all images © Funke Foto Services/Ant Palmer - unless otherwise stated.

In the next instalment of pleasing my narcissistic alter-ego, i discovered i’ve turned up on the, now mostly banned, Russian news broadcaster RT’s website. The irony of it…

…it won’t surprise anyone out there to learn that this image, and the story itself does not appear on the Russian language version of the website (although, due to the amount of banners and adverts flogging RT’s new line of ‘Z’ merchandise, there’s not much room for anything news related.).

April did include some good press work however!

First of all, a trip to the city archives in Mülheim to look at old newspapers from the 1950’s searching for stories that might have been an April Fools. This was very interesting! Not just seeing the news of the time, which was mainly related to the threat of nuclear war with the Soviets (lolz), but all the exquisitely hand drawn adverts for cigarettes!

A trip to see a new cultural centre taking shape in Duisburg. The head of the group is on the look-out for further funding, to bring more people together in a run-down area of Duisburg.

I was out and about over the Easter period covering local football. It’s not just the Premier League that hammers the fixtures in over any religious holidays!

There were so many things going on in the area, that it turned out being a really varied month. Something for every type of photographer to get stuck in to!

The Horror Hotel

Oh the Horror Hotel! This one was a real highlight! A run down former hotel that had been disused for many years. Burnt out once or twice, and most recently acted as an unofficial playground for children with death-wishes.

After a long battle to get the Irish-based owner of the former hotel in Oberhausen to do something about his ruin, the city council decided to take matters in to their own hands and demolish the place! The full story can be found here.

Finally, as fans started to return to stadiums here in Germany, i also made a return - taking images! My Bundesliga debut! A very interesting experience, and one i can’t wait to have again!

images copyright: Imago/Eibner/Ant Palmer

Thanks for stopping by! I can’t wait to share with you what May brings!

Cheers, Ant