Karl-Ludwig Lange. The Photographer in His Time. Berlin Years 1973–2004

The West 1973–1986

Karl-Ludwig Lange

In the exhibition, we can see the western sector of Berlin shortly after the Wall was built, for instance the Märkisches Viertel. The cornerstone to this ambitious construction project was laid in 1963, when large sections of the inner city were still in a derelict state. The photographs were taken in 1973/1974 and were one of Karl-Ludwig Lange’s earliest series and a subjective documentation of modern Berlin.
On the other hand, the work Schöneberger Gasometer evinces a slower approach to the architectural structure. When the photos were taken in 1981, the city still stored gas in them; the tanks only lost their function in the 1990s.
Another series, made in 1976, shows the stores along Kreuzberg’s Oranienstraße: next door to the laundromat is a funeral home; next to the pub a butcher’s, followed by a shoe store and a handyman’s workshop.

Over the course of five decades, Karl-Ludwig Lange independently created an artistic body of work. Visitors are advised to see all exhibitions of the ten-part project The Photographer in His Time to fully understand his world of imagery.