of work about Berlin, Berlin nach 1945, has never been published as a whole. It is particularly significant at this time, given the extreme urban and developmental changes Berlin has undergone within recent years. This series documents a big city which, as recently as 1980, was still very much marred by World War II. Focusing on the vacant sites, fallow land, and provisional architectonical arrangements - rigid city planning within this divided city - Schmidt has elaborated an impressive visual record of a city in a state of flux.
