Tell me exactly what this room smelled like to you – oil, incense, candles? Cigarettes? Like gasoline in your nose and a scented candle. And the way the strangers' bodies smelled. That was the most terrifying part for me… the rest was rather pleasant. There was the taste of fresh fruit, the smell of the sea, Mother Nature, which is destructive in itself. My heroine... capable of giving so much ...

Every photograph begins with reality, yet reality is never limited to what reveals itself at first glance. It is shaped not only by what is visible, but also by perception, memory, and our ability to connect seemingly unrelated elements. What we see is always an interpretation of the world around us. The photographs in this series deliberately explore this tension. Encounters between people, ...

On the southwestern coast of Bangladesh, where the Sibsa and Kholpetua rivers meet the tides of the Bay of Bengal, water shapes every rhythm of life and every struggle within it. This fragile delta in the districts of Khulna and Satkhira stands on the frontline of the climate crisis. Rising sea levels, increasingly powerful cyclones, and saline intrusion have transformed a landscape once ...

“Maria, una historia de amor” (“Maria, a love story”) explores the unexpected bond that grew between my elderly neighbour Maria and my daughter Zélie after her birth. Maria, a 75-year-old widow, became an essential presence in our daily lives, transforming what began as a simple relationship between neighbours into a chosen family built on care, affection, and mutual support. The project ...

This project began as an investigation into my home and family, starting from an archive of photographs taken by my mother when she was my age: mostly images of animals. My parents are hoteliers, and I grew up inside the hotel they built, a place where private life and work have always overlapped. What began as a small family business gradually expanded, slowly erasing the boundary between ...

In this dialogue, Ukrainian artists Ruslana Kliuchko and Anna Perepechai explore how war, distance, and memory inform their practices. Moving beyond conventional photojournalism, both artists examine landscape and material culture as active participants in history and human experience. We’ve discussed subverting colonial representations of place, the ethical responsibilities of visual ...

A path is not just a distance between two points. Some paths lead over safely paved roads, some over uncomfortable gravel, or soft forest floors, and open fields. Some show early on where they are heading; others lose themselves with every step. What seems clear in the distance changes as you draw closer. Still other paths cross for a moment, briefly connect, and then part ways again. As ...

“Slowing Down” examines the idea of “big themes” in art, particularly in photography, questioning how and why certain themes become more valuable than others and analyzing the mechanisms that underlie these processes of hierarchization. By observing and photographing my everyday life, I focus on the ordinary, the small, and the simple as a counterpoint to the shiny, loud, and astonishing, which ...

In “Bordando el manto terrestre” (translated from Spanish as “Embroidering the Earth's Mantle”), a 1961 work by Remedios Varo, a tower is depicted, where female beings, the “Creators of life”, are weaving the fabric of the world and its mysteries into existence: “Through digging paths back to the roots, a plane between present and past unfolds itself; a place where absence is part of a harmonious ...

My project explores the “Black Outdoors”, a conceptual framework within which to examine the contours of Black life and Black identity that exist outside traditional boundaries of citizenship, safety, state protection and property ownership. Emerging from the field of Black Studies, this framework, constructed by scholars J. Kameron Carter and Sarah Jane Cervenak at Duke University, helps me ...

The latest photobook picks by Der Greif “In Focus” is Der Greif’s photobook review series, spotlighting our picks from the current open call for submissions and our community artists' publications. This month, we write about “Probable Cause” by Henri Airo and “Tua Sorella” by Veronica Barbato. Personally, I found writing about these books challenging because the most obvious link between ...

“Muss ja. Und selbst?” and “Dividendenbuffet” are examples of my ongoing documentary approach, which explores how people shape and are shaped by their surroundings, with an eye for the quirks and microcosms of everyday life. The first of these projects, “Muss ja. Und selbst?” is an untranslatable German response to the question "How are you?" It means something like "It needs to be. How about ...

