"Café Lehmitz": A Home for Everyone

—What was it about this place that drew you to photograph there for over two years?

AndersThe answer is quite simple: I was drawn to the people who gathered here. I still remember all their names. Now, by today's standards, you might think it strange to photograph the same place for over two years, but for me, those two years didn't feel long at all. I was also at a point where I was fed up with bourgeois life, and in my previous life, I had felt like an outsider. Meeting them, I felt a deep sense of respect.



KitamuraIt was a time when everyone was searching for a place to belong, a time when they looked for hope outside themselves. I imagine it was that kind of place for the people who gathered here, but what was the café really like for them?



AndersIt was almost like a home. It was a gathering spot for people living in the same neighborhood, and everyone came here all the time. See those four people in the photo over there? They've been friends since they were 11 and came here every night. They were what you'd call a gang. There were also thieves, alcoholics, junkies, pimps – people who, by conventional standards, might be called 'bad guys.' But you can't judge people by one aspect. Many of them would give money they earned through illicit means to their poor parents. So, while they were 'bad guys,' from another perspective, they were all very good people.

A Place That Once Existed Everywhere, But Now Exists Nowhere

—Did you, arriving alone from Stockholm, manage to fit in right away?

AndersI quickly felt the family-like atmosphere and a sympathy for each individual, but it still took time to become friends.

KitamuraTo them, you must have seemed like an alien in a way.

AndersYes, they were wary at first. But eventually, they understood that my purpose wasn't to make money from magazines, and they accepted me.



—When you first saw this photo collection, Nobuhiko, you didn't have any of this background information. What was your initial impression?

KitamuraIt felt like, not unlike 'Twin Peaks,' I had opened a forbidden door. There were people there who clearly weren't ordinary, and I sensed an atmosphere that suggested once you entered, you couldn't easily leave. Yet, it also made me think that perhaps in Japan, in the past, similar scenes might have existed at village weddings or similar gatherings.

AndersAre there any Japanese photographers who captured that?

KitamuraNo, I don't think so. But it's a landscape that probably existed everywhere once, and is now gone.

AndersYes, about 40 years ago, it existed all over the world. But now, it's nowhere. The place where "Café Lehmitz" stood is now a road.

KitamuraIn that sense, this era, this space, and the people who gathered there must hold a very special significance for you, Anders.

AndersExactly. A pimp who had 42 women working for him, a gay boy who claimed to have captivated Tony Curtis, a prostitute and her client who had been together for 15 years like mother and son, a couple of women who were always together... It's no exaggeration to say I still remember everyone's name. It was truly a wonderful time.