About

After completing my Bachelor in Art History and Book Sciences, I studied for my Master in Photography at the Royal College of Art. Now I am working independently, mainly in Bavaria.

Statement

My work revolves around the inner space and the phenomena of consciousness, emerging from an autobiographical context and opening up to the surreal and fantastic, at times grotesque. Interweaving memories, experiences, and imagination, I create inextricable narratives with multiple layers of meaning, characterised by a visceral iconography. Within my practice, I regard photography as a performative action and an extended form of procreation. The resulting image becomes a child of the artist and a manifested mental space to be explored. Engaging in experimentation and play serves as a direct connection between the internal and the external realm. Through this process, I relate individual experiences to a collective history and turn personal involvement into a shared understanding.

Education

  • 2017–2019 | "MA Photography", Royal College of Art, London (UK)
  • 2016–2017 | "Kunst- und Bildgeschichte", Humboldt-Universität, Berlin (DE)
  • 2011–2015 | "Kunstgeschichte und Buchwissenschaft", Friedrich-Alexander-Universität, Erlangen (DE)

Institution (Work Experience)

  • 2021 | Visiting Lecture, University of Europe, Berlin/Hamburg (DE)
  • 2021 | Visiting Lecture, Arts University Bournemouth (UK)
  • 2021 | Visiting Lecture, University of Brighton (UK)
  • 2020 | Visiting Lecture, Bauhaus-Universität, Weimar (DE)
  • 2019 | Symposium, London College of Communication (UK)
  • 2019 | Visiting Lecture, Corpus Christi College, Oxford (UK)

Selected Awards

  • 2021 | Stipendienprogramm des Freistaats Bayern (DE)
  • 2021 | 2. Platz, BJP International Photography Award (UK)
  • 2021 | Finalist, Hellerau Photography Award (DE)
  • 2020 | 2. Platz, Sony World Photography Awards (UK)
  • 2020 | Nominiert, FOAM Paul Huf Award (NL)
  • 2020 | Camera Work Award, PR2 (IT)
  • 2020 | Finalist, HSBC Prix pour la Photographie (FR)
  • 2020 | Rezipient, a-n Time Space Money Bursary (UK)
  • 2020 | Finalist, Encontros Da Imagem – Emergentes (PT)
  • 2020 | Finalist, The Aftermath Project Grant (US)
  • 2019 | Finalist und Juryfavorit, Le Bal Award for Young Creation (FR)
  • 2019 | Bloomberg New Contemporaries (UK)
  • 2019 | Ginnel Foto Award (UK)
  • 2019 | 1. Platz, The Association of Photographers Student Awards (UK)
  • 2019 | Magenta Flash Forward, Magenta Foundation (CA)

Selected Exhibitions/Publications

  • Ausstellungen / Exhibitions
  • 2021 | Photo Vogue Festival, Milan (IT)
  • 2021 | Encontros da Imagem, Braga (PT)
  • 2021 | Photoville, New York (US)
  • 2021 | International Photo Festival, Leiden (NL)
  • 2021 | AFF Galerie, Berlin (DE)
  • 2021 | Palácio das Artes, Belo Horizonte (BR)
  • 2021 | Technische Sammlungen, Dresden (DE)
  • 2021 | Format Photography Festival, Derby (UK)
  • 2021 | Künstlerhaus, Dortmund (DE)
  • 2020 | Photo Open Up, Padua (IT)
  • 2020 | Palazzo Rasponi 2, Ravenna (IT)
  • 2020 | Rugby Art Gallery and Museum (UK)
  • 2020 | Seen Fifteen Gallery, London (UK)
  • 2020 | Sony Imaging Gallery, Tokio (JP)
  • 2020 | Borough Road Gallery, London (UK)
  • 2020 | South London Gallery, London (UK)
  • 2019 | Leeds Art Gallery, Leeds (UK)
  • 2019 | Take Courage Gallery, London (UK)
  • 2019 | Royal College of Art, London (UK)
  • 2019 | Tate Modern, London (UK)
  • 2019 | Coningsby Gallery, London (UK)
  • 2019 | Bow Arts, London (UK)
  • 2018 | Les Rencontres de la Photographie, Arles (FR)
  • 2017 | Photofestival Lodz (PL)
  • Publikationenn / Publications
  • 2021 | Augury (with Teri Varhol), Antics Publications (US/CO)
  • 2021 | Animals: Photographs that make you think, Henry Carroll, Abrams Books (UK)
  • 2021 | Primal Sight, Gnomic Book, Ed. Efrem Zelony-Mindell (US)
  • 2021 | The Journal of Grievances, Vol. 4: Collected Tales, Antics Publications (US/CO)
  • 2020 | The Journal of Grievances, Vol. 2: All my Souvenirs, Antics Publications (US/CO)
  • 2019 | On Death, Kris Graves Projects (US)

Personal Website

https://elenahelfrecht.com

Works

Elena Helfrecht | Plexus (2018 – today)

Elena Helfrecht | Plexus (2018 – today)

“Plexus” is a photographic case study based on still lifes that emerge from inherited trauma and postmemory, exploring the family as an essential contributor to psychological and cultural processes across history. Following my grandmother’s death, I return to my family estate in Bavaria and use the house and its archive as stage and protagonists for an allegoric play. In the process of reconnecting the fragmentary history of my female lineage, the term ‘re-membering’ becomes literal. Immersing myself into this story, I fill the gaps with dreams, associations, and imagined scenes to create a narrative transgressing personal and national boundaries. The objects and architecture of the house become parabolic proxies and open a gate between the past and the present. Permeating the imagery is a figurative search for apparent reoccurrences in history, echoing my own repetition of my mother’s and grandmother’s behaviours. By confronting a past spanning across four generations, a renewed sense of identity provides ground for a detailed investigation of mental health, war, history and our present times.

Format:

Photo / Video

Elena Helfrecht | Unternächte (2018 – today)

Elena Helfrecht | Unternächte (2018 – today)

“Unternächte” is the term my grandmother and great-grandmother in Bavaria used for the time around the longest night, between Winter Solstice and Epiphany – a time known in other parts of Southern Germany and Austria as “Rauhnächte”. Here, life and death, light and darkness, good and evil meet, and a door opens to the otherworld. This time, where the old has not yet entirely faded, but the new has not fully risen, is seen as a vacuum, both dangerous and cathartic, requiring specific rules to ensure a safe transition from the old chaos into a new order. During these nights, when magic and divination are said to be the most efficient, the women in my family have practised specific customs to get a glimpse into the new year and to keep the family safe. The legends told in this time still serve as warnings and guidance. The “Unternächte”, marking the renewal of the solar cycle, are a tangible metaphor for life and death, and an opportunity for introspection. Exploring mortality and generational transition through ideas of ritualism, magic, dreams, and clairvoyance, tied to my female lineage, I want to invent new rituals and expand the myths I grew up with. Local customs, family history, and personal experiences are woven into dreams and fantasy, in an attempt to grasp a full circle.

Format:

Photo / Video