BERLIN.- The present is brittle. It manifests itself not as a closed, linear narrative but as an organism of transitions, shifts, and gaps—simultaneously overlapping, intert-wining, and loosely woven together.
The exhibition Mind the Gap is concerned with the spaces in between: between that which has become obsolete and that which has not yet arrived, between the familiar and the uncertainty or doubt, between what is visible and what remains elusive.
Mind the Gap brings together fifteen positions that examine areas of tension and processes of transformation. They focus on fragments, transitions, uphea-vals, and the kind of approximation that reveals itself in radical change.
The series address key social and personal themes: violence and its traces, experiences of borders and fleeing, fragmented family biographies, humankind’s relationship to nature, gender roles and identity, and even questions of extrater-restrial life.
What emerges from the fragmentary approaches and individual perspectives is a discourse comprising multiple different threads. In it, humans serve as obser-vers, perceivers, and remembers.
Moving beyond the implication of lack, Mind the Gap sees the gap as a creative space that provides space for perception, reflection, and reorientation. In doing so, the photographers make use of various forms of presentation that expand notions of documentary and artistic representation. Moving images are just as much part of the exploration as installations with objects, found footage, colla-ges, or projections. “In this master class, the variety of the medium is expressed not just in thematic ways but also, in a grand gesture, gazes beyond the photo-graphic moment,” says Ingo Taubhorn.
The master class is the postgraduate program at the Ostkreuz School of Photo-graphy in Berlin. Under the direction of Prof. Linn Schröder and Ingo Taubhorn, master class students of 2024-26 developed a rich spectrum of artistic works.
in i ain’t from no east coast, Verdiana Albano (*1993) presents archival material, her own photographs, and objects. The work is a fragmentary examination of Afro-European biography and post-socialist everyday realities.
In Häutungen / Shedding, Sandra Buschow (*1976) presents self-portraits and abstract compositions of color in an intimate series of images. The body beco-mes a site of borderline experiences, vulnerability, and self-empowerment.
In Black Box, Eva Grillhösl (*1974) places historical photographs taken by her grandfather in a dialog with her own works. In tense coexistence, the archive and the present are questioned about war experiences and family repression. In Monuments, Paulina Hildesheim (*1995) zeroes in on fog collectors in southwestern Morocco for her installations. Here, functional technology serves as a response to the crises of climate change and water scarcity.
In It’s my wound because it’s pain for me, Jana Islinger (*1999) presents a documentary short film (13’) and photographs from everyday life in Armenia amid military conflict. Loss, resilience, and female perspectives become visible in the area of tension between geopolitical powers.
In I give them titty, try to keep them calm, Telke Jungjohann (*1994) focuses on the relationship between humans and farm animals in serial works. Using dairy cows as an example, she reflects on notions of care, control, and economic utility.
With Beyond the Silence, Rainer Kurzeder (*1971) presents a long-term photo-graphic project about fathers and their queer sons. Moments of intimacy arise among tense instances of silence, expectations, and traditional masculinity.
In Zwischen Himmel und Erde (Between Heaven and Earth), Ramon Lehmann (*1986) explores UFO sightings and the people involved through the means of photography. Documentary portraits and staged images open up a space bet-ween belief, science, and speculation.
In Achillesferse (Achilles‘ Heel), Michelle Maicher (*1997) examines the so-called Suwałki Gap as a politically sensitive border area in Poland. In landscape and portrait photographs, isolation, fears, and the search for the future converge.
In Sind wir nichts (Are We Nothing), Claudia Neuhaus (*1980) creates typo-logical portraits of young people in the city. Between green spaces and urban surroundings, aspects of documentation and staging come together to raise questions about the uncertainty of the future.
In waltan, Lukas Ratius (*1989) directs attention to the topic of police violence through photographs and research material. This artistic approach sheds light on the individual perspectives of those affected, navigating the field of tension between state-controlled, normative structures.
In Kein Kinderspiel (No Child’s Play), Helen Stevens (*1976) approaches her own involuntary childlessness. The resulting series of images gently discloses a sense of farewell, grief, pain, and reorientation.
In Zeitmagazin: vermöbeln (Zeit Magazine: giving a thrashing), Eva von Schirach (*1968) creates collages from family photographs of her own scuffling sons and luxury furniture advertisements. Timeless design contrasts with the chaotic stages of growing up.
In Ich bin Wolf (I am a wolf), Tara Wolff (*1971) reflects on an encounter between a woman and a wolf as allies on the margins of societal control. In confronting predominant narratives, wildness and freedom are considered beyond conventi-onal attributions.
In It’s not violence, if it’s normal, Antine Karla Yzer (*1993) develops photogra-phic diptychs that she made in collaboration with delinquent youths. In a place where discipline shapes everyday life, the work addresses notions of young masculinity and the search for stability.
The exhibition is curated by Linn Schröder and Ingo Taubhorn.
Verdiana Albano, Sandra Buschow, Eva Grillhösl, Paulina Hildesheim, Jana Islinger, Telke Jungjohann, Rainer Christian Kurzeder, Ramon Lehmann, Michelle Maicher, Claudia Neuhaus, Lukas Ratius, Eva von Schirach, Helen Stevens, Tara Wolff, Antine Karla Yzer
