East meets West in Rudi Meisel's Cold War photos

Rudi Meisel was a professional border cross from 1977 to 1987. Reporting as a photojournalist for "Spiegel," "TIME," "Newsweek," and GEO," he documented everyday life in what was then East Germany and West Germany.

In the communist East, he was closely watched by the authorities, but he never let that bother his work. From a kissing couple to drab social building projects, Meisel's photos capture the essence of everyday life in both countries - which were bound together by a common culture, but divided by politics.

Ahead of the 25th anniversary of German reunification on October 3, 2015, the c/o Gallery in Berlin's Amerika Haus is presenting an exhibition of Rudi Meisel's works, entitled "Compatriot 1977-1987."

"Conservative comfort, inhospitable residential developments, neighborly chit-chat, boozy get-togethers in bars, youth rebellion, entertaining folk festivals, streets in disrepair - over a period of 11 years, the West German photographer Rudi Meisel captured the everyday life of the common people on both sides," wrote exhibition curator Felix Hofmann. "His photo-journalistic documents merge to create a unique, historical archive, causing the viewer to be confounded and amazed by the similarity of the subject."

The photographer himself explained that "it was only with distance that the similarities became clear" to him. He continued: "There was the same stuffiness in the West as there was in the East. Only that the stuffiness of the West had a few chrome strips and was spruced up."

Born in 1949 in Wilhelmshaven, Meisel grew up in Osnabrück and studied photography in Essen. Starting in 1971, he worked as a freelance news photographer, and later as an architcture photographer with Normal Foster. Rudi Meisel now lives and works in Berlin.

The exhibition at the c/o Gallery runs through November 1, 2015.