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Documentary photo essay · Frankfurt · June 2026

Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof: Lives in Public

A close account of addiction, exposure and mutual care in the streets, parks and station halls around Frankfurt Central Station.

A man lights a small pipe beneath Frankfurt's banking towers at night.
A man lights a small metal pipe beneath Frankfurt's illuminated banking towers, June 2026.Photograph by Laurin Strele
Frankfurt, Germany
June 2026

In June 2026, Laurin Strele photographed the streets, parks, station halls and railway margins around Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof. Here, an open drug scene occupies the same compact district as commuters, offices, hotels and nightlife, placing drug use, homelessness and medical risk in continuous public view.

Rather than treat the people in the frame as symbols of urban disorder, the essay observes the relationships, routines and acts of mutual care that make life possible from one day to the next. Portraits and gestures of companionship hold attention on individual lives without disguising the danger and exhaustion that surround them.

People sitting and lying on a pavement in Frankfurt's Bahnhofsviertel at night.
People sit and lie on the pavement at night in Frankfurt's Bahnhofsviertel, June 2026.
A man crouches on a pavement and smokes from a small pipe in Frankfurt.
A man crouches on the pavement while smoking from a small pipe in Frankfurt's Bahnhofsviertel, June 2026.
Hands holding coins, a lighter and small metal objects on a pavement.
Hands sort coins, a cigarette lighter and small metal objects on a pavement in Frankfurt's Bahnhofsviertel, June 2026.
Two hands holding smoking pipes in Frankfurt.
Two people hold smoking pipes in Frankfurt's Bahnhofsviertel, June 2026.
Close view of a man inhaling through a pipe.
A man inhales through a pipe in Frankfurt's Bahnhofsviertel, June 2026.
A person heating a substance on aluminium foil in Frankfurt.
A person heats a substance on aluminium foil in Frankfurt's Bahnhofsviertel, June 2026.
A man holding a syringe beside blood on his lower leg.
A man holds a syringe beside fresh blood on his lower leg in Frankfurt's Bahnhofsviertel, June 2026.
A syringe containing dark liquid held above a scarred hand.
A person holds a syringe containing a dark liquid above a scarred hand in Frankfurt's Bahnhofsviertel, June 2026.
A shirtless man lights a small metal pipe beside a railing in Frankfurt.
A shirtless man lights a small metal pipe while seated beside a railing in Frankfurt's Bahnhofsviertel, June 2026.
Portrait of a shirtless man holding a small metal pipe in blue light.
A shirtless man holds a small metal pipe as blue light falls across his face in Frankfurt's Bahnhofsviertel, June 2026.
A young man faces the camera with a person lying on the pavement behind him.
A young man faces the camera in Frankfurt's Bahnhofsviertel as another person lies on the pavement behind him, June 2026.
Portrait of a man beside railway tracks near Frankfurt Central Station.
A man faces the camera beside railway tracks near Frankfurt Central Station, June 2026.
A man holds a phone showing a photograph of himself taken five years earlier.
A man holds a phone displaying a photograph of himself taken five years earlier in Frankfurt's Bahnhofsviertel, June 2026.
Portrait of a man standing in a dark doorway in Frankfurt.
A man faces the camera from a dark doorway in Frankfurt's Bahnhofsviertel, June 2026.
A man and a woman sitting together in a Frankfurt park.
A man and a woman sit together in a park in Frankfurt, June 2026.
Expanded photograph