In order to get the right shot, you have to get uncomfortable.”, teaches Michael Grieve. The international known photographer has led for one year the seminar at the Ostkreuzschule für Fotografie OKS. The different projects deal with the challenge of photography: To depict reality «as it is» despite that the perspectives of the photographer act as a filter. Each portrait serie undertakes this journey to find this very individual truth. After one year the projects are shown on the first weekend of April.

Find further infos on the Instagram channels of Ostkreuzschule Seminare and of the respective artists, see links below.

Framework program

Friday, April 1, 2022, 6 pm
Opening Reception

Saturday, April 2, 2022, 3 pm
Meet the Artists & Curator’s Guided Tour with Michael Grieve

Participating artists

Séverine Lenglet
“10 Femmes”

Séverine Lenglet, journalist & photographer, deals with the mother role in Germany. Behind every mother, as devoted and happy as she may be, is a woman with her feelings, emotions, desires, dreams, frustrations, worries and fears. The series “10 Femmes” is the result of an exchange with 10 women, with 10 young mums, questioning the idealization of the role of mother, which often leaves little room for the many facets of our woman’s identities.

Malea Birke
“The space in between”

Malea Birke, art healer, reflects in “The space in between” a particular point of transition in time. It is the space that appears when one pattern ends and the new pattern is not yet tangible. It seems to appear rhythmically on a private level as well as on a collective level in form of birth, aging, death. In most cases, it is experienced uncomfortable because of its confrontation with uncertainty. She has visited leftover buildings from the second world war that will collapse over time, leftovers to be burnt of a broken relationship, a woman before her second childbirth, the apartment of a deceased man before it was emptied by his family, and visited old people in their aging processes to prepare for death

Julia Akimova
“Brothers and sisters”

Julia Akimova, architect & photographer, examines interpersonal relationships among adult siblings in the project “Brothers and sisters”. The photos were taken after a conversation in which the siblings portrayed talked about their relationship with each other. Connectedness and closeness, as well as similarities and differences, were explored in this small universe called blood relations. How did the adult siblings’ time together in childhood shape them? How close are they to each other in adult life? How much is a stranger allowed to know about such intimate life experiences? All these questions were perceived and reflected upon differently by the people portrayed. For some, this constellation and the final result were too personal. The dear guests of the exhibition will not be able to view these portraits.

Wulf Rössler
“The self and the other”

Wulf Rössler, psychiatrist & photographer, examined in “The self and the other”, how in times of Corona many of us struggled with loneliness and isolation. Over the last year, he has been exploring photographically, what these difficult times have done to him and his relationship.

Thomas Hirsch-Hüffell
“from the front”

Thomas Hirsch-Hüffell, pastor, coach & photographer, has been dealing with people and their states of mind for decades. In the portraits “from the front” he shows how something is revealed and hidden at the same time in facial expressions and gestures. It is part of everyday interaction to interpret messages in faces. In two video installations, he explores the communication between the viewer and the observed.

Felipe Ascacibar
“Ordinary resident”

Felipe Ascacibar, filmmaker & photographer, decided in “Ordinary resident” to learn new techniques and influence his style. Felipe chose to work on a large-format camera for this project. Limitation and reduction forced him to slow down and concentrate more on composition, exclusion, confrontation of his subject. Due to life circumstances, he moved to Spain by the end of 2021. For weeks he would only observe light, urban landscapes, and faces before he would use the large format camera to portray his new neighborhood through its residents. He selected simple, reduced backgrounds and the sunlight bouncing from the apartment buildings to capture the ordinary he perceived. 

Sandy Kramer
“Fragmente”

Sandy Kramer, media designer & photographer, processed in “Fragmente” her experience with chronic depression. In her work, she exposes her inner life and explores, among other things, the all-consuming feeling of emptiness, the alienation of herself, and her inner conflict. It is both a reconciliation and an attempt to bring the viewer closer to the topic.

Eva Grillhösl
“Insights”

Eva Grillhösl, editor & photographer, asked seven complete strangers if they would give her an insight into their lives. All of them spontaneously said yes. With the work “Insights”, the photographer shows seven encounters that – each in its own way – have left traces. The initial reticence on both sides has mostly given way to openness, cordiality and generosity. And: although nothing intimate, private things came to light.

Anastasia Chernykh
“gem/einsam”

Anastasia Chernykh, Ukrainian Photographer, delves into the idea of intimacy within a romantic relationship in her project “gem/einsam”. Despite the extreme closeness between people, who have chosen to be together, there’s often an inevitable space, something unsaid, something that helps to maintain their individuality and independence. She’s looking to show this aspect of a relationship through the study of touch, in pursuit of discovering something unique and repetitive, the shapes and patterns of a physical connection that couples develop over time…

Apr 2 & 3, 2022
Opening Reception: Friday, April 1, 2022, 6 pm
+ Framework program: please see above

Ostkreuzschule für Fotografie
@ Kunstquartier Bethanien | Studio 1

Mariannenplatz 2, 10997 Berlin
[District: Kreuzberg | Borough: Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg]

Opening hours for this exhibition: Sat & Sun 11 am – 7 pm

Admission free