BOOK IN PRE-ORDER: the book will be released on 14.11.2025
A little over a decade after presenting his first institutional exhibition,
Berlin Wonderland, at Urban Spree Berlin in June 2014, Ben de Biel’s
Elegantly Wasted — Ritter Butzke Berlin is now being released as a 260 page book to accompany
his second major exhibition of the same title (and at the same venue).
Through 107 double-page and 18 portrait format photographs, de Biel creates the illusion of an endless night of partying at Ritter Butzke. Curated by Max Dax from over 13,000 photos taken from 2009 to 2015, the images depict the true story of one of Berlin’s most influential clubs. They capture the last nights of the initially illegal club and tell the story of its transformation.
By 2009, the years of Berlin’s legendary first techno clubs—from the old Tresor to the E-Werk and the WMF—were already two decades in the past. Ritter Butzke’s opening on Ritterstraße in Kreuzberg occurred during the early normalization of Berlin’s party culture. Although music and DJs played a significant role at this club, the focus was primarily on the guests and the ever-changing, interconnected rooms.
At the invitation of its owner, Johannes von Jena, de Biel spent almost seven years photographing at Ritter Butzke. He was there so often that the guests no longer perceived him as an outsider with a camera, but as one of their own.
De Biel achieved what probably no other photographer had before him: his pictures, shot behind closed doors, document not only a time and place, but also a hedonistic attitude toward life that seeks excess and, more often than not, can end in melancholic exhaustion.
Max Dax: "It was long overdue for Ben de Biel to finally have a book dedicated to him, ELEGANTLY WASTED. Not only is it his first monograph, but it also proves that it is possible to take photos on the dance floor – and that these photos can be credible and respectful without betraying a scene or a club. On the contrary: Ben de Biel's photos capture the spirit of a time of upheaval in Berlin like no other photographer has before him."
A high-quality Limited Edition in a lavish black slipcase with embossing is also available in an edition run of 125. Each exemplar contains an exclusive fine art print by Ben de Biel from the Elegantly Wasted series in a 18 x 21 cm format, from a selection of five motifs, each numbered from 1-25, signed, dated, and with a certificate.
Ben de Biel: Elegantly Wasted – Ritter Butzke Berlin
Photographs by Ben de Biel
Curated by Max Dax
Interviews with Ben de Biel and Johannes von Jena by Max Dax
First Edition, November 2025
260 Pages
28 x 24 cm
English/German
Published by Snoeck Verlag & Urban Spree
