GLOBETROTTERS WRITING PROMPT

I thought I Liked Climbing Skyscrapers

But my pictures say something different

Cities. Urban settlements. They are where we have come today as a developed society. And yet, I don’t need them. I don’t need cities. Most of what I need in life, I find out there. In the countryside. In nature.

- What are you doing?

- Looking for pictures of skyscrapers.

- Have we ever taken pictures of one?

I was sitting on the laptop going through all my folders of pictures on the hard drive when David walked by and the above conversation happened. He is very right. As much as I have and we have traveled together, there isn’t much of city dwellings on film.

The topic of skyscrapers and tall buildings that offer you a view of city life from above sounded more interesting to me when I wrote the prompt but now, looking for something to write on it, I seem to struggle.

Going back through 15 years of travel photography, I only ever found one tower/ building I climbed that I have photos of. It was in 2019 in Kuala Lumpur. You will see the pictures below.

But instead of making this article about one building I climbed and the view I had from above, I decided to turn it a bit into a city travel essay. Cities I’ve visited where I photographed skyscrapers, towers or tall buildings.

Stuttgart, Germany

I’m doing this by the timeline. In the order, the pictures were taken.

Growing up just outside of Stuttgart, I might not have been exposed to many skyscrapers but the landmark of the city. The television tower. Standing atop the hill on the sides of the city, one does get a pretty view from above.

I’m not sure if I went up there as a child but do remember taking my husband (back then boyfriend) in 2016 to the top. Unfortunately, I didn’t take pictures of the view but only a selfie of the two of us.

Frankfurt, Germany

And while I always talk about how little I am a city girl and never visit cities, there has been a time in my life when I did city trips on a regular basis.

Together with two friends of mine, we made an agreement to not gift each other stupid material things for our birthdays but take each other on city trips. Two of us made an effort in preparing the present as a riddle for the birthday girl to guess where we’d go.

This brought us to three cities each year, as long as the friendship lasted. And while I have no longer contact with one of the girls, with the other one I’m still friends with and I’m looking back at those trips with smiles.

One of the last trips took the two of us to Frankfurt. We started out exploring the city in the finance district where most skyscrapers are located and while we wanted to go to a bar atop of one, it was out of our budget. Back then.

Instead, I remember us standing on a bridge at night trying to take a clear picture of the skyline while cars were racing across the road.

Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

Then came the time when I escaped my home country to explore the unknown African continent. And there is no other memory as fond as the one of arriving in the mega city Dar Es Salaam after living for five months in a clay hut in Ghana.

I wasn’t prepared for the size of the city. I wasn’t prepared for the modern side of everything. I wasn’t ready to be a tourist in such a place. And I wasn’t ready for the traffic.

I don’t think I lasted 24 hours before escaping to the island of Zanzibar. The culture shock I experienced was based on my experience living with the bare minimum in Ghana. And probably didn’t do justice to Dar Es Salaam but it will always be what I remember of this place.

Port Elizabeth, South Africa

And just a few weeks later, I arrived in South Africa and was doing a road trip together with a total stranger. Driving down the coastline, we mostly stopped in national parks and natural highlights but also took a few cities with us.

Like Port Elizabeth. I don’t remember much of it but stopping, parking somewhere in the city, looking down onto the center and seeing some skyscrapers in the distance before heading on again.

Cape Town, South Africa

The end of the journey of a lifetime was Cape Town. It’s where I had my flight back home. It’s where I ended a dream and where a new life began.

Arriving in Cape Town wasn’t about the place, the mountains, the city, the sea or any of it. It was about me. What I had lived through the past six months and what was ahead of me. It was about how I survived in the wild of Africa and how I grew as a person.

And somewhere in between dealing with my thoughts, I did take pictures of the city as well. From above. Signal Hill is a popular spot to watch the sunset and take pictures of the city at night.

Zurich, Switzerland

And on this said trip through many countries in Africa, I did make many friends and three of them were from Switzerland. In the following winter, I went to visit them.

I don’t remember much of the trip as it was mostly to reconnect with my Africa sisters and not so much about the country itself. I wasn’t even sure which city I captured below but with some research done, I’m pretty sure it was Zurich. And I must have climbed a tower or tall building to take this picture of the city.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

And this is now the first city I’ve visited where I took plenty of pictures of skyscrapers and towers and where I climbed one to enjoy the view of the urban settlement from above.

Yes, the Twin Towers aren’t anymore but in Kuala Lumpur, you can find a pair that is left. The Petronas Towers or KLCC Twin Towers were once the tallest buildings in the world. Between 1998 and 2003.

Living in Thailand at the time, I was on a visa run across the border when I explored the city for a few days. I was positively surprised at how much I enjoyed Kuala Lumpur while I avoided cities mostly.

Just opposite the Petronas Towers is the KLCC park which is a lovely piece of forest in the middle of a modern city. It’s where I spent most of my time. Day and night.

But on one day I went to explore more of the city and ventured to another hill where the KL Tower is located. I even spent quite a bit of money to get to the top and enjoy a 360-degree view of Kuala Lumpur. Totally worth it. In my eyes.

Pattaya, Thailand

From 2019 until the pandemic started in 2020, I lived for almost a year in Thailand. On the coastline between Bangkok and Pattaya, it wasn’t the prettiest corner of the country but everything that is foreign is exciting at first, right?

However, I have no pictures of Bangkok and its skyline. Visiting the city the first time in 2018 on a backpacking trip and returning for work in late 2021, I have been to the city a handful of times but only when necessary.

Pattaya was exciting when we first arrived down there and we visited a few times but once we learned more about the background and real city life, we avoided trips down as much as possible.

Below you can see a picture taken from the Hard Rock Hotel where we stayed for two nights at the beginning of our year-long stay.

Laem Chabang, Thailand

We didn’t live in Pattaya or Laem Chabang but in the countryside and outskirts of Si Racha (yes, where the famous hot sauce is from). However, to get to the islands, we had to travel to or through the cities and this is where I spent some time taking pictures of the skyline of the city while waiting for the ferry to take us across.

The entire coastline from Bangkok across Laem Chabang and down to Pattaya is packed with factories next to factories. The port in Laem Chabang is the biggest in the country and the fourth largest port in Southeast Asia.

Berlin, Germany

And with this, I am making the turn back to my home country Germany. While we spent the last season working just outside the capital which I had never visited before, we also just made it twice to the city. One time we didn’t even get into the center only visiting a sports store in the outskirts.

No, I wasn’t much interested in Berlin and one visit with a walk through the center was enough. I didn’t capture much else than the television tower where we sat below for an hour or so watching people walk by.

And this was it. My city tour around the world, with or without skyscrapers. Mostly traveling to deserts, mountains and the seas, I don’t get much of city life. And I don’t miss it. But I still hope you enjoyed this different kind of article.

This is a writing prompt for this month’s challenge at Globetrotters:

And while you still have a day to submit your own entries to the challenge, I’d like to invite you to read the prompt response of Manali Mitra who created a beautiful poem on New York City.

And please join Michele Maize standing on a piece of glass above the city of Chicago:

Join my email list here if you would like to read more photo essays or sign up for the Medium membership to receive unlimited access to my and other writers’ stories out here (I will receive a commission fee in return).

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