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

The Bipolar City. Between Hackescher Markt and Kranzler Eck 1991–2002

Karl-Ludwig Lange

Following reunification, Karl-Ludwig Lange portrayed East and West Berlin with two well-known places tourists like to visit. When he chose the Hackescher Markt for a longer-term study in 1991, later investors hadn’t yet made their appearance. Looking at the photographs today, which have taken on historical status, one can clearly follow the development from wasteland to a ‘world capital meeting place’. The street photographs show crowds of passers-by, while the later shots feature an increasing density of building scaffolding and cranes.
In the second part of the exhibition, we encounter images of urban situations of another kind altogether: a bicyclist loses something on the corner of Kurfürstendamm and Joachimsthaler Straße, the so-called Kranzler Eck; as he notices this, he turns around, picks it up in busy traffic, and finally pedals away.

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.