tilt // kollektiv

This year, I would like to focus more energy on tilt, our collective of four photographers: Tim Gassauer, Manu Gruber, Marcus Wend, and myself. We met during our studies at Ostkreuzschule für Fotografie in Berlin, where we were part of Göran Gnaudschun’s class and graduated together in May 2024.

For the past year, we have come together to develop each other's work, collaborate on commissions, and realize exhibition projects. We are united by a shared methodology of intensive work on long-term projects with open, associative approaches to documentary photography, drawing influence from the Ostkreuz Agency and Docks collective.

The idea of forming the collective arose as we began working on our final theses in late 2022, realizing our time as students was coming to an end. While we were excited about the future, we felt a sense of loss at the prospect of leaving behind the engaging conversations that had been central to our experience at Ostkreuzschule. We aimed to create a space to continue sharing our work and supporting one another.

Through our discussions, we recognized shared methods and values in our photography, despite our differing backgrounds and styles. The prospect of collaborating on projects around common themes excited us, allowing us to explore how our diverse approaches could merge into something meaningful and new.

As photographers at the beginning of our artistic practices, we face many doubts, uncertainties, and difficult decisions. It has been an incredible enrichment to share these experiences with one another; this communal way of thinking about our practice has alleviated some of the pressures of being an artist, which should not be understated.

Since graduation, new projects are in the works, both collaboratively and individually, so there is much to discuss in the coming months. I’m incredibly thankful to have found kinship and community in them, and I’m relieved not to enter this daunting world of art and photography alone.

Let me take a moment to introduce my friends and colleagues from tilt:

Tim Gassauer @timgassauer

… is a photographer who works at the intersection of documentary and artistic photography, focusing on social and political issues. His work addresses forms of social memory, questions of belonging, and the design of social spaces. Intensive research into political, social, and historical traces is central to his process.

Manu Gruber @manugruber

… is a German-Italian photographer whose artistic practice intertwines autobiographical experiences with fictional narratives. She draws inspiration from superstition, metaphysics, and mythology, creating works that reflect these themes.

Marcus Wend @marcus_wend (https://www.instagram.com/marcus_wend/)

… is an architectural photographer who has recently turned his attention to personal subjects approached with a documentary style. His focus is primarily on social and cultural issues, exploring curiosities within these themes.

This Blog Post has been written by Justus Lemm, who is part of Issue 17 by Guest Editor Torbjørn Rødland.

Check out his Artist Feature Lithics.