ZINGST.- The BFF Förderpreis 2025/26 exhibition has opened at the 19th Environmental Photo Festival “horizonte zingst,” bringing together twelve emerging photographic voices around the theme of “play.”

On view from May 29 to June 7, 2026, in the Panzerhalle in Zingst, the exhibition presents the results of a six-month mentoring and production process organized by the BFF — Berufsverband Freie Fotografen und Filmgestalter e.V. The award ceremony and vernissage took place on Sunday, May 31, at 11 a.m.

This year’s edition invited young professional photographers and photographers in training to develop creative and conceptually strong projects under the theme “Spielen,” or “playing.” The BFF Förderpreis, now being held for the sixth time, is known not only as a prize for young photography but also as a practical mentoring program that helps participants prepare for professional careers.

The twelve finalists selected by a specialist jury worked closely with BFF mentors for more than half a year, shaping their ideas into finished photographic series. Their projects now appear together for the first time in Zingst, offering a wide-ranging look at how play can be understood visually, emotionally and intellectually.

The finalists are Benedikt Burger with Rhizom; E. Alejandro De Paoli Padilla with According to the Dice / From an Inventory of ...; Marie Eberhardt with HERBST; Theresa Maria Forthaus with Speaking Without Words / Dance as Embodied Practice; Haben Ghebregziabher with In Transition; Antonia Jula Hack with wie es bleibt; Lara Habor with Halbschatten; Zerina Kaps with Der schwarze Kater; Neela J. Keane with Bis Einer Weint; Charly Krüger with ROSA; Zoe Linneweber with Spiel des Erinnerns; and Malte Oing with Playing Birthday Games (Alone).

The exhibition’s subject allows for a broad range of interpretations. Some works approach play through memory, movement or childhood; others examine rules, chance, identity, solitude or social interaction. Together, the projects show how play can be lighthearted, serious, tender, absurd or deeply reflective.

Edda Fahrenhorst, festival curator and member of the jury, praised the variety of the submissions, saying the results could move visitors, make them want to dance, challenge them intellectually or simply make them laugh. Anja Segermann of the BFF Förderpreis team added that audiences can expect an exhibition that is visually compelling while also encouraging reflection.

The expert jury included Roland Breitschuh, photographer and BFF board member; Edda Fahrenhorst, curator of the Environmental Photo Festival “horizonte zingst”; Theresa Gramckow of the advertising agency brinkertlück creatives; Susanne Kastner, art producer and picture editor; Kerstin Mende, Head of Art Buying at Scholz & Friends; gallerist Robert Morat of Robert Morat Galerie; Karin Rehn-Kaufmann, Art Director and Chief Representative of Leica Galleries International; and Max Strohe, chef of the Michelin-starred restaurant Tulus Lotrek.

The works edited during the workshop in Zingst were produced for the exhibition tour by WhiteWall, the main partner of the BFF Förderpreis, in cooperation with Epson. Prize winners receive an Epson SureColor P900 A2 photo printer and a WhiteWall voucher. The first-place winner also receives a Leica SL2-S camera with an SL35mm ASPH lens, while second place receives a SIGMA 28-105mm F2.8 DG DN | Art lens. Leica is also awarding a special prize, the Leica SOFORT 2 Burton Edition.

After Zingst, the exhibition will travel to the Willy-Brandt-Haus in Berlin, where it will be on view from July 3 to September 27, 2026, with a vernissage on July 2 at 7 p.m. Additional presentations are planned for Hamburg and Karlsruhe.

Supported by partners including WhiteWall, the Environmental Photo Festival “horizonte zingst,” SIGMA, Epson, Halbe Rahmen, Leica and prolightrent, the BFF Förderpreis continues to serve as both a showcase and a professional bridge for emerging photographers. Its latest edition demonstrates how a simple theme such as play can open onto complex questions of memory, body, chance, identity and the ways images help us understand human experience.