News

Linn Schröder's well-known ‘Self-portrait with a breast and twins’ was created in 2012 for the OSTKREUZ exhibition ‘Über Grenzen’ shortly after the birth of her twin daughters. In it, Linn Schröder juxtaposes the paradoxical symbols of life and death on her own body; she herself wears the border on her skin.

The self-portrait will be shown during EMOP Berlin 2025 in the group exhibition ‘Rivalen. Photography vs. Promtography’ at Photo Edition Berlin, which presents works by around 25 renowned artists. It questions the limits and possibilities of conventional photography and AI-generated images.

The exhibition invites visitors to reflect on the changing role of creativity and technology in contemporary image production.

Opening: 1 March, 6-9 p.m.

Duration: 2.3. until 31.10.25

Further information: emop-berlin.eu

In the exhibition ‘FARBENRAUSCH’, GALERIE SPRINGER BERLIN is showing colour works by Ludwig Schirmer, Ute Mahler and Werner Mahler parallel to the exhibition ‘Ein Dorf’ at the AdK and also at EMOP Berlin. Both Ute Mahler's and Werner Mahler's colour photographs have rarely been shown in exhibitions before. Ludwig Schirmer, who was one of the most important advertising photographers in the GDR, has also been shown mainly in black and white. This ‘family exhibition’ presents works by Schirmer from the years 1958 to 2000. His pictures are characterised by their closeness to people, precise compositions and subtle humour.

Werner Mahler experimented with various techniques for his landscape photographs, which were taken between 2000 and 2005, and created atmospheric, surprising images. From 1998 to 2008, Ute Mahler visited places where great personalities lived and worked for a series about their lives. In her series ‘Searching for Traces’, the photographer combines the specific sites with her own subjective and intuitive images. She combines them with fashion photographs from the early 1990s to create a new narrative thread.

Opening: 1.3.25, 14-18 h

Duration: 4.3. to 19.7.25

Further information: www.galeriespringer.de

The German Cultural Centre Cluj-Napoca is pleased to present the exhibition ‘Sibylle Bergemann. Photographs’, organised by the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (IFA) at the local art museum, which presents the artist's complete oeuvre. Sibylle Bergemann worked serially, but also documented themes over a longer period of time. Fashion and portrait photographs, created for the magazines ‘Sibylle’ and ‘Geo’, form a focal point of Sibylle Bergemann's work. Bergemann began focussing on situational and scenic images in the late 1960s in Berlin.

This was later followed by New York, Paris, Tokyo and São Paulo. She worked with Polaroids for many years and mainly in black and white until 1990. She is one of the few photographers who use colour as a constitutive rather than illustrative element.

Opening: 27.2.25, 6 pm in the presence of Frieda von Wild (Estate Sibylle Bergemann)

Duration: 28.2. until 16.3.25

Further information: www.kulturzentrum-klausenburg.ro

The Akademie der Künste am Hanseatenweg is showing the exhibition ‘Ein Dorf 1950-2022’, a long-term project by the three photographers. The project focusses on the Thuringian village of Berka and yet points far beyond its borders. In the 1950s, Ludwig Schirmer, Ute Mahler's father, was a master miller in Berka. As an autodidact, he began to document everyday life, the festivals and his own life. Without knowing his father-in-law's pictures, Ute's husband Werner Mahler decided to photograph his diploma thesis in Berka in 1977. A good 20 years later, in 1998, Stern magazine asked him for an update, which was never published. Ute Mahler photographed Berka in 2021/22. As a family follow-up, she created a personal work about a home village.

All four works with over 120 photographs pose questions about continuity and change, about home, childhood, about moving away and coming back, old and new, the familiar and the unfamiliar.
The exhibition was curated by Marit Lena Herrmann and is being presented as part of EMOP Berlin, opening at the same time as its main exhibition ‘was zwischen uns steht’ and the Opening Days at the AdK. The exhibition will be accompanied by an extensive programme of events and educational activities; further information can be found on the AdK website. The catalogue of the same name was published by Hartmann Books and was awarded the German Photo Book Prize Gold in 2024.

Opening: 27.2.25, 7 pm
Artist talk as part of the ‘EMOP Opening Days’: with Ute Mahler, Werner Mahler and Marit Lena Herrmann, moderated by Johanna Keller, 28 February, 4 pm
Curator guided tour: with Marit Lena Herrmann, 2.3.25, 2 pm Duration: 28.2. to 4.5.25

Also as part of EMOP Berlin, the Freundeskreis Willy-Brandt-Haus is showing Johanna-Maria Fritz's solo exhibition ‘Zeit der Umbrüche. Photographs 2014 - 2024’. She finds her motifs in conflict and war zones, in collapsing states, among persecuted minorities and on the margins of society. This exhibition takes a look at the already remarkable work of the 30-year-old photographer, whose pictures appear in international media.

