With his photographic work, Steffen Junghans has always worked against the blinding work of clarity. By doing so, he offers to admit the sensory anxiety of uncertainties. He rapidly searches for new materials and objects to present in large format photographs (in analogue technique) that at first glance may be a lie.
Through the medium of photography Junghans captures a reality that only exists for a short period of time. Countless attempts are required in order to truely represent the fiction of the picture. Location, light, props, models – everything that we see in the photograph is a manifestation of an idea.
Many things happen when Junghans directs his work in line with the traditions from the early artists who used light: the picture becomes determined by the moment its recorded – the inscription of the light onto the negative is final and it is irreversible, thus making it a unique process. Finally, the comparable mode of work is important because it stereotypes the later reading of the images, although on the other hand the picture has already fallen into oblivion when it became a new thought.
The highly self-reflective mode of operation mainly refers to the inventiveness and the limits of artistic photography. We may find ourselves asking: what is fiction? What are the limits of the imagination? And it leads to question the difference between (aesthetic) photography and (photorealistic) painting – Is it gradual or is it fundamental?
Junghans’ motives are not real images. They describe attempts to approach reality and test out possible ways to meditate visual thoughts. In contrast to this, they negotiate the impossibility of an encyclopedic documentation of reality. A final and valid representation of the present is not possible. This is where the »Kapitulation« (»Capitulation«) series (I, II, III) begins. So what is the goal of a contemporary photographers work? In turn, the attempts to answer this open up new opportunities for photography.
The series of »Bildnisse« (»Portraits«) present both different experiences and fictions. In order to escape the »Realitätsfalle« (»Reality Trap«), Jungians’ motifs are created in a way that breaks through conceptions of reality. The tension between the real and the staged starts provoking the assumption based on contemporary photography when it becomes art.
CV
1963
born in Leipzig
1980 - 1983
apprenticeship
1992 - 1995
freelance reporter
1994 - 2001
studies photography under supervision of Prof. Timm Rautert and Prof. Dr. Christoph Türcke at the Academy of Visual Arts. Leipzig
2001
diploma
Steffen Junghans lives and works in Leipzig.
publications
2006
»Der Mensch und seine Objekte« exhibition catalogue Museum Folkwang. Essen, Steidl
»Kapitulation« catalogue for the exhibition »Fotografien« Museum Goch
2005
»nützlich, süß, museal – das fotografierte Tier« exhibition catalogue Museum Folkwang. Essen, Steidl
2003
»Universalmaschine Crime« catalogue
»yet untitled« catalogue of the Bernd F. Künne Collection
2002
»Kondensat« catalogue Berlin-Art
2001
»JVA-Protokoll«
exhibitions
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2016
»It’s me« R E I T E R. Leipzig
2015
»Das Bild als Gedanke« Deutsches Fotomuseum. Markkleeberg
2014
»Echo« maerzgalerie. Berlin
2013
»Oblivion« maerzgalerie. Leipzig
»VIS-À-VIS« with Runhild Wirth, Galerie bautzner69. Dresden
»lecturers' exhibition« 16th International Summer Academy of Fine Arts. Dresden
»showcase« maerzgalerie. Leipzig
2012
»Memory« maerzgalerie. Berlin
2011
»wir sind was du sagst« with Hans Aichinger. maerzgalerie. Leipzig
2010
»Krisen & Utopien/4 – Kapitulation (I/II/III)« Neuer Kunstverein Wuppertal e.V.
»capitulation (I/II/III) – New Photographs « maerzgalerie. Leipzig
2009
»capitulation (II)« maerzgalerie. Berlin
2006
»Fotografien« Museum Goch. Goch (C)
»capitulation« maerzgalerie. Leipzig
2004
»Moderne Werkstätten« maerzgalerie. Leipzig
»Moderne Werkstätten« quicksilver Galerie für Gegenwartskunst. Berlin
2003
»JVA« quicksilver Galerie für Gegenwartskunst. Berlin
»Einrichten« quicksilver Galerie für Gegenwartskunst. Berlin
2001
»Einrichten« Gohliser Schlösschen. Leipzig
»fernost« maerzgalerie. Leipzig
»JVA« Bund Deutscher Architekten (BDA). Berlin
»Einrichten« Städtische Galerie. Lüdenscheid
2000
»JVA - Protokoll« maerzgalerie. Leipzig
1998
»JVA« installation with co-author Andrea Seppi. Universität Leipzig
1996 - 2001
»XXY« und »Satz« HGB Leipzig.
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2018
»Fountain of Youth« Goethe Institut Lille. Galerie La Passerelle. Rouen. France
»The Long Now - Reflexionen von Zeit und Vergänglichkeit« Museum Goch and Kunstverein Bochum
2017
»Fountain of Youth« R E I T E R. Leipzig
2016
»In the Making« R E I T E R. Berlin prospect
»Offenbarung – Leipziger Künstler Und Die Religion« Altes Rathaus. Lutherstadt Wittenberg.
2015
»Counterpoint« - fotografische Positionen, Kunsthalle der Sparkasse. Leipzig (C)
»Gute Kunst? Wollen!« Auf AEG. Nuremberg
»ten of cups« maerzgalerie. Leipzig
»5544 impossible« maerzgalerie. Leipzig
2014
»In Furs« Künstlerhaus Bethanien outside. Berlin
»Transportrait« maerzgalerie. Leipzig
2012
»Der Mensch und seine Objekte« Museum Folkwang. Essen (C)
2011
»welcome (new) home« maerzgalerie. Berlin
»Auslöser. Fotografie-Konzepte in Leipzig – eine Auswahl« Kunsthalle der Sparkasse Leipzig (C)
2010
»Silent Revolution. Painting and Photography from Leipzig« Kerava Art Museum. Kerava. Finland (C)
»The Library of Babel / In and Out of Place« Zabludowicz Collection. London. UK
»maerzflimmern 99/09« maerzgalerie. Leipzig
2009
»maerzflimmern« maerzgalerie. Berlin
2008
»Bas de Cuir« maerzgalerie. Leipzig
2006
»New Photography from Leipzig« Archeus Gallery. London. UK
»Leipzig und die Fotografie« Kunsthalle der Sparkasse. Leipzig
2005
»The Leipzig Lens« Podium Gallery & West Corridor. Glasgow School of Art. Glasgow. Goethe Institut. London. UK
»nützlich, süß, museal – das fotografierte Tier« Museum Folkwang. Essen (C)
»Ein Glück, dass sie da sind...« maerzgalerie. Leipzig
2004
»Fünf« maerzgalerie. Leipzig
2001
»JVA - Protokoll« HGB Leipzig/ installation for book launch. Leipzig (C)
(C) Catalogue
Awards/Scholarships
2003
Herbert-Schober-Prize of the German Photography Association
2002
Bronze medal of the Leipzig Book Fair for »JVA - Protokoll« in the award category »World's Most Beautiful Books« by the German UNESCO Commission
1998
First prize of the Institute for Bookart Leipzig for the photography project »JVA« with co-author Andrea Seppi