Deutsche Fotografische Akademie

 en » de
en » de
Deutsche Fotografische Akademie

back

back to previous site

event:

Finalists of the 4. Online Portfolio Walk

The applications for the fifth season of the Online Portfolio Walk of the German Photographic Academy have made it clear that there is a new diversity in the stylistic orientations of contemporary photography. Belief in the objectivity of the medium is waning and a free space for a broad spectrum of conceptual and experimental working methods is developing. It was not easy for the jury to select only five positions from this wealth of subjective perceptions of our life-world that could give new impulses to contemporary artistic photography.

The awarded photographers are: Nina Welch-Kling [DE/US], Jennifer Georgescu [US], Doro Zinn[DE], Ludwig Nikulski [DE], Yoshika Hirata-Oen [JP/CN], Eike Hefe [DE], Matthias Gödde [DE].

DFA press materials:

Nina Welch-Kling | Duologues

Nina Welch-Kling | Duologues

Jury member Andreas Langen about "Duologues": 'The errant poet Ezra Pound might have liked what Nina Welch-Kling visualizes: 'In a station of the Metro / the apparition of these faces in the crowd / petals on a wet black bough.' The appearance of faces in the crowd of a metro station, like petals on a wet black bough. Chance, contrast, coincidence, friction, merging - all elements from the surrealists' construction kit. The whole thing in the big city, and not just any big city, but the city of all modern cities; no matter how gigantic the dimensions may be in the meantime in Chinese special economic zones or oil-soaked sheikdoms. New York is the place where Nina Welch-Kling lives and photographs, with rapid accuracy and fabulous momentary awareness. At the same time, several of her street shots seem to bow to greats of photographic history; or does it only seem that way because so many master photographers have created iconic images in the vertical city? In any case, Nina Welch-Kling's finds and compositions are a feast for the eyes. And that the Schweinfurt native, after decades of living and working in the U.S., is now sharing Good News from the Big Apple with us in spring '21, is a special treat.' Welch-Kling about her work: 'I love to wander the streets and observe people. My series, Duologues, records fragments of these encounters. It is a play between two images creating meanings belonging to neither— a discovery process each viewer interprets differently. Reminiscent of the idea of synchronicity, an idea that describes meaningful coincidences, my pairings intentionally produce uncanny relationships. I match the images by playing a game of Memory: finding in each image shapes, gestures, and symbols that rhyme. The rhyming may occur within the major elements in the image, such as the subject, or in minute details that otherwise might go unnoticed. By pairing two photos that occurred at different moments in time, the story that emerges can bring them together. The final sequence feels deeply connected, even though the encounters on the street were random.' Short Bio: Nina Welch-Kling is a New York City-based photographer. Originally from a small town in southern Germany, Welch-Kling combines her background in architecture and design and love of roaming the city streets, to inform her photographic depictions of everyday life. Welch-Kling earned a B.F.A. with a focus in Interior Design from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1990 and a Master in Architecture from The University of California, Los Angeles in 1993. She has resided in New York City since 1995, married with two now college-aged daughters. While raising her children, Welch-Kling discovered her passion for photography. She studied photography in online classes and later, at the International Center of Photography. In 2020, Welch-Kling was a recipient of the LensCulture Critics’ Choice Award as well as a finalist in the LensCulture Street Photography Awards. Welch-Kling's work has been included in multiple international photography exhibitions. In March of 2021, the book “Women Street Photographers” edited by Gulnara Samoilova, published by Prestel will feature Welch-Kling’s photography. Her most recent interview can be found on the upphotographers.com website. https://www.instagram.com/ninakling/ https://www.facebook.com/nina.w.kling https://www.ninaklingphotography.com/

Format:

Photo / Video

Credits
Title:
WelchKling_Nina
Author:
Nina Welch-Kling
Work:
Nina Welch-Kling | Duologues
Copyright:
Nina Welch-Kling

