Manuela Federl has worked as a journalist for more than 15 years. She studied languages, economics, and cultural area studies with a focus on Romance studies at the University of Passau in Germany and the Universidad de Concepción in Chile. In  2016, she founded her company Bergjournalisten. Since then, she has been working as an independent documentary film director and journalist for different TV stations and cinemas. Her focus: social issues. Three years ago, she discovered photography. Since then, she is travelling through different countries to document in picture and text social grievances. 

Instagram: manuelafederl

Jan Kraus studied media science (MA) at the Humboldt University in Berlin and photography at the Ostkreuz School of Photography. He has been working intensively with photography and visual arts for over fifteen years. His factual style of photography seeks a direct connection with his counterpart and documents the diverse areas of tension in modern society. For him, photography is social participation and opens up the opportunity to comment on social developments, as well as problems. His series shows people,  mentalities, and living conditions in great detail with a high degree of authenticity.

Instagram: jan_foto_kraus

 Jung Ui Lee is a South Korean photographer recognized for his commitment to documenting the architecture and street scenes of South Korea. His work focuses on urban landscapes, drawing attention to seemingly ordinary scenes and objects that reveal deeper symbols and meanings. 

He earned a master’s degree at the University of Art and Design Linz in Austria. Currently, he gives lectures on photography and runs a photo studio in Byunsan National Park in South Korea. He is also working on projects that explore the phenomenon of buying and selling Korean Christian churches and the environmental impact of marine debris. 

Solo Exhibitions 

 2022 04 Young Artist Exhibition, Urban Community, Ansan S.Korea 

 2019 09 Stadt Fotografie – Linz Verändert., Kunstunibibliothek Linz Austria

Group Exhibitions

 2024 10 Trieste Photo Days, Stelio Crise State Library, Trieste, Italy 

 2024 05 Rovinj Photodays 2024 Finalists Exhibition, MMC Rovinj, Croatia 

 2024 03 EXCESS, FOTOGALERIE Friedrichshain, Berlin Germany

Instagram: junguilee.photographer

Oleksandr Rupeta is a Ukrainian photographer working worldwide. He carries out short and long-term projects about political, cultural, and social life in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and  Asia. His works highlight the Russo-Ukrainian War,  the Afghan Red Crescent Society, the life of the  Iranian Jewish community, the Sufi Community in Northern Cyprus, people with disabilities in  Southern African countries, ethnic minorities in  Azerbaijan, the communist legacy in the Balkans,  the LGBT community in China, and more.  

Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine,  Oleksandr has focused on documenting the situation within the country.

Instagram: oleksandrrupeta

Belgian photojournalist Alain Schroeder has been working in the industry for over four decades. First as a sports photographer in the 80s, then shooting books and editorial pieces in art and human stories. 

In 2013, he uprooted his life, trading-in his shares in Reporters, to pursue life on the  road with a camera. He now travels the world shooting stories focusing on social issues  and people. «I am not a single shot photographer. I think in series,» he says, adding, «I  strive to tell a story in 10–15 pictures, capturing the essence of an instant with a sense  of light and framing.» 

He has won many international awards including PX3, IPA, MIFA, BIFA, PDN, Nikon  Japan, Nikon Belgium, Days Japan, and specifically; 9 TPOTY, 5 Trieste Photo  Awards, 2 The Fence, 2 LensCulture, 2 Felix Schoeller, 4 Istanbul Photo Awards, 10  Siena, 7 POYI, and 3 World Press Photo.

Instagram: alainschroeder

Tanya Sharapova, born in Russia, is a Berlin-based artist whose practice spans documentary photography and expressive photographic image-making using composite techniques. She deploys both modes to examine the complex relationships between individuals and society—a central concern of her practice—from a variety of angles. In recent projects, which have centered on life in Russia and Germany, she has explored isolation and displacement, the nature of belonging, collective memory, and experiences of calamity and uncertainty. 

After beginning her career as a photo editor, travel photographer, and writer, Tanya pursued a formal education in photography at the Ostkreuzschule in Berlin. This period marked a shift in her focus from travel photography to documentary storytelling and experimenting with the possibilities of the medium itself. 

Instagram: tanya_sharap0va

Driven by his photographic practice and his studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, Valentin Valette is working on photographic assignments, long-term personal projects, and academic involvement in North Africa and the Middle East. In 2021, he joined the Research Institute for Development in  Tunisia (IRD), for which he produced a research documentary film, currently in editing, and a sociological survey. At the same time, he has been pursuing a long-term photographic endeavor that examines the shifting strategies of the Gulf countries. His projects have been shortlisted for the Leica Oscar Barnack Award, the Kolga Tbillisi, the PhMuseum Award, Art Photoc  Barcelona, and Belfast Photo Festival. In 2024, he started a PhD Thesis in visual anthropology entitled “The Harkis and Algeria: links, experiences, and circulations” which intersects with the sociology of migrations, memories, and belongings. He is affiliated with the Institute of  Ethnology and Social Anthropology (IDEAS) at Aix-Marseille University.  

Instagram: valentin.valette

Antigone Kourakou was born in 1979. She is a photographer and art conservator based in Athens, Greece. She developed an interest in photography in 2010 and has since consistently used the medium to explore and express her aesthetic sensibility. Her work has been exhibited and published internationally. In 2022, her first monograph, Transfiguration, was published.

Kourakou’s work stems from a need to construct her narrative. It serves as a form of personal record-keeping—a kind of diary meant to preserve the memory of her experiences, thoughts, and feelings. More than that, it reflects a desire to chart one’s path in the hope that, perhaps in this way, it won’t be forgotten.

Instagram: antigonekourakou

Vasileios Papageorgiou was born in Athens in 1987. He studied Greek Literature and went on to complete a Master’s degree in Business Administration. In 2005, he joined the photography team at the University of Athens, where he first developed an interest in documentary photography. From 2012 to 2015, he worked as a photojournalist in collaboration with various agencies in the field. Since 2016, he has been working as a freelance photographer.

Awards/exhibitions 

– “Athens Photo Festival: Young Greek Photographers”, 2022, Benaki Museum – “EISA Maestro Photo Contest 2015:Family”, 1st place in Greece 

– “Photo Contest for the Rights of the Child”, FIAP commendation (FIAP 2013/197), Unesco, FIAP, EFE, 2013 – “Energy Athens 2013”, exhibition, European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies in collaboration with Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design (2013-2014, Europe and America) 

– “Street Photography” exhibition, Athens South Sector Regional Unit, Kallithea Municipal Gallery and Mikis Theodorakis Cultural Centre, 2013 

– “Athens Photo Festival. 

– “Peace Is”, UNESCO, 2009, 4th place

Instagram: vasileios_papageorgiou

Telemach Wiesinger was born in 1968 in Bielefeld, Germany. He studied Visual Communication at Universität Gesamthochschule Kassel, Germany, Diploma Master of Arts 1995. His multiple award winning 16mm analogue film works are presented in solo programs or performances and on numerous international festivals and locations. Telemach Wiesinger is also as visiting lecturer at universities and art schools. As photographