In love on Falls Road: Fences with barbed wire, called “peace walls,” separate two Catholic youths from the Protestant neighborhood next door. Toby Binder later photographed both sides for his award-winning book project “Wee Muckers - Youth of Belfast” (published by Kehrer Verlag in 2019).

Photographer: Toby Binder, www.toby-binder.de

What I like about the scene: “When I took the picture of the scene in 2006, I had no idea that Belfast would occupy me to this day. I’ve been there many times since, in Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods. I always found that people on both sides share similar problems, hopes, but also happy moments. In the faces of the young people, you can distinguish of the harshness of their everyday life, but no hatred. During a visit in 2017, I learned that the two lovers are now married and have five children. That’s a nice thing to hear! What is less nice is that in all these years I only met one teenage couple of mixed denominations. Their respective circles of friends tolerated it, and they even had a child together. But it was clear by then that sooner or later the couple would move to another part of town, as there were massive threats. Unfortunately, the relationship didn’t survive that. Tensions are definitely still there and I’m afraid that the Brexit will make everything worse again - the poverty and prejudice.”

My favorite places in Europe: “I have a lot of them, and of course Belfast is one of them. I will go there again as soon as the Corona situation allows. Not because of the beauty of the city, but because of the people I met there.”

I support European Utopia e.V. because…. “…I have learnt and come to know how senseless some borders are. For us Europeans, it is a big advantage to emphasize our similarities. And they are huge! I think it’s just great that the association not only talks about a better Europe, but does something for it.”

Greek wheat: a wild grain field in the Parnon range in the Peloponnese, about 30 kilometers east of Sparta.

Photographer: Eva-Maria Feilkas, www.evafeilkas.de

What I like about the scene: “You can feel how restless the landscape was that day. We had left Sparta in the morning, the wind whistled and roared, the clouds flew, then the sun came out briefly, the plants bent. It was extremely noisy - that’s when I discovered this wild wheat field with a stone in the middle. I sat on it, nature was noisy around me, and I captured that power with my camera.”

My favorite places in Europe: “Even though the photo shows a beautiful mountainous region, I also like lively, bustling cities - Venice and Lisbon, for example.”

I support European Utopia e.V. because…. “…I am a fan of Europe and I can communicate anywhere - with hands and feet, if necessary. I think the goal of coming even closer together and making a European magazine is absolutely right and great. The good thing about pictures is that they immediately overcome any language barrier.”

Pure energy: The young people in the carousel “Parkour” let themselves be moved and without control. Photographed at the Munich Oktoberfest in 2016.

Photographer: Jörg Fokuhl, www.joergfokuhl.com

What I like about the scene: “The picture describes an emotional moment in a high-tech world. For the art project ‘EvergyProject2016’ I had searched for places where electricity is spent lavishly - and I found what I was looking for at the Oktoberfest in Munich. There, people experience gluttony in all its facets. The bare legs on the motif give an idea of how vulnerable people are in the process. And yet the young people on the carousel are having a blast. They are at the mercy of a machine and yet feel free, not afraid. That’s only possible because they have confidence.”

My favorite places in Europe: “Are in my stomach and head. It’s about treating everyone with respect and fully enforcing basic rights. As a free spirit, it would be the wrong approach to draw a fence around certain places and raise or lower your thumbs.”

I support European Utopia e.V. because…. “…I am a political person and would like to encourage everyone to stand up for something and enter into discourse with others. It’s not enough just to be against something. And I’m looking forward to a magazine with an attitude that is not bound to the usual commercial structures and can thus be freer, more creative and more uncompromising than normal media.”