Jennifer Georgescu | Mother Series

Jennifer Georgescu | Mother Series

Jury member Ruth Stoltenberg about 'Mother Series': 'The California-based artist Jennifer Georgescu shows us very sensitive, painterly images of her 'Mother Series', which she began in 2015 when she became a mother. They deal with fragility and discord, security and loss, transience, happiness and suffering, but above all with the search for identity. All of this is palpable in the paintings. They are pictures reminiscent of oil paintings by the great masters of the Italian Renaissance and are also based on them in their choice of motifs; on Raphael's pictures of Mary and angels or Michelangelo's hands. Each painting shows mother and child, mostly in a cutaway, with the mother's face always hidden. I am particularly touched by one painting in which baby's little legs tap on the mother's naked abdomen. We see black maternal soil on the mother's belly as the source of life. But even here Jennifer Georgescu does not show us the happy smile of the mother in such a heartfelt moment and thus leaves us space to also think about the changeability and ultimately the transience of life.' Jennifer Georgescu about her work: 'In 2015, I became a mother. I was prepared for the grueling labor, and sleepless nights, but the loss of my sense of self came as a surprise. I had no time to think and I began to feel like a shell of a person. My early days of motherhood were alienating and awful as well as sentimental and dear. I began to see myself as defined only by a relationship. I felt that my son was an appendage of myself; the embodiment of self and other. It was hard to accept that he was a growing, changing person while I was to remain forever split. When he is near my thoughts are entangled around him and when I am away I cannot seem to be the person I was before. A child is how we remain on Earth; they are our legacies. As I see my son grow I feel my time begin to speed up; I feel my decay. When we think about birth we must realize our death. Motherhood is precious and raw; wonderful and dark.' Short Bio: Jennifer Georgescu's work describes instinctual aspects of humanity correlating to and differing from societal structuring. With a background in painting and photographic arts, she utilizes medium format film photography, installation, and digital technology. Her projects analyze dualisms in language, relationships, mythologies and control. "I often search for the balance that exists in between these dichotomies. This is how I view humanity; always teetering on the line between fiction and reality, domination and submissiveness, self and other." Georgescu is based out of San Diego, CA. Recent exhibitions include the Griffin Museum of Photography, the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, and the Center for Fine Art Photography. www.instagram.com/jengeorgescu www.jengeorgescu.com

Format:

Photo / Video

Credits
Title:
01_Georgescu_Moth
Author:
Jennifer Georgescu
Work:
Jennifer Georgescu | Mother Series
Copyright:
Jennifer Georgescu

Doro Zinn | Future Kids (2016 - ongoing)

Doro Zinn | Future Kids (2016 - ongoing)

Jury member Ingo Taubhorn about the work: 'It simply takes time to take good, intense photos in which people are willing to tell something about themselves without posing or false vanity. In the long-term project "Future Kids," Doro Zinn focuses on people until their gaze into the camera feels so familiar that she gets carried away talking about authenticity, knowing full well that the photo is always only an approximation of reality, never reality itself. But in order to harness the narrative power of photography, Zinn stays close to her subject and refuses to be swayed. Over the past five years, Zinn has accompanied Leila, Coco, Mohammed and İlhan in Berlin in the best storytelling manner, 'between Kottbusser Tor and the high-rises on the outskirts of the city, gentrification and social services, hip hop and religious traditions.' The result is intense colorful moments about identity, growing up, religion, encounters and belonging: 'I am nothing of what you imagine and much more than you can even imagine,' says Coco, one of the protagonists, and hits the nail on the head. This is photography.' Doro Zinn about her work: '‚I am nothing of what you are imagining, and much more than you can even imagine‘ - Coco, 2017 Since the 1960s, Germany has recruited so-called ‚Gastarbeiter‘(guest workers), who were meant to stay only for a few years, work hard in blue-collar jobs and then return to their countries of origin. Many stayed and built a life in Germany. Leila, Coco, Mohammed and İlhan live in Berlin, between Kottbusser Tor and the tower blocks on the city’s outskirts, gentrification and social benefits, Hip Hop and religious traditions. They are the children of muslim migrants from Turkey, Jordan and Palestine. Leila, Coco, Mo and İlhan belong to the first generation that was born and raised in Germany. Since 2016 I collaborate with them regarding questions of identity (and life in general). Their stories tell of the past and the present, of places of (imagined) existence, of growing up and ultimately of their search for their identity. They question the narratives society and media use towards immigrants and the following generations and break them up in a very personal way.' Short Bio: Doro Zinn is a photographer with a background in Political Sciences and a Psychology. In 2017 she graduated from Ostkreuzschule für Fotografie in Berlin. Her work focusses on social topics, migration and identity-related issues. She combines portrait and documentary photography with other material, such as archive pictures and texts by the protagonists with whom she cooperates closely. Her work has been exhibited internationally, and published in different magazines and newspapers. She works as a freelance photographer and visual artist in Berlin and Munich. www.instagram.com/dorozinn

