OSTWÄRTS –
SEHNSUCHT NACH ZUKUNFT
long-term project / personal
2020 - ongoing
The photo documentary "Ostwärts - Sehnsucht nach Zukunft" (Eastward - Longing for Future) provides insights into the realities of teenagers, young adults and people who are committed to them. They all live in small towns and villages in Saxony, far away from the big cities of eastern Germany. In places with space for dreams and concerns.
Prejudices come true and yet the media perception does not correspond to reality. Life is not a much quoted "black and white movie", it is an interplay of many colors, light and dark. For this photo documentary, I traveled to rural Saxony - to Colditz, Bautzen, Biehain, Bischofswerda, Borna, Frankenthal, Kemnitz, Kirschau, Langenstriegis, Görlitz, Grimma, Großhennersdorf, Obergurig, Plauen, Sandförstgen, Wurzen, Zittau and Zwickau - to portray people and their projects that defy the perception of the big city dwellers. Initiatives and people who (co-)shape their surroundings and see a great opportunity in togetherness. They show that it´s possible to find your own ways when youth clubs are dwindling. That it can be good to leave in order to come back stronger or to stay to make a difference: For a self-determined future. The photographs were taken between 2020 and 2023, the long-term project is planned to be continued. Big thanks to all participants who let themselves be accompanied by my camera!
Prejudices come true and yet the media perception does not correspond to reality. Life is not a much quoted "black and white movie", it is an interplay of many colors, light and dark. For this photo documentary, I traveled to rural Saxony - to Colditz, Bautzen, Biehain, Bischofswerda, Borna, Frankenthal, Kemnitz, Kirschau, Langenstriegis, Görlitz, Grimma, Großhennersdorf, Obergurig, Plauen, Sandförstgen, Wurzen, Zittau and Zwickau - to portray people and their projects that defy the perception of the big city dwellers. Initiatives and people who (co-)shape their surroundings and see a great opportunity in togetherness. They show that it´s possible to find your own ways when youth clubs are dwindling. That it can be good to leave in order to come back stronger or to stay to make a difference: For a self-determined future. The photographs were taken between 2020 and 2023, the long-term project is planned to be continued. Big thanks to all participants who let themselves be accompanied by my camera!
