Record Stores

Fascinating photos of 160 record stores from all over the world

Since 2009, the Hamburg photographer Bernd Jonkmanns has been documenting the culture of “record stores”. At the beginning of his project it looked as if there would hardly be any stores left within a few years and in fact many record stores have disappeared over the years. But at the same time, vinyl has been making a rapid comeback among enthusiasts for some time now. As a result, many new small and large stores opened in major cities such as Berlin, Brussels, Paris and Los Angeles, preserving the importance of the “Record Store” phenomenon as an expression of youth culture.

Over the last six years, Jonkmanns has photographed over 160 “record stores” on his travels to 5 continents in 33 different cities. His pictures show colorful facades, stores filled to the ceiling with vinyls and CDs and the people who work in the record store and buy their music there. They all share a love of music - and that is what creates the unique atmosphere of the “Record Stores”.

His search for the most beautiful “record stores” took Jonkmanns through five continents and numerous cities such as Los Angeles, New York City, Boston, San Francisco, Paris, London, Brighton, Stockholm, Rio de Janeiro, Oslo, Amsterdam and Sydney and even as far as Hobart, Tasmania.