IFA Paper – The Intro Edition

Your City, Your Version – Sony x IFA X Thomas Kakareko

Sony, IFA and Thomas Kakareko
Bring Street Life into Focus

IFA has long been a platform for spotting and supporting new talent – from the visionary startups of IFA Next to the breakthrough products honoured at the IFA Innovation Awards. Through its IFA Moments initiative, it also shines a light on cultural collaborations and creator-led projects year-round.

The Sony x Thomas Kakareko photo and video contest added a new chapter, one that brought street-level creativity into sharp focus. The brief was simple: show us your city. The results? Anything
but ordinary.

Chaired by Thomas Kakareko together with Sony, the jury selected winners from hundreds of submissions. Over the summer, creators took to the streets of Berlin, Vienna, Hamburg and beyond – cameras in hand – capturing unguarded moments, fleeting glances and the dance of architecture and light. Now, those outstanding moments captured by emerging international talents are on display at IFA 2025 – a raw, restless snapshot of urban life in 2025, cinematic in every detail.

Your City, Your Version – Sony x IFA X Thomas Kakareko

Meet Thomas Kakareko


With over a decade of experience and a community of more than 700,000 Instagram followers, Thomas Kakareko has become one of Berlin’s most recognisable street photographers. His work captures urban life with a cinematic eye – those fleeting gestures, hidden corners and subtle shifts in light that many would overlook. Beyond social media, Kakareko frequently collaborates with global brands and champions authentic storytelling in photography. As jury chair of the Sony x IFA contest, he brings that same sharp instinct for moments that matter – and a rare ability to spot the frame that tells the whole story.
With over a decade of experience and a community of more than 700,000 Instagram followers, Thomas Kakareko has become one of Berlin’s most recognisable street photographers. His work captures urban life with a cinematic eye – those fleeting gestures, hidden corners and subtle shifts in light that many would overlook. Beyond social media, Kakareko frequently collaborates with global brands and champions authentic storytelling in photography. As jury chair of the Sony x IFA contest, he brings that same sharp instinct for moments that matter – and a rare ability to spot the frame that tells the whole story.

GEAR WORTH WINNING

 

The top photo creator takes home a Sony A7C II qwwpaired with a FE 16–25 mm F2.8 G lens, while the video category winner is awarded a Sony FX2 Cinema Line camera with a Sony FE PZ 16–25 mm F4 G lens and a Sony ECM-MS2 microphone.