Artist Tour

The exhibition presents the work of fourteen prizewinners from the close to twenty-year history of the C/O Berlin Talent Award and attempts to re-contextualize them. The works on display trace the transformation of documentary strategies in contemporary photographic discourse - from the established genre of documentary photography to staged documentaries, the expansion of the concept of media, and visions of the future.

Accompany the artists present and Junior Curator Veronika Epple on an exclusive guided tour of the exhibition and gain an insight into the various chapters of the exhibition. Learn first-hand about the genesis and background of the works and series.

Friederike Brandenburg (b. 1983, DE) studied communication design with a focus on photography at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen. Her Zurückgelassen series was exhibited in the Talent exhibition at C/O Berlin in 2010 and the Deutsche Börse, Eschborn as well as in the Goethe Institut, Washington, and at the Alfred Töpfer Stiftung F.V.S., Hamburg. The photographer lives with her family in Inntal, in the Bavarian Alps.

Sylvain Couzinet-Jacques (b. 1983, FR) is an artist and researcher (AMU-ENSP) who explores themes of community, utopia, and collective actions. His work has been exhibited internationally, receiving several prestigious awards, which led to solo exhibitions at LE BAL in Paris (Standards & Poors, 2013), Aperture Foundation in New York (Eden, 2016), and C/O Berlin (Sub Rosa, 2019). His multifaceted and transdisciplinary works address global issues such as the immaterial circulation of data, private property, and collective appropriation.

Pepa Hristova (b. 1977, BGR) is a photographer from the Balkan Mountains in Bulgaria. Her work is driven by her interest in social phenomena and archaic traditions, examining the unknown side of Europe. She experiments with different genres and the ambiguity of photographic imagery. Hristova was a member of the photography agency OSTKREUZ between 2006 and 2016. In 2008 she was a Talent at C/O Berlin. Her work has been on display at House of Photography, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Berlin Academy of Arts, NRW Forum Dusseldorf, Stadtmuseum Munich, National Gallery, Sofia, and BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts Brussels.

Sasha Kurmaz (b. 1986, UKR) holds a specialist degree (MA) in design from the National Academy of Managerial Staff of Culture and Arts in Kyiv in 2008. Kurmaz is an interdisciplinary artist. He uses photography, video, public intervention, performative situations, and various forms of collaborative practice and social engagement in his artistic practice. His work focuses on urban space, society and, its development and transformations, as well as the dynamics of relationships between the individual and power structures. In 2016 he was a Talent at C/O Berlin. Currently he lives and works in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Emanuel Mathias (b. 1981, DE) is an artist and researcher. He is interested in distance-proximity relationships in interdisciplinary contexts between the documentary and the speculative, art and society, as well as man and nature. He studied art photography at the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig, graduating in 2009, and was Meisterschüler of Tina Bara. In 2015 he was a Talent at C/O Berlin. Between 2017 and 2024 he conducted research for his artistic PhD at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar on the distance-proximity relationship of biologists studying the behaviour of apes. Emanuel Mathias lives and works in Leipzig.

Willem Popelier (*1982, NL) ist ein bildender Künstler und Fotograf. In seiner Arbeit konzentriert er sich hauptsächlich auf die Populärkultur, das allgegenwärtige Bild und seine Auswirkungen auf die Gesellschaft. Seine Arbeiten werden weltweit ausgestellt, in Magazinen wie C Photo und Foam Magazine veröffentlicht und mit mehreren Preisen ausgezeichnet, darunter C/O Berlin Talents (2012), eine Bronzemedaille für das Best Book Design from all over the World, und er wurde unter anderem für den ICP Infinity Award und den Prix Pictet nominiert. Seine Arbeiten sind in der Ehrengalerie der niederländischen Fotografie vertreten. Popelier ist Dozent und Co-Kursleiter an der Abteilung für Fotografie an der Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam.

Janina Wick (b. 1976, DE) studied photography under Gosbert Adler at the Hochschule Hannover and under Jitka Hanzlová at the HFBK in Hamburg until 2007. In 2008 she was a Talent at C/O Berlin. Her portrait series of young people was displayed in Schloss Neuhardenberg (2020), in the Galerie im Marstall Ahrensburg (2019), in Frappant Galerie in Hamburg (2019), in Kunstraum Düsseldorf (2018) and in Oldenburger Kunstverein (2017) amongst other locations. Since 2014 she has held various teaching posts, most recently at the HFBK in Hamburg (2023–2025). 

Karolina Wojtas (b. 1996, PL) is a photographer inspired by childhood memories, random objects, and children’s fantasies, creating playful, immersive installations. She studied at the Film School in Łódź and the Institute of Creative Photography in Czechia. Wojtas has exhibited internationally, including at FOTO ARSENAL WIEN, MNAC, Foam, and MSN Warsaw. She has received numerous awards, such as the C/O Berlin Talent Award (2022) and ING Unseen Talent Award (2019). In 2019, she opened her own museum in Poland.