Format:

Photo / Video

Credits
Title:
DoroZinn_FutureKids-1
Author:
Doro Zinn
Work:
Doro Zinn | Future Kids (2016 - ongoing)
Copyright:
Doro Zinn

Ludwig Nikulski | Opal (2020)

Ludwig Nikulski | Opal (2020)

Jury member Jürgen Scriba on 'Opal': 'Opals were considered particularly valuable in ancient times. A Roman scholar praised the stones' own "unbelievable mixture of light". Whether Ludwig Nikulski was thinking of this when he gave his photo project this title, I can only speculate. His images from remote communities in Iceland also reflect the physical properties of the mineral. It is an "amorphous solid" and thus has no crystal structure. Nikulki's images violate the expectations of the viewer. There are no landscapes with fairy creatures to be seen, and yet mysticism is inherent in every image. The cemetery gardener next to his motorized lawnmower exudes it, as does the child on the beach or a rusty ladder, which for mysterious reasons is fixed in position with tension belts. A presumed cloud of smoke over a settlement raises many questions; the series of pictures does not provide an answer, and that is what makes it so appealing. The photographer succeeds in playing with ambiguity without resorting to the hackneyed stylistic devices of deliberate mystery.' Ludwig Nikulski about his work: 'With a grant from Künstlerhaus Lukas, I was able to spend August 2020 in Iceland. In Iceland it seems as if the clouds hung lower than elsewhere. "Opal" uses documentary image strategies and an allusion to fiction to tell of life in remote communities in Iceland. Themes include traditional folk festivals, everyday life, dealing with death, mysticism and the symbolism of nature.' Short Bio: Ludwig Nikulski was born in 1989 in Greifswald, where he studied Fine Arts and Philosophy in 2014. In 2015 Ludwig moved to Berlin and completed his photography education at the Lette Verein in 2018. His work has won awards at the German Photo Book Award and the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Art Young Talent Award, among others. www.ludwignikulski.de

Format:

Photo / Video

Credits
Title:
Ludwig-Nikulski-Opal-1
Author:
Ludwig Nikulski
Work:
Ludwig Nikulski | Opal (2020)
Copyright:
Ludwig Nikulski