This is a story about learning to swim in the water Narcissus drowned in. At the core of photography lies a mirror - a borrowed fragment of life printed on a piece of paper. However the image it carries is not as simple. It is the ultimate narcissist that wishes only to be observed, so compelling that it convinces us into believing it represents reality due to its indexical value. But it is an ...

Guest Room is a format that fosters collaboration and sparks creative exchange. For this edition, curator and researcher Annet Dekker invited Margriet Schavemaker to collaboratively explore "The Brilliance of the Mundane". "Millions of images circulate daily, some are profiled on social media sites, uploaded on personal pages, or printed in photobooks. Yet most are discarded in the dark corners ...

Finding roots and narrative form through global aesthetics and proximity Images that circulate widely on social media play a decisive role in shaping how social and political realities are produced, perceived, and contested. Far from being neutral, these images contribute to the formation of cultural and territorial identities, reinforcing dominant narratives while also holding the potential to ...

“Before one leaves” was inspired by my observations of the many Burundian women leaving for the Gulf countries in search of economic opportunities. These migrations are often told through the lens of the promises, risks, or consequences of departure. However, I was drawn to a much more subtle moment: what happens before one of them leaves. When I met Justine and Florence, two sisters and ...

“Ja sam poslednja” (“I am the last one”) is a personal project about my father and me. Throughout our lives, we shared many similarities, both physically and emotionally, yet in the years before his death we gradually lost the closeness we once had. The distance that grew between us became an important part of our relationship and, after his passing, left many questions unresolved about who he ...

Greif Alumni and emerging practices at the 57th edition of the festival The opening days of the 57th edition of Les Rencontres d’Arles have begun. Running under the theme “Des mondes à relire” (“Worlds to Reread”) and directed by Christoph Wiesner, the 2026 festival focuses on visual complexity, transmission, and nuanced representation in contemporary photography. A central point for emerging ...

My photographic story, “Hause” Spiele, is a journey across borders, seen through the lens of a camera. Moving from Ukraine to Germany was not simply a change of residence; it was a deep immersion into a different culture, mentality, and way of life. This forced displacement compelled me to seek anchors in an unfamiliar landscape, transforming my artistic practice into a vital tool for emotional ...

With its temperate climate, spice-filled air, and warm people, old Stone Town on Zanzibar island does more than welcome its visitors. It invites them into the details of its everyday life. Afternoons around the sea wall close to the Forodhani Gardens slowly fill up with anticipating spectators, all waiting for the jumping Zanzibari youth, also known as the “Makachu jumpers”. Jumping off the ...

Inside "Ich seh’ etwas, was du nicht siehst": How Fondament x Der Greif’s photography open call is challenging German society clichés The photography project "Ich seh’ etwas, was du nicht siehst" (“I Spy with My Little Eye”) is an open call for images that show Germany through the eyes of the people who live here. In this interview, initiators Josefine Cox (Managing Director, Fondament and ...

“Ich seh etwas, was Du nicht siehst”: Fondament x Der Greif open call launches to challenge perspectives on social life in Germany At Der Greif, we have always believed that photography is at its most powerful when it stops giving simple answers and starts asking complex questions. It is this exact philosophy that drives our latest collaborative project, an open call titled "Ich seh’ etwas, was ...

In a world where human consciousness transcends the limits of flesh, “YICHU 1.0” explores the raw emotional journey of transformation, self-reconstruction, and collective evolution. As a three-chapter experimental moving image work, the project traverses protopian futures, digital embodiment, and AI-mediated identity. Through a blend of machine-generated visuals, layered soundscapes, and ...

With "Queer Quintessential," we bring together LGBTQIA+ lens-based artists who use visual language to question, describe, and reframe contemporary queer life. This exhibition delves into chosen family, deep intimacy, and the quiet tensions between public and private domains. The featured works interrogate what it means to be seen or unseen, considering how safety, risk, and geography inform how ...