GayWired.com Article

GayWired.com Article

The Sexy Boys of BerlinPhotographer Karim Konrad’s Uber Hot Berlin Gay Mates Article Date: 09/12/2007
By Duane Wells
Visionary young photographer, Karim Konrad, paints an intimate portrait of his relationship with the city of Berlin and the men that inhabit in his cheeky and playful tome Berlin Gay Mates.
Featuring a veritable manscape of Berlin’s most beautiful boys in the most colorful and whimsical of settings, Berlin Gay Mates exhales the quirky essence of Karim Konrad’s parade of German beauties with intoxicating results. Flipping through page after page of boys with piercings, boys in wigs, boys in bathtubs, boys with Prince Alberts and so on and forth will not only leave you with a highly revved up libido, it might just find you booking a ticket to Berlin in a trancelike state.
A recent transplant to Sydney, Australia, Karim shared with me the best of Berlin and the love and inspiration the city has given him over the years, but I’ll be damned if he would tell me where to find all the yummy models feautred in his book. Oh well… you can’t win them all. Boys and girls… meet Karim Konrad and his Berlin!

DW: So Karim, you described Berlin Gay Mates as a "declaration of love for Berlin". What is it that makes you love Berlin so much?

KK: Chaos, good food, fast love, heartbreaks, culture, liberty, good bars, big [night] clubs, cheap flats in cool areas, artists, crazy people, free space, expansion… It's a city of losers & winners. Melancholy and euphoria live here so close together.

DW: And what is it that makes the men of Berlin so very special?

KK: They are damn beautiful, open minded, multicultural & international!

DW: What are your favorite places in Berlin?

KK: All places around Kreuzberg! [It’s] The Turkish area of Berlin.

DW: If you had to direct an American tourist to only five places that would give them a reason to love Berlin as much as you, what would those five places to be?

KK: Oranienstreet in summer by night--sitting on the crowded street, drinking beer and listening to bands that just feel free to perform!
Badeschiff—[It’s] s a swimming pool built into our river "The Spree". In summer [you can] swim and relax in it between the sexiest babes and in winter [you can] sauna.
Berghain & Panaroma Bar—The best club in the world. Hard, rough, fuckin’ cool music [in] a fat dreary location. [It’s] A party organized by the devil himself!
Eat at "Yellow Sunshine"—The best vegetarian burgers and vegan food u can get in Berlin! It’s in Wienerstr. near U ´Station Görlitzer Bahnhof
Finally hop on a train towards Friedrichshain and get out on U Train Warschauerstr and have a [look and a] gasp from the city on the bridge towards S Station Warschauerstr! If you like that panorama you will understand and love Berlin!

DW: So I'm going to be honest and say that I've been to Berlin only once about a decade ago and I didn't have the greatest time. What should I do differently the next time?

KK: Catch yourself an insider [who] lives in Berlin. The tourists mostly see the shit of Berlin [from] a tourist guide. You’ve got to be informed on what’s recent… open! All the underground parties, bars and exhibitions!

DW: Now back to the book, how did you go about choosing the models for the book? And how did you get them to where some of those outfits? I howled in laughter at the pics of a very masculine Rene in heels and an apron. The playful contradiction in that particular series is amazing.

KK: Thanks a lot!! Artists needs applause! (laugh) Oh I just chose them intentionally. For Berlin Gay Mates I wanted to have a wide range of Berlin guys from a lawyer to a pornstar, from a butch to golden boy.

DW: How would you describe your photographic style?

KK: Humorous, sexy, colorful, a bit trashy, authentic... Just a fun kind of style.

DW: How do you decide upon how you're going to photograph a model? What makes you decide to put one in a wig or accessorize another with fruit or dildos?

KK: Oh that depends on what story I like to tell with the series. Depends on a lot of points.

DW: Do you have a dream subject… any person in the world (living or dead) that you'd love to shoot? How would you shoot him/here?

KK: Elvis Presley in swim trunks—the young one! I would shoot him at a place where we would get stuck and he would have to be with me the whole time.

DW: What photographers influenced you most?

KK: A lot of photographers influenced me. There are so many artists out there! But the first one I admired was Bruce Weber. I had his pictures hanging on the wall in my room when I was 12. Sounds like a gay classic, Huh?!

DW: Are you working on any new projects that you can tell our readers about?

KK: Oh yeah… I just moved to Sydney two days ago! ...So I will see what’s happening! I love the beaches here! They’re very inspirational—[smile]. So watch out! I'm coming back!

DW: Final question, on my next trip to Berlin, where do I go to find Dirk, Dennis and Rene from your book? [Smile]…But seriously please tell me!

KK: Ha! Ha! That’s the best kept secret! Watch out!

DW: Alright… alright. Okay, so really, final question. In what five nightclubs in Berlin would I be most likely to find a Berlin gay mate of my own???

KK: Berghain, GMF, Hafen, Bangaloo and maybe Roses.

DW: Duly noted. Thanks Karim!

To find out more about Karim Konrad, go to www.karimkonrad.com.