Bernd Heyden was closely connected to and integrated in Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin, where he spent most of his life. The autodidact initially trained as a woman's tailor and worked as an ironer, chauffeur and laboratory assistant until he was admitted as a photographer in 1974. Since 1967 he worked in the Club junger Fotografen (Club of Young Photographers) founded by Arno Fischer and Sibylle Bergemann. His photographs were rejected by GDR officials as "trash can photography", nonetheless they were highly valued by many of his colleagues.
