REITER galleries

Steffen Junghans

»WYSIWYG« 2017, lampda print, 23 x 28 cm
»WYSIWYG« 2017, lampda print, 23 x 28 cm
»Synkope Form III« (detail)  2018,  steel, glass, electronics, 23.5 carat rose noble double gold, 202 x 175 x 30 cm
»Synkope Form III« (detail) 2018, steel, glass, electronics, 23.5 carat rose noble double gold, 202 x 175 x 30 cm
»Legende« exhibition view 2018
»Legende« exhibition view 2018
»Relief ohne Präludium« 2017, lambda print, 70 x 100 cm
»Relief ohne Präludium« 2017, lambda print, 70 x 100 cm
»Glaube und Macht« 2016, diapositive, 6 x 9 cm
»Glaube und Macht« 2016, diapositive, 6 x 9 cm
»Bildnis mit Gebet« 2017 . lambda print . 125 x 155 cm
»Bildnis mit Gebet« 2017 . lambda print . 125 x 155 cm
»Toulouse« 2017, Lightjet photography, 30 x 41cm
»Toulouse« 2017, Lightjet photography, 30 x 41cm
exhibition view »It's me« R E I T E R | Leipzig
exhibition view »It's me« R E I T E R | Leipzig
»It's me.« 2016, Lightjetprint, 155 x 130 cm
»It's me.« 2016, Lightjetprint, 155 x 130 cm
»Synkope Form III« 2018,  steel, glass, electronics, 23.5 carat rose noble double gold, 202 x 175 x 30 cm
»Synkope Form III« 2018, steel, glass, electronics, 23.5 carat rose noble double gold, 202 x 175 x 30 cm
»Synkope - Form I« 2013, Laserchrome Print, 110 x 95 cm
»Synkope - Form I« 2013, Laserchrome Print, 110 x 95 cm
»Verweile doch! / Die Fotografie ist ein Bild« 2011, laserchrome print, 44 x 55 cm
»Verweile doch! / Die Fotografie ist ein Bild« 2011, laserchrome print, 44 x 55 cm
»Echo« 2013, Laserchrome Print, 155 x 125 cm
»Echo« 2013, Laserchrome Print, 155 x 125 cm
»Bildnis mit Imker« 2013, laserchrome print, 125 x 155 cm
»Bildnis mit Imker« 2013, laserchrome print, 125 x 155 cm
»Oblivion« 2013, Laserchrome Print, 100 x 140 cm
»Oblivion« 2013, Laserchrome Print, 100 x 140 cm
»Schwärzung IV - seit« 2013, Laserchrome Print, 70 x 60 cm
»Schwärzung IV - seit« 2013, Laserchrome Print, 70 x 60 cm
»Schwärzung II - Pyramide« 2013, Laserchrome Print, 100 x 90 cm
»Schwärzung II - Pyramide« 2013, Laserchrome Print, 100 x 90 cm
»Synkope - Form II« 2013, Laserchrome Print, 90 x 140 cm
»Synkope - Form II« 2013, Laserchrome Print, 90 x 140 cm
»Memory« 2012, handproof on baryta paper, 30 x 40 cm
»Memory« 2012, handproof on baryta paper, 30 x 40 cm
»Erinnerung« 2012 exhibition view with backlit photo slide
»Erinnerung« 2012 exhibition view with backlit photo slide
»Zum Augenblicke sagen...« 2011, C-print, 50 x 60 cm
»Zum Augenblicke sagen...« 2011, C-print, 50 x 60 cm
»Bildnis mit Diakonisse« 2006, C-print, 125 x 155 cm
»Bildnis mit Diakonisse« 2006, C-print, 125 x 155 cm
»Bildnis mit Dirigent« 2010, c-print, 125 x 155 cm
»Bildnis mit Dirigent« 2010, c-print, 125 x 155 cm
»Bildnis mit Richter« 2009, c-print, 125 x 155 cm
»Bildnis mit Richter« 2009, c-print, 125 x 155 cm
untitled 2010, laserchromeprint, 125 x 155
untitled 2010, laserchromeprint, 125 x 155
»Die grüne Tür« 2010, laserchromeprint, 125 x 155
»Die grüne Tür« 2010, laserchromeprint, 125 x 155

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.

04-13-2018 – 06-09-2018 | R E I T E R Leipzig

Steffen Junghans

Legende

»Legende« exhibition view . REITER | Leipzig
»Legende« exhibition view . REITER | Leipzig
04-13-2018 – 06-09-2018 | R E I T E R Leipzig

Steffen Junghans

Legende

Legends and photography – both tell of something from the past and contain a truth worth protecting and preserving. A photograph is an image that was created hours, days, or even centuries ago. The event that it…

09-07-2017 – 11-04-2017 | R E I T E R Berlin prospect

Steffen Junghans

Legenden

exhibition view »Legenden« REITER | Berlin prospect
exhibition view »Legenden« REITER | Berlin prospect
09-07-2017 – 11-04-2017 | R E I T E R Berlin prospect

Steffen Junghans

Legenden

Legends preserve the stories from the past and maintain imagination that would otherwise disappear over time. In essence, they carry meanings from the past into the present. In his large photographs, Steffen Junghans…

09-17-2016 – 12-17-2016 | R E I T E R Leipzig

Steffen Junghans

It's me.

»It's me.« exhibition view . REITER | Leipzig
»It's me.« exhibition view . REITER | Leipzig
09-17-2016 – 12-17-2016 | R E I T E R Leipzig

Steffen Junghans

It's me.

One motif. 26 variations. All one-offs. „It’s me.“ is the name of the exhibition by Steffen Junghans, who sets himself apart with an unusual concept of artistic photography. Objective, large scale and aesthetic…

09-21-2013 – 12-21-2013 | R E I T E R Leipzig

Steffen Junghans

Vergessenheit

Steffen Junghans »Vergessenheit« exhibition view . maerzgalerie Leipzig
Steffen Junghans »Vergessenheit« exhibition view . maerzgalerie Leipzig
09-21-2013 – 12-21-2013 | R E I T E R Leipzig

Steffen Junghans

Vergessenheit

The new photographs by Steffen Junghans, taken with analogue large-format camera on film, framed and presented behind glass, explore, among other things, the notorious question of whether photography is to be considered…

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
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