Words and Photos by Lucia Jost
"This summer, as many times before, I spent my days at Sommerbad Kreuzberg – affectionately known as The Prinzenbad.
There, I photographed young women who, like me, choose to spend their summer days in this iconic Berlin outdoor pool. For me, The Prinzenbad is more than just a swimming pool – it’s a place filled with memories: memories of my childhood, and a version of Berlin that existed long before Matcha Lattes, Harry Styles, and unaffordable rents.
No other place evokes such a strong sense of summer and nostalgia in me as lying in the sun with a group of women in a public pool. There is gossip and laughter, conversations about careers, babies, and partners. Swimming with friends feels like freedom to me. It takes me back to those endless six-week of school holidays – to never-ending friendship, greasy fingers from pool fries, chlorine in the eyes, and the smell of sunscreen.
The Prinzenbad is a vacation spot hidden in the heart of Berlin, where everyday worries and the hustle of the city briefly get washed away. Even if we’re no longer little girls – and today more likely to write emails by the pool than trade stationery – the feelings remain the same.
Berlin’s public pool culture is something I deeply cherish. It reflects the people of the district, brings together families, cultures, and sexualities.
Through these portraits, I want to share my love for these spaces and the quiet nostalgia they awaken in me. I want to show that, despite all its transformations, Berlin has not lost its authentic spirit – a spirit carried by the people who live here and by places like The Prinzenbad.
My work is a tribute to female friendship – and a heartfelt farewell to summer."
Lucia Jost is a Portrait and Reportage Photographer born 1998 in Berlin.
In her work she deals with analog processes and a female gaze in Storytelling.
With her Portraits she wants to give an insight on womanhood, the city of Berlin and her generation.
She is now working as a freelance photographer focussing on artist portraits and free serial work with a femininist approach.
Lucia currently lives and works in Berlin.
