With the exhibition Jahrgang Zwölf the graduates of the Ostkreuzschule für Fotografie in Berlin present their final projects. The 24 works range between documentary and conceptual photography and have a critical look at various realities — from the African continent to different European countries and to their own backyard. Refugee camps between Kenia and Berlin, the peace process in Colombia, and the activities of the arms industry are issues concerning the students as much as family ties, the world of dreams or the nocturnal prowl of a fox in Berlin-Neukölln.
The exhibition will be accompanied by panel discussions, book presentations and a guided tour by photo historian Dr. Enno Kaufhold.
The Ostkreuzschule für Fotografie emerged out of the Ostkreuz photographers agency. The school was founded by Werner Mahler and Thomas Sandberg in 2005.

The exhibition Jahrgang Zwölf is part of EMOP Berlin — European Month of Photography and is friendly supported by Porsche, The Shelf by Pandion and Nikon.

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Framework program

Fr., 5 October 2018, 7 pm
Opening
Speech: Matthias Harder (Curator of the Helmut Newton Foundation, Berlin)
DJs

Sat., 6 October 2018, 7 pm
QUO VADIS PHOTOBOOK
Possibilities and strategy of conveyance in print: Thomas Gust (Bildband Berlin) in conversation with publishers: Delphine Bedel (Metabooks, Drucken Heften Laden) among others. Followed by an open discussion with graduates.

Sun., 7 October 2018, 4 pm
Guided tour with Dr. Enno Kaufhold (Photography historian) and Uli Kaufmann (graduate Jahrgang Zwölf). Followed by a Q&A with graduates.

Wed., 10 October 2018, 7.30 pm
Discussion »Formative imagery — social obligation and the operational leeway of photography«
with: Heinrich Holtgreve (Ostkreuz), Ludwig Rauch (artist, lecturer, freelance photographer), Kathrin Tschirner (freelance photographer, aff gallery), Claudia Bühler and Agata Guevara (Graduates Jahrgang Zwölf). Moderation: Miriam Zlobinski (visual historian, photo editor)

Thu., 11 October 2018, 7 pm
Book release Kleinstadt by Ute Mahler and Werner Mahler
in conversation with Ingo Taubhorn (Curator, Haus der Fotografie, Deichtorhallen)

Fri., 12 October, 7 pm
Filmscreening: From the West by Juliane Henrich, 2016
Filmscreening: Tranzania. Living. Room by Uli Schüppel, 2010. Following Q+A with Uli Schüppel.

Sun., 14 October 2018, 6 pm
Portfolio Review Night with:
Winifred Chiocchia (picture editor, e.g. Ostkreuz, Studio Stauss, Fototreff Berlin), Cale Garrido (picture editor and curator e.g. Greenpeace Magazin, Triennale der Photographie Hamburg), Anastasia Hermann (picture editor e.g. Der Freitag, emerge – Magazin für jungen Fotojournalismus), Tobias Laukemper (Freier Bildredakteur u. a. Fototreff Berlin, brand eins, GEO), Svenja Paulsen (curator and graduate of the scholarship program‚ Museumskuratoren für Fotografie‘ of Alfred Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach-Foundation), Magnus ölcher (Curational Assistent, Haus der Photographie, Deichtorhallen), Peter Unterthurner (picture editor e.g. GEO, Die Zeit), Miriam Ziobinski (Visual Historian, curator, picture editor Studio Stauss)

Mon., 15 October 2018, 6 pm
Finissage
LATE ON YOU
Kristof Hahn
and DJs

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Artists

Lars Bösch
Miguel Brusch
Claudia Bühler
Charlott Cobler
Søren Drastrup
Agata Guevara
Tatiana Hahn
Natascha Hamel
Uli Kaufmann
Jana Kießer
Paul Kirchmeyr
Moritz Knierim
Annemie Josephin Martin
Maidje Meergans
Patricia Morosan
Linus Müllerschön
Jana Sophia Nolle
Sascha Schlegel
Tim Schmelzer
Laura Spes
Bastian Thiery
Milena Villalón Guirado
Lukas von Roell
Sebastian Wells

Lecturers

Prof. Linn Schröder
Werner Mahler
Ludwig Rauch

An overview of the projects

Lars Bösch, Wie Sand am Meer
In search of the mechanisms, symbols and actors of mass tourism Lars Bösch came across: sun worshippers, towels that told him more than he wanted to know; dreamers that clashed with realities; exploiters and the exploited. The photographer came across a mirror of our society shaped by homogeneity, short-livedness and desires.
www.larsboesch.com

Miguel Brusch, The Black Pool
Blackpool on England‘s northwest coast is a town that is fighting decay for decades and presenting itself as a place where tourists and locals may escape the reality of everyday life. ‚The Black Pool‘ is a work about the thin line between monotony and distraction, between illusion and disillusion.
www.miguelbrusch.com

Claudia Bühler, it’s not science fiction
it’s not science fiction offers a sober view of German and Swiss defence contractors, embedded in their surroundings, protected by state of the art surveillance. Claudia Bühler supplements her photos with research on the effects of this flourishing industry and its influence on political processes.
www.claudiabuehler.ch

Charlott Cobler, Eine unumstößliche Verbindung
Charlott Cobler has given herself an irrevocable task: to unearth the emotional depth that results from the lifelong bond of siblinghood, whilst still bringing forth their uniqueness. She captured this relationship in environments rooted in memory, reinforcing the connection between them.
@charlott.cobler

Sören Drastrup, it’s not you, it’s me
it’s not you, it’s me from Sören Drastrup is „A visual journal about escapism, documenting my life for me to remember. Portraits of friends, lovers and acquaintances.“
www.sorendrastrup.com

Agata Guevara, In Limbo
The work In Limbo focuses on the lives of excombatants from the rebel group FARC in Colombia who settled down in camps after a peace deal with the government in 2016. Agata Guevara portraits this newly built living situation in order to let the viewer build a new image, one detached from war and crime.
www.agata-guevara.com

Tatiana Hahn, So Close So Far
Tatiana Hahn‘s graduation project invites viewers to question their own subjective perception about their physical and philosophical world, about life in big cities. For that she creates spaces and environments with means of photography such as photocollages and scanograms.
www.anoring.com

Natascha Hamel, Open World
Natascha Hamel’s series Open World explores the phenomenon of Twitch, the most successful streaming platform for online gaming, and looks at the complex relationship between female broadcasters and their viewers.
@natascha.hamel

Uli Kaufmann, Einszweidrei, im Sauseschritt läuft die Zeit; wir laufen mit
At a time when we’re evolving faster than we can understand our own societal intelligence, Uli Kaufmann’s series “Einszweidrei, im Sauseschritt läuft die Zeit; wir laufen mit” (Wilhelm Busch) captures the humor of everyday life in Germany without brushing off the profundity of this day and age. Its apparent casualness allows the viewer to momentarily step out of their conscious reality and become a bystander of the greater picture, enabling the realisation that it is okay, okay to just be human.
www.ulikaufmann.de

Jana Kießer, this stays between us
The series this stays between us is a rehabilitation from sexual abuse in one‘s own family. Jana Kießer takes us into the depths of the injured soul; dark, questioning, unrecognizable. What follows are insights into the unknown – obscure scenes, brokenness, threats, innocence and femininity, a state of shock, uprooting, blackout, immobility, violence and the constant fear of encountering the offender again.
www.janakiesser.de

Paul Kirchmeyr, The Fool’s Journey
In his series The Fool’s Journey, Paul Kirchmeyr takes the observer on a yearlong quest for purpose between the extraordinary and the mundane.
@paulkirchmeyr

Moritz Knierim, Rmiekim
Through his series Rmiekim, Moritz Knierim processes the past and simultaneously focuses his gaze on the present and a possible future.
@et_knierim

Annemie Martin, rim
Annemie Martin describes her work rim as an approach to the edge between land and sea – a threshold moving up to a teeter between two different worlds.
www.annemiemartin.de

