"visuals" stands for my passion for capturing images and "KS" for Karsten Schomaker. A camera, initially analogue, accompanies me on all my travels, excursions and increasingly in Berlin. Selecting photos that are in the public (digital) space is not easy. During a four-week trip or a smaller excursion in Berlin and the surrounding area, hundreds of photos are quickly taken. The photos posted on "visuals by ks" represent my personal preferences.
Growing up in rural Lower Saxony, Germany between the Elbe and Weser rivers, I learned to appreciate nature and the weather. My mechanical engineering studies in Lübeck added technology and my life in Berlin since 1987 shaped my love of architecture. From 2006 to 2019 I worked in the Botanical Garden Berlin, one of the most beautiful places in the capital and a really exciting "location" not only when viewed through the camera's viewfinder.
A camera has been a constant companion on all my travels around the world. It all started with a Minolta SLR, which I bought in 1987 during a two-month trip to the USA; from then on, it became an essential part of my travel experience. Almost twenty years later, I made the switch to a digital SLR. Gone were the days of having to figure out exactly how many rolls of film to pack before a trip—wondering, for instance, if ten rolls of slide film (36 exposures each) would suffice for a four-week journey to North India, or if I should bring more just in case.
For a long time, photography was something I associated primarily with travel. It wasn't until the mid-2010s that I began picking up the camera intentionally outside of that context. Seeking a different kind of challenge to balance my professional life, I rediscovered photography. Early photo excursions in Berlin and a series of workshops sparked my enthusiasm: How is an image created through perspective and composition, through light, and sometimes even through what is left out? Further workshops followed—both in Berlin and beyond—delving ever deeper into the technical aspects of the camera while ultimately guiding me toward developing my own visual language.
To this day, I do not have a fixed photographic niche—nor do I particularly want one. I find the process of developing individual or collaborative photo projects—and seeing them through from conception to presentation, whether as a series, a photobook, or an exhibition—to be truly exciting.
In 2022, I founded the photography group elf.22 together with other photographers from Sweden, Switzerland, and various locations in Germany, and I have been a member of the FineArt Lounge Berlin since 2026.
KS @ Instagram