Johanna-Maria Fritz often works on different themes in parallel and with interruptions, returning time and again to places and people. She usually stays longer, lives with the people she photographs and develops new approaches from her work, which she then pursues further. The exhibition was conceived by Barbara Stauss.

Duration: 28.2.- 25.5.25
Vernissage: 27.2.25, 6 pm

Further information: www.fkwbh.de

As part of EMOP Berlin - European Month of Photography 2025, photographers Linn Schröder and Anne Schönharting are presenting their joint project ‘Holy Woods’ at Haus#1 on Waterloo Ufer in Kreuzberg.

The idea for this work arose from a deep need to expand consciousness and a longing for a ‘new way of seeing’: ‘In the midst of a time characterised by violent conflicts, socio-political tensions and the increasing destruction of our natural habitats, we consciously spend time in the forest, resonating with ourselves, with each other and with nature. It is an experiment, a research trip with the character of an expedition, with the desire to translate invisible sensations into images,’ say the two photographers about their project.

Vernissage: 27.2.25, 18-22 h
Artist talk: 1.3.25, 4 pm
Finissage: 2.3.25, 12pm-8pm
Duration: 28.2. to 2.3.25

The group exhibition ‘Joie Collective - Une Iconographie’ at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris presents works that deal with the theme of collective joy. The iconographic project brings together numerous documents that are distributed throughout the Palais de Tokyo building and placed in relation to each other, including paintings, archive images, postcards, photographs, internet research and posters.

Annette Hauschild and Werner Mahler have each selected a work for this exhibition that was created on occasions of collective joy in Berlin. Werner Mahler documented the joy of the people on the day the Wall came down, 9 November 1989, while a few months later Annette Hauschild photographed the crowds celebrating together at the 1990 Love Parade in reunified Berlin.

Duration: 21.2. to 11.5.25

Further information: palaisdetokyo.com

Sebastian Wells is co-editor of Solomiya Magazine. Three issues of the magazine have been published so far, the fourth is currently in preparation and will be presented at the beginning of February on the occasion of the ‘Solomiya Studio’ festival curated by the Solomiya Magazine team at KVOST (Kunstverein Ost).

The theme of the festival revolves around various forms of violence. Starting with colonial violence, ecocide, the fragility of peace agreements and the rise of far-right parties in Germany, power relations and their abuse will take centre stage.

Solomiya Magazine was founded in April 2022 in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. From visual art to personal stories, the magazine showcases the work of emerging and established artists from Ukraine and beyond.

Duration: 5 to 19.2.25, daily from 2pm to 7pm

Further information: www.solomiyastudio.com

(Photo: Katia Motyleva; Design: Collective Scrollan)

We are delighted to honour the many years of close collaboration between us and C/O Berlin with a joint exhibition: C/O Berlin is presenting our exhibition "Träum Weiter - Berlin, die 90er" at Amerika Haus. It was jointly curated by Annette Hauschild (OSTKREUZ) and Boaz Levin (C/O Berlin) and shows works by nine of our photographers: Sibylle Bergemann, Annette Hauschild, Harald Hauswald, Ute Mahler, Werner Mahler, Thomas Meyer, Jordis Antonia Schlösser, Anne Schönharting and Maurice Weiss.

35 years after the agency was founded and in the anniversary year of the fall of the Berlin Wall, "Träum weiter" presents around 200 selected works. In addition to some classics, many as yet unpublished images from the photographers' archives will be on display. They take on a new relevance when viewed from today's perspective and serve as material for an atmospheric picture of this formative decade, the 1990s. They reflect a city in transition with all its ambivalences - from the fall of the Berlin Wall to dancing in the ruins of the burgeoning techno scene to the social and economic changes - and finally to becoming a capital city. As chroniclers of their time, the OSTKREUZ photographers take a close look at the social changes and challenges of growing together that are taking place in their city.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a publication of the same name published by Spector Books, Leipzig, at a price of 38 euros.
Various events, guided tours and educational formats are planned for the duration of the exhibition, which will be announced on the C/O Berlin website.

Opening: 13.9.24, 8pm

Artist Tour with the curators and photographers: 14.9.24, 6pm

Duration: 14.9.24 - 23.1.25

Further information here.

To mark the start of the 2024/25 Bundesliga season, we are showing the exhibition „Vom Waldweg in die Republik“ with photographs by Harald Hauswald, Werner Mahler and Sebastian Wells in cooperation with Wirtschaftsrat 1. FC Union e.V. These will be on display in and around the Alte Försterei stadium in Köpenick - along the Forest path and in the Galeria BallEtage.