Yoshika Hirata-Oen | Haptics

Yoshika Hirata-Oen | Haptics

Jury member Wolfgang Zurborn on 'Haptics': 'For Yoshika Hirata Oen, an intensive self-questioning of her own personal imprints is the motivation for a photographic dialogue with her changing living spaces in different countries. The sequence of images in her series "Haptics" follows a contemplative dramaturgy that sensitises the viewer to a visual minimalism in which a magical light seems to transport the depicted out of the real life. The photographs, however, do not lose themselves in pure aestheticism, but develop a narrative with changing moods in the sequence, which raises fundamental questions about what ultimately holds the world together. In the flow of images, a perception of the world emerges as a complex interaction of memories, social and cultural influences, fears and longings.' Yashika Hirata-Oen about her work: 'I am a social designer. Just like designing architecture or industrial products, social design is to design social systems, and influence people’s behavior in social life. Therefore, it is necessary to find out how people are different but similar at the same time. Everyone has a different perspective from others but there is something in common as well. My photographic work is an experiment for trying out how far images could be reduced for spectators to get sensitised for recalling their memories of ‘already-known-feelings’. Feelings are very personal, and ‘subjective’, but if we are all experiencing similar emotions, why can we not call them as ‘objective’? And what images could open the door to a new horizon of, what is called, ‘intra-subjectivity’ that binds across different individual ‘subjectivities’? My photographic images give me some answers to these philosophical questions, although it was certainly not intended so at the time of taking these pictures.' Short Bio: 'I am a social designer, and what I aim to do is bringing in another piece, rather than sticking to the mainstream. I like to create concepts and values. People say I have unique perspectives, which must be coming from my experiences living, studying (BA in Law, MA in Social Planning, PhD in Political Philosophy coursework completed), and working in an intercultural environment in Japan, the UK, Switzerland, Myanmar, Germany, and China. I worked in the United Nations, and later with the Japanese governmental agency that contributes to world poverty reduction. This organisation dispatched me to the frontier in Myanmar where several borders meet. During my three-year-long stay, I encountered strong needs for gaining a tool to communicate with people from different national, ethnical, cultural, and language backgrounds. There, I realised the possibility of photography that can bridge among complexed various actors. I have learnt and developed knowledge at Lichtblick School in Koeln that photography is a powerful means that requires to mobilise both emotions and rationales, as taking pictures is an intuitive and a reflective action. I am passionate about applying the grammar of images for striking the balance between them for a better social design. I obtained BA in Law from Kyoto University, MA in Social Planning from London School of Economics, as well as from Nagoya University. After my field work in Myanmar, I completed the PhD coursework in Political Philosophy at Hosei University in Tokyo. My first photobook, HAPTICS, is published both on website (https://issuu.com/zurborn/docs/yoshika_issuu_ok) and in hardcover by Lichtblick School. There is a group exhibition scheduled at the gallery blumberg-fotokunst in Potsdam: https://www.blumberg-fotokunst.de.'

Format:

Photo / Video

Credits
Title:
Yoshika for DFA 1
Author:
Yoshika Hirata-Oen
Work:
Yoshika Hirata-Oen | Haptics
Copyright:
Yoshika Hirata-Oen

Eike Hefe | Hülse, peace in the valley below

Eike Hefe | Hülse, peace in the valley below

Jury member Wolfgang Zurborn about "Hülse, peace in the valley below": 'With self-deprecating humour, Eike Hefe is on a quest for his own identity. His photographs under the title "Hülse - peace in the valley below" follow a radically subjective strategy. In their sequence, they strike visual feints that elude any linear narrative or clear logic. All the pictures are taken in personal and professional contexts and yet, in the harsh flash of light and with unusual framing, they seem surreally removed from the normality of everyday life. Far from any gimmickry, it is precisely the creation of this paradoxical in-between world that gives the people, objects and spaces depicted an immense physical presence. The act of seeing and editing the visual material is understood as an intuitive process, as a complex combination of emotional and rational perceptions. ' Eike Hefe about his work: 'Eike Hefe can't count. He was born bald, brave and beautiful. His identity is water. Cave! Changing states of aggregation. Eike Hefe can only talk about himself. He lays claim, but no claim to. Eike can do what I can't and you can't. He can do it with everyone and does it with no one. Eike does not tie his camel. His days will be long and empty. God punches, Eike dances. It can't be smaller, it can't be bigger. Eike is bad at telling stories. He prefers to replace. Icke, Acke, Eike. A working class hero is something to be.' Short Bio: 'I was born in Saarbrücken in 1969, bald, brave, and beautiful. In the mid-eighties began my cultural socialization and para-conscious education through pop. In 1989 I obtained my university entrance qualification, followed by civilian service at the Winterberg Hospital in Saarbrücken. In high school, the German course is one of the few bright spots. Here I also encountered an Arno Schmidt quote that I do not completely share, but which reliably accompanies my further path: The world of art and fantasy is the true one, the rest is a nightmare. Instead of studying literature, I began studying medicine at the University of Cologne in 1991 and graduated in 1998. The subsequent specialist training makes me a specialist for general medicine in 2004. In 2004 I settled down as a general practitioner in my own family practice in Hückeswagen until today. The stream of records, covers, books, pictures never stops, on the contrary, it swells. From 2010, I increasingly establish contacts with creative people and work myself more purposefully. In March 2019, I read a conversation with Wolfgang Zurborn in the magazine "Auslöser" and enroll in his seminar at the Lichtblick School and am still a convinced and enthusiastic participant. In June 2020, I participate in a workshop by Jh Engström on Santorini.' www.instagram.com/Eike_Hefe

