Documentary photography grants from the Wüstenrot Foundation revisited:
Origin, family life

For three decades, the Wüstenrot Foundation's Documentary Photography Award has been one of the most important awards in Germany for conceptual-documentary photographic practice focused on socially relevant topics.

Founded in 1994 in collaboration with the Photographic Collection of the Museum Folkwang Essen, the prize is awarded every two years to four winners for a project proposal. In addition to photographic and filmic works, the realized projects now also include cross-media and installation-based approaches to exploring themes from the real world and contextualizing the representational function and expressive possibilities of photography in an expanded way.

For more than two decades, the Museum of Photography Braunschweig, which celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2024, has been the venue for the Documentary Photography Advancement Awards. Both anniversaries – 30 years of the Wüstenrot Foundation's Documentary Photography Advancement Awards and 40 years of the Museum of Photography Braunschweig – provide an opportunity to present four former award winners from different years in an exhibition showcasing the themes they have continuously pursued since receiving the award, focusing on aspects of origin and family life. The exhibition features photographic works with autobiographical references by Espen Eichhöfer (born 1966, award winner DF 04/2001), created in Norway, as well as family portraits by Verena Jaekel (born 1980, award winner DF 06/2005). Following a classic genre in the history of photography, her group portraits also address more recent forms of cohabitation among people of diverse backgrounds. Birte Kaufmann (*1981, winner of the DF 10/2012 prize) has also been exploring aspects of family life and traditions for many years. Between 2011 and 2022, she created her series The Travellers about a group of nomadic families in Ireland, while in her project Gjakmarrje – In the Blood (2015-17) she photographed the daily life of a family in Albania embroiled in a blood feud.

Based on migration experiences, the exhibition also features re-enactments of key experiences of individuals in the series "I am becoming German" by Maziar Moradi (*1975, winner of the German Film Award 08/2008). These works, along with others by Maziar Moradi, are to be sent.

Origin and family life represent fundamental aspects of existential life experiences that shape a person's identity. Within the context of diverse social contexts, they are recurring themes in the documentary photography awards of the Wüstenrot Foundation. The photographs by Espen Eichhöfer, Verena Jaekel, Birte Kaufmann, and Maziar Moradi, with their diverse artistic approaches, present multifaceted and compelling images that explore these themes.

Side events

Opening: Friday, February 03.05.2024th, 19, XNUMX:XNUMX p.m.
Welcome and introduction by Regine von Monkiewitsch, Chairwoman of the Museum of Photography Braunschweig eV, Dr. René Hartmann, Wüstenrot Foundation, Barbara Hofmann-Johnson, Director of the Museum of Photography Braunschweig and curator of the exhibition, followed by an anniversary reception.

Exhibition tour: Saturday, March 04.05.2024th, 15, XNUMX:XNUMX p.m.
with Espen Eichhöfer, Maziar Moradi and Barbara Hofmann-Johnson

Book presentation: Nicola Kuhn, The Chinese Folding Screen: How Colonialism Came into German Living Rooms: Saturday, May 11, 2024, 3 p.m. Reading and discussion with the author and cultural journalist (Der Tagesspiegel, Berlin) and Barbara Hofmann-Johnson

Mother's Day: Sunday, 12.05.2024
11 p.m.: Family tour
11 a.m.: Bicycle tour “In the footsteps of the photographer Käthe Buchler” to photographic locations in and around Braunschweig

Double guided tour for the Friends of the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum: “Family Portraits. Family pictures from Baroque paintings to contemporary photography”:
Tuesday, 14.05.2024, 16:30 a.m.
With Dr. Sarah Babin, HAUM, and Franziska Habelt, Museum of Photography Braunschweig. The tour begins at HAUM and ends at the Museum of Photography Braunschweig.

Double guided tour for members of the Museum of Photography Braunschweig: “Family Portraits. Family pictures from Baroque paintings to contemporary photography”:
Thursday, October 16.05.2024, 16, 30:XNUMX p.m
With Dr. Sarah Babin, HAUM, and Franziska Habelt, Museum of Photography Braunschweig. The tour begins at HAUM and ends at the Museum of Photography Braunschweig.

International Museum Day: "Enjoying Museums with Joy":
Sunday, July 19.05.2024th, 11, 18-XNUMX p.m
From 12 noon: Short guided tours every hour on the hour with the museum team
From 12 noon: Photo station
15 p.m.: Family tour

International Children's Day: Saturday, June 1, 2024, from 11 a.m.
11am-13pm: Photography workshop for kids (with Josephine Schulz)
15 p.m.: Family tour

HAPPY THURSDAY: Thursday, August 06.06.2024, 13, 20 p.m. - XNUMX p.m
Free admission and guided tour with the museum team at 18 pm

Long Night of Museums: Saturday, July 08.06.2024th, 18, 24 a.m. - XNUMX p.m
Short guided tours every hour on the hour and jazz in the museum garden with the Jazz Galore ensemble

Finishing: Sunday, June 30.06.2024, 16, XNUMX:XNUMX p.m
with guided tour and participants of the exhibition