Goodbye Hornberg, hello New York!
In the USA, Karsten Staiger is celebrated as a photographer – although the boy from Hornberg actually just wanted to climb high to paint.
Text: Thomas Glanzmann
Photos: Karsten Staiger, Jigal Fichtner
One's homeland never completely lets go. Not even when you've been living in New York for years, working with Hollywood greats like Robert Redford, or touring with Foreigner. In the heart, one remains a Black Forest inhabitant – and that's no different for Karsten Staiger, who hasn't climbed Belchen or Feldberg in 27 years but instead ascends the Empire State Building, the new One Vanderbilt, or spends evenings chasing the perfect light on the Manhattan Bridge...
"Karsten?" calls photographer Jigal Fichtner, who's supposed to take a portrait of his colleague with the big name. We've just climbed up the tower of Hornberg Castle, and Jigal has an idea of how he wants to pose Karsten on the castle wall. But Karsten? Sit down? That won't happen. Before we even fully turn to him, he's already standing on the tower's wall, arms outstretched as if he wants to fly away. The other castle visitors look somewhat puzzled. It's not far from being reprimanded by a complete stranger on an outing. But Karsten beams from ear to ear and enjoys the view from high above. That's his very own perspective. Like at home on the rooftops of New York.
A Hornberger in New York
Karsten is also at home here. Because the New York photographer is actually a Hornberger. Long before he frequented Sibylle and Robert Redford to shoot portraits of them and long before he became a constant companion of the band Foreigner, Karsten grew up here in Hornberg. He still knows the whole Ortenau region well, he says. "I was a triathlete, and not bad at all. I competed all over the area." Until a knee injury slowed down his ambitions, and Karsten needed a new hobby.
Photography? Why?
But back then, he didn't pick up a camera. "I was never interested in photography," he recalls his attitude from that time. "I wanted to climb – trees and towers. Nothing unusual when you live in the Black Forest." That's what he did, and the perspective from up high already fascinated him back then.
It was the same later in New York, where he initially came as an aspiring painter: "I just had to go up to the roofs to paint – that was my meditation. I didn't need a studio." But let's go back to the beginning of this particular emigrant story from the Black Forest...
With 500 German Marks to New York
With two bags, 500 German Marks, a discontinued graphics education, and no papers, Karsten arrived in New York in 1995. Painting was his dream – back in Germany, he sold airbrush paintings on canvases – and he knew he simply belonged here: "New York was always a city of artists for me." Shortly before, he had spent a month on vacation with a friend staying with a painter in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Here in Brooklyn, the profession did exist, despite what everyone had told him during his training.
Marriage (with) photography
For a few years, he lived his life as a painter. In 1998, at the age of 26, he had an exhibition at the German Consulate, presenting and selling his portrait paintings in oil. Karsten only got into photography through his then-wife, a photo agent. Together they became self-employed, and as a bread-and-butter job, Karsten took care of the technical and image processing aspects. Due to his education, he was well-versed in the technical part.
Ironically, one day no photographer from the studio wanted to take on a high-profile job: product photos for the diamond dealer De Beers (A Diamond Is Forever). "A very specific job," recalls Karsten. "No one dared. Until I came and said, 'I'll do it.'" And he did it successfully because it led to further assignments for product photography and portraits – without oil paint, but with a lens and flash. And with digital camera technology. "At the time around 9/11, digital photography was still in its infancy," he recalls. "I jumped right in when established photographers were still resisting it." Perhaps that's also why Karsten's career skyrocketed so quickly. Once again, he didn't hesitate but said, "Sure, I'll do it!"
With a discontinued graphics education and without papers, Karsten went to New York in 1995.
Painful background
During this time, Karsten hardly thought about his homeland in the Black Forest, due to his strongest and most painful memories of Germany at the time: Karsten's mother died of cancer when he was still a child. His father passed away from a heart attack five years later. The children just kept moving between different foster families. It gets quiet when Karsten remembers this time. Rather, he falls silent and visibly composes himself. "In New York, I felt at home again for the first time, and as a photographer, I had finally arrived."
Back to the Black Forest
In 2013, after numerous exhibitions – now as a photographer – and thousands of images later, Karsten returned to Germany for the first time. A visit back to the roots, also for his daughter. He wanted to show her where Daddy comes from. Since then, he has also reunited with his brother. Here in the Black Forest, he has found his way back. During our meeting, he meets Elisabeth, among others, the wife of his cousin, and Carsten, a friend from his school days. The New York photographer is putting down roots again and talks about his apartment search in the Kinzigtal.
Ambassador for Germany
In addition to personal reasons, there are also professional reasons for this. Karsten acts as a brand ambassador for Germany for the photo lab Whitewall. Joint events are already planned, but he doesn't reveal more details yet. After our conversation, Karsten now enjoys a bit of sunshine on top of the castle tower and the wind that lifts the photo backdrop in the background. No problem for Karsten, he has brought along time. That's how it is when you're back home again. It's quite possible that you might see the man from the rooftops in New York sitting on the wall of your favorite castle in the Black Forest. Then just ask him for a selfie...
New York Love Story
As a choice New Yorker, Karsten Staiger knows his city from all perspectives. With elevators and cranes, the man from Hornberg has climbed the city's man-made peaks. When Corona came, he said to himself: "Now I have to come down." He photographed empty streets and subway stations during lockdown. For images of the metropolis, this is just as impressive as the view from rooftops. Karsten collected the images and videos of their creation in his extensive photo story titled New York Love Story. You can see them online at: www.newyorklovestory.com
New York Love Story
Als Wahl-New-Yorker kennt Karsten Staiger seine Stadt wohl aus allen Blickrichtungen. Mit Aufzügen und Kränen hat der Mann aus Hornberg die menschengemachten Gipfel der Stadt erklommen. Als Corona kam, sagte er sich: „Jetzt muss ich runter.“ Er fotografi erte leere Straßen und U-Bahn-Stationen im Lockdown. Für Bilder aus der Millionenstadt ist das mindestens genauso beeindruckend wie der Blick von Rooftops. Gesammelt hat Karsten die Bilder und dazu Videos von ihrem Entstehungsprozess in seiner großen Fotostory mit dem Titel New York Love Story. Zu sehen sind die online unter: www.newyorklovestory.com