Format:

Photo / Video

Credits
Title:
Hülse 01
Author:
Eike Hefe
Work:
Eike Hefe | Hülse, peace in the valley below
Copyright:
Eike Hefe

Matthias Gödde | Melancholia - On the harmony of the soul with external circumstances

Matthias Gödde | Melancholia - On the harmony of the soul with external circumstances

Jury-Mitglied Andreas Langen about the work: 'You have to be somewhat audacious to approach something as intangible as the soul with the means of photography, of all things, which, as we know, is incapable of depicting anything more than the physical surface of things. Matthias Gödde does not let himself be frightened by such limitations. He ties the camera in front of his belly - at least that's the effect of many of the lower views in his series - and picks them out, the faces of passers-by, city users, subway passengers, chance encounters in the hustle and bustle of the city. Often these real-life counterparts collide with the advertising-optimized avatars of his species, and logically always come off pretty badly. Gödde shouldn't have to wave fence posts so much, or rather, when he doesn't, but instead shows real people concentrated at close range, without advertising faces grinning, then his portraits are great in their intensity - soul mates of Diane Arbus or Gabriele and Helmut Nothhelfer, to use the metaphor of the subtitle once again. It may well be that the big-city people Gödde shows seem so lost because all the junk surrounding them robs them of their souls. Or they seem like a bunch of inverted Robinsons - hopelessly alone in the midst of all the other deformed people - because the photographer symbolizes his feelings between Primark, social media and climate change. No matter how around it's true: These are rarely haunting snapshots of Western homo sapiens in the early 21st century. These images will be remembered for a long time.' Matthias Gödde about his work: 'The present work attempts to portray the particular ambivalence of human beings and their sensitivity to damage to the living environment in the process of consumption. Many experience an inward-looking stagnation characterized by time management and the loss of trustworthy criteria that help to distinguish the message from the noise. In addition, there is the insubstantiality of the objects and the growing flood of stimuli. The 10 photos are an excerpt of an ongoing project.' Short Bio: Matthias Gödde *1960 lives and works in Beckum. Studied at the FH Münster - visual communication. Exhibitions-, and participations among others Museum Abbey Liesborn, Stadtgalerie Ahlen, Stadtmuseum Beckum, Stadtgalerie Brandenburg, City Hall Dortmund, Christuskirche Bochum, Stadtmuseum Telgte, Gustav Lübbke Museum Hamm, Galerie Münsterland Emsdetten, Kloster Gravenhorst, Kreishaus Warendorf, Wissenschaftspark Gelsenkirchen, Trieste Italy, Station Kunst Niedertudorf. 2001 Nikon Photo Contest Honorable Mention, 2015 Felix Schöller Award Shortlist, 2020 Kunstpreis Henriettenglück Recklinghausen Shortlist. Member Pixelprojekt Ruhrgebiet, Member Kreiskunstverein Beckum-Warendorf. https://www.goedde-photography.de https://www.instagram.com/matthiasgoedde/

Format:

Photo / Video

Credits
Title:
MD-17586
Author:
Matthias Gödde
Work:
Matthias Gödde | Melancholia - On the harmony of the soul with external circumstances
Copyright:
Matthias Gödde

published on:

2021-03-18