Digital Day Labourers-Sleepless in the Gig Economy: Fieldwork Photo Essay

If you take a night walk through Berlin, you will see green and red flashing scooters, fast Uber drivers, food couriers, delivery vehicles everywhere. In metropolises like Berlin, digital platforms now allow central human needs such as food, mobility and housing to be satisfied on-demand in a 24/7 rhythm via app-based ordering platforms. All it takes is a smartphone. What kind of working conditions does this so-called gig economy promote? As part of a three-year research project, Laura-Solmaz Litschel (NITE/HU Berlin) collected numerous photos of app-driven night work in Berlin, ten of which are shown here. UX designer Lee Hielscher helped with the graphic realization of the four image collages, which were also presented in June 2022 at FREIRAUM in the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg, among other places. The following article accompanies the photo essay. A similar version by Laura-Solmaz Litschel was first published on July 7^th, 2021 in issue 20/27 of the German weekly newspaper Der Freitag.