Maidje Meergans, the story of ernst
Over a period of two years Maidje Meergans documented the two chefs Dylan and Spencer. Starting in their living room, where they cooked private dinners for six guests, I followed them until the opening of their twelve seat restaurant in a working class neighborhood in northern Berlin. Along the way, they travelled through Germany and Europe to source the best produce and people to work with. This is the story of ernst.
www.maidje.com

Patricia Morosan, (I) Remember Europe
Various places, in seven different countries, claim to be the center of the European continent. Patricia Morosan‘s series (I) remember Europe is a photographic journey which reveals the center as existential pursuit, as geographical destiny and as political metaphor. The work is a photographic search and an emotional localization of the coordinates which claim to be the navel of Europe.
www.patriciamorosan.com

Linus Muellerschoen, FRONT
Linus Muellerschoen’s series Grenzwert (working title) applies a visual language to the anthropogenic divisions of modern German suburbia. The images, which possess a curious flatness despite combining nature, private space and the public sphere, create a symbolic and yet intimate portrait of the suburban Mensch.
www.linusmuellerschoen.de

Jana Sophia Nolle, Living Room
Jana Sophia Nolle’s project Living Room deals with wealth and poverty. Temporary homeless structures and extravagant houses coexist in San Francisco. Living Room is about exploring the notion of privacy andinterpersonal connections between people of very different living situations. The work, itself, is a series of photographs displaying makeshift homeless structures erected in various wealthy living rooms in San Francisco using materials found on the streets.
www.jana-sophia.com

Sascha Schlegel, i died
With „in every heartbeat, in every breath, with every drop of sweat, with every tear, in every step, in every suffering, in a laugh, in life. at the end there are pictures“, describes Sascha Schlegel his series i died.
@simsalonaut

Tim Schmelzer, WAR ON US
Tim Schmelzer‘s current work WAR ON US deals with separation and loneliness within todays relationships, a collection of stories that are all one.
@timschmelzer

Laura Spes, Ich träume von einem Bild
In her work Ich träume von einem Bild, Laura Spes attempts to translate pictures, seen first in her dreams, as accurately as possible into photographs, into pieces of the real world. As a result, the photographer shares individual memories and experiences, the combination of staged pictures and dream notes opens up the dream pictures to the viewer.
www.lauraspes.com

Bastian Thiery, Humpelfuchs (limping fox)
Moved by a nocturnal encounter, Bastian Thiery embarks on a search for the „Humpelfuchs“ (limping fox). What he finds is a subjective and metaphorical picture of a world that most often is in hiding.
www.bastianthiery.com

Milena Villalón Guirado, Tage mit Marie
Over the past few years, Milena Villalón Guirado has been photographing her close circle of friends. In this series she has focused on Marie, creating a visual documentation of their friendship and creating images about femininity, body and time, in which the camera is the tool which connects them.
www.milesdealmas.com

Lukas von Roell, Appeso
Lukas von Roell accompanies a group of climbers and friends on their journey to find ever new, challenging and aesthetic lines across the cliffs of northern Italy’s mountains. His work, Appeso, captures the struggle of man against his own personal limits, of competition with nature while also living in its familiar fold.
@lukasvonroell

Sebastian Wells, Utopia
In his project Utopia, Sebastian Wells pays attention to the global phenomenon of refugee camps as permanent temporary measures being as large as a city and providing a universal humanitarian order and control.
www.sebastianwells.de

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For further details & updates please visit:
www.jahrgangzwoelf.de | www.instagram.com/zwoelf_ostkreuzschule

Oct 6 — 15, 2018
Opening Reception: Friday, Oct 5, 7 pm
+ Framework program: please see above

Ostkreuzschule für Fotografie @The Shelf by Pandion

Prinzenstraße 34 (former Robben&Wientjes Halls), 10969 Berlin
[Kreuzberg | Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg]

Opening hours: Daily 12 – 8 pm

Admission free