The three OSTKREUZ photographers have dedicated themselves to 1. FC Union at various times and accompanied the club at home matches and away trips. Harald Hauswald's and Werner Mahler's black and white photographs were taken in the GDR and post-reunification era, when Bundesliga football was still a utopia. In his colour photographs, Sebastian Wells shows how 1. FC Union was promoted to the Bundesliga and later qualified for the Champions League, finally turning utopia into reality.

The exhibition on Waldweg is open to the public. Advance online booking is required for visits and guided tours of the Galeria BallEtage.

Duration: 29.8.24 - 17.5.25

Further information here.

Until the end of August, the Institut français Berlin is showing Sebastian Wells‘ solo exhibition „Double Jeux“ in the Institute's own display windows on the corner of Uhlandstrasse and Kurfürstendamm to mark with the Olympic Games in Paris.

In this exhibition, Wells presents selected images from the past four Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro (2016), Pyeongchang (2018), Tokyo (2021) and Beijing (2022) as well as a photographic installation with current images from the Olympic Games in Paris. The installation will be regularly updated with new images by Sebastian Wells during the duration of the exhibition and is accessible to visitors daily and without restriction.

Duration: until 31.8.24

Further information here.

The Kunsthalle Rostock is currently showing the group exhibition „Der große Schwof. Celebrating festivals in the East“. Our co-founders Sibylle Bergemann, Harald Hauswald, Ute Mahler and Werner Mahler are represented here with various series.

The exhibition, curated by Petra Göllnitz, shows a surprising piece of everyday culture in the GDR in more than 300 photographs by a total of 31 artists: of partying, dancing and drinking. People met spontaneously and more or less organised, in private or unofficial sociable, often specially created niches for „Schwof“. Beyond the constraints of everyday life and prescribed ideology, this „other“ life largely eluded official control and opened up pleasant free spaces.

Duration: until 8.9.24

Further information here.

Ina Schoenenburg is one of the 16 exhibiting finalists of the international Portraits - Hellerau Photography Award 2024. In this year's annual exhibition on the theme of "Singularity" at the Technische Sammlungen Dresden, Schoenenburg is showing her long-term project "Blickwechsel", which she submitted for the award, with current images.

Ina Schoenenburg has been photographing her parents, her daughter and herself for this very personal project since 2011. Her pictures tell of growing up and adulthood, of closeness and distance in a family, of longings, buried fears, unspoken tensions and, of course, of the very special kind of love that parents have for their children - and vice versa.

This year's winners of the award will be announced at the vernissage.

Opening: 29.8.24

Duration: 30.8. - 13.10.24

Further information here.

In addition to works by Eve Arnold, Robert Capa, Gerti Deutsch, Lotte Jacobi, Barbara Klemm, Hermann Landshoff, Cristina de Middel, Inge Morath, Martin Munkacsi, Ruth Orkin, Martin Parr, Max Scheler, Jerome Sessini, Hugo Thomassen, Alex Webb, Donata Wenders, Isabelle Wenzel and Yva, a number of fashion photographs by Sibylle Bergemann will be on show this summer in the exhibition “SIE MUSS NICHT IMMER SCHILLERND SEIN. Modefotografie” at the Fotografie Forum der Städteregion Aachen in Monschau.

In an exciting interplay, the photographs in the exhibition enter a dialog that shows the boundaries that fashion photography has tested over almost a hundred years. The photographic positions also shed light on the interaction between fashion, social changes and historical events.

Opening: 23.6.24, 12pm in the Bürgersaal, Austraße 7 in Monschau

Duration: 24.6. to 15.9.24

Further information here.

On the occasion of this year's Olympic Games in Paris, the Institut français Berlin is presenting two exhibitions with “Double Jeux”, including a solo exhibition by Sebastian Wells with photographs from the last four Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro (2016), Pyeongchang (2018), Tokyo (2021) and Beijing (2022). These are presented in the institute's own display windows, “Les Vitrines”, which are used as a separate exhibition space on the corner of Ku'damm and Uhlandstraße. The exhibition will be complemented by a photographic installation with current images of the Olympic Games by Sebastian Wells from Paris, which will be regularly expanded during the duration of the exhibition.

Parallel to this exhibition, photographs by five young French photographers from Analog Sport will be on display in the Alice Guy Gallery at the Institute. “Analog Sport” is the first association for education and integration through film, photography and sport in France, which enables young, disadvantaged people to obtain accreditation for sporting events and document them with (film) cameras.

Opening: 26.6.24, 7pm in the presence of the photographers

Portfolio review: 27.6.24, 2–6pm with the photographers

Guided tour: 28.6.24, 4pm with the photographers

Duration: 27.6. to 31.8.24

Further information here.

