Against the Flow

The photographic exhibition series Against the Flow presents artists living in Germany who have developed their unique visual languages and are interrogating the medium of photography in a highly personal way. The forms that their artistic interventions take are the ones that unite their different positions. Regardless of what motivates the artists or what interests them in terms of content, in their work they intervene in the substance of the image or in the external reality itself. The question remains whether these works should still be called “documentary” or whether they are in fact a form of realism that flows into fiction.

The series continues with the presentation of works by two photographers, Viktoria Binschtok (born 1972 in Moscow, currently living in Berlin) and Michael Schäfer (born 1964 in Sigmaringen, also currently residing in Berlin). They both use and reflect on media images, exploring the different ways in which they function. They also address the increasing autonomy of images in a networked world that will be dominated by digital algorithms in the future. Thus, their work can be considered in the context of a tradition of artistic interest in the media that dates back to the 1970s. They also represent a new generation of artists today who are expanding the notion of photography and its documentary potential.

Responsible: Dr. Ellen Strittmatter
Concept and selection: Florian Ebner and Christin Müller
Production and organisation: Alexander Lisewski