OSTKREUZ is a photographic co-operative owned by its 25 photographer-members. The agency’s Berlin-based office realizes exhibitions and connects their photographers with various clients to provide photo productions, editorial assistance, image licensing, and customer support.

Shaping society by creating visibility, its members confront and record contemporary history through photography. OSTKREUZ photographers work all over the world to realize personal projects as well as assignments for renowned editorial publications, institutions and companies. Much of what is created in this way is still relevant years later and is sought after by editors, museums and collections.

Conscious of its responsibility to preserve the authenticity of the documentary image, OSTKREUZ keeps the process of image creation as transparent as possible.

Our History

In 1990, the year of german reunification, seven photographers founded the Ostkreuz agency. Their goal: to assert themselves on the market together and to bring like-minded people together. The founding members named themselves after the S-Bahn station that connects eastern Berlin with the rest of the city. Together, they wanted to set out from the capital in all directions to document world events with their cameras and also have a familiar place to reconnect.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the photographers continued to explore new subject areas and now work all over the world. The agency now consists of 25 West and East Germans, as well as international photographers. However, the guiding principle of Ostkreuz has remained the same: The members of the agency photograph socially engaged, artistic projects, while maintaining the principle of authorship. The content is varied, ranging from politics and social criticism to fashion photography. In this way, the photographers document current events and take a stand.

Like the world, journalism is in a constant state of change. Events, news and images follow one after the other. Especially now, photographers are needed who pursue their own interests and topics and are persistent enough to develop their own attitudes. Photography and the news world have changed, but the relevance for quality journalism and documentary photography remains. The Ostkreuz photographers do not want to subordinate themselves to the developments in the media landscape, but to help shape them with collaborative projects, book publications and exhibitions, among other things.