With the World Press Award exhibition, the Friends of the Willy Brandt House Berlin are presenting the work of this year's award-winning photojournalists and documentary photographers, including Johanna-Maria Fritz. In spring, she was awarded the World Press Photo Award in the “Stories” category for her series “Kakhovka Dam: Flood in a War Zone” as the winner for Europe. The award-winning works document some of the most pressing problems facing the world today - from devastating conflicts and political upheaval to the climate crisis and migration.

Johanna-Maria Fritz was commissioned by ZEIT to photograph the effects of the explosions of the Russian-controlled Kakhovka Dam in south-eastern Ukraine on June 6, 2023, and their impact on the city of Kherson and its inhabitants. The dam burst flooded around 17,50 houses on both the Ukrainian-controlled west bank and the Russian-controlled east bank of the river, killing hundreds of people, according to international media reports.

Opening: 13.6.24, 7pm

Duration: 14.6. to 7.7.24

Further information here.

The “Focale” gallery in Nyons is showing Sebastian Wells' work “La Rada di Augusta”, which was created between 2019 and 2020 in the Bay of Augusta in Sicily. There, the increasingly weathered remains of turbo-capitalism merge with those of a civilization more than two thousand years old. Along the thirty-kilometre stretch of coastline in south-eastern Sicily are oil refineries that have shaped this landscape and the lives of its inhabitants for more than seventy years. Water, air and soil are polluted. The cancer and miscarriage rates are alarming. Instead of the twenty thousand jobs that existed at the height of the oil industry in the 1980s, there are now only around seven thousand employees. Corruption is omnipresent, as is mistrust of authority figures.

By examining the effects of the North-South divide and the price of rapid progress on everyday human reality, Sebastian Wells' work “La Rada di Augusta” makes it clear that the relationship between the environment and industry is no longer just a question of politicians, engineers and pipelines.

Opening: 13.6.24, 6pm in the presence of the photographer

Duration: 14.6. to 25.8.24

Further information here.

The "Forum für zeitgenössische Fotografie Dresden e.V." is showing the exhibition “ZUHAUSE vol. 5”, in which works by Heinrich Völkel and Nanna Heitmann (Magnum Photos) are juxtaposed. Both positions were selected from the Vonovia Award for Photography. Heinrich Völkel's “Nachtstücke” (Night Pieces) depict the living environments in the Berlin industrial and working-class district of Wedding, while Nanna Heitmann deals with the closure of the last coal mine in Germany.

Heinrich Völkel shot the “Nachtstücke” series with an analogue large-format camera, which is technically accurate and precise enough to recognize even hidden details. Especially at night, the squares in Wedding radiate moments of tranquility. The long exposures in strict black and white reveal the architectural reality of the neighborhood: an architecture of living and working, Art Nouveau next to post-war modernism, ensemble next to solitary buildings, a lot of history and a little bit of the future.

Opening: 5.6.24, 7pm

Duration: 6.6. to 6.7.24

Further information here.

Tamara Eckhardt's award-winning work "The Children of Carrowbrowne" is part of the exhibition "Happy Days", which will be shown as part of Situation Kunst at the Museum unter Tage in Bochum. Based on Samuel Beckett's 1960 play of the same name, the exhibition explores forms of happiness under difficult circumstances. On display are works that reflect experiences of happiness or reflect on happiness, some of which were created in the context of experiences of war or repression. The spectrum of the 12 positions ranges from 1970 to the present day.

In her long-term project "The Children of Carrowbrowne", Tamara Eckhardt accompanied children from the Traveller Community, Ireland's largest minority. Other renowned artists represented in the exhibition include Nan Goldin, Yoko Ono, Rui Chafes, Ken Lum and Felix Gonzales-Torres. The curator of the exhibition is Prof. Dr. Markus Heinzelmann, Ruhr University Bochum.

Opening: 15.5.24, 7pm

Duration: 16.5. to 20.10.24

Further information here.

Tamara Eckhardt's series "Youth of the Island Field" (2019-2021) will be on display at Photoforum Pasquart as part of the Biel/Bienne Photo Days in Switzerland. Over a period of three years, Tamara Eckhardt made several trips to St. Mary's Park on King's Island in the Irish city of Limerick. There is great social insecurity in this highly disadvantaged district - unemployment and drug addiction are widespread. On site, she photographed the residents of the social housing, which was built in the 1930s for families who had previously lived in overcrowded, poor-quality apartments, day after day.

Tamara Eckhardt's series continues the focus on childhood and growing up. It deals with children who grow up in difficult circumstances and have to contend with prejudice and a certain lack of prospects. The series is a visual experience report that focuses on the adaptability and pastimes of the young residents of the neighborhood.

Opening: 3.5.24, 6pm

Duration: 3.5. to 26.5.24

Further information here.