Are you from Berlin?
No, but I have settled here and have lived in the city for 17 years.
Karsten is unpretentious, modest and actually a family guy. His second child is almost here and despite having his own business (the online shop Hanseheld) he tries to "fight" one day a week to take photos - and he succeeds. His account contains abstract compositions made of concrete and pastel that are like paintings, as well as poetic city trees, beautiful ugly corners, genuine 70s color palettes and a few things above the horizon - dirty yellow against Berlin's steel-blue sky.
Were you one of those camera kids who started taking pictures at the age of 5?
No, I just experimented a lot with my mother's video camera. I had my first camera in 2001 - and back then I took photos for private use. I have been active on Instagram since 2015.
@mollorange.berlin's CV is fortunately not a straight line - at 20 he wanted to be a musician (that's when his name comes from), then he gave up studying sociology and philosophy and trained as a media IT specialist. To this day, a sociological interest resonates in the empty house facades, the abandoned currywurst stand, the curtained prefab windows... and all the other cheerful dreariness.
Why do you photograph these “ugly” places?
I just like the architecture from the 60s to the 80s, and also the higher things - Bruno Taut is too cute for me. I like to photograph the outskirts of Berlin the most. Wedding is really cool with lots of satellite dishes, the ends of houses, backyards and the harbor.
Karsten is currently interested in the Black Forest district, he never gets enough of the Märkisches Viertel and there are actually “10,000 destinations” in Berlin alone. In one day he flew back and forth to Copenhagen for a photo tour break without his family. “One meter away from the railing” - that's how he takes photos despite his fear of heights - “the photo is more important” - he says self-ironically, another quality of @mollorange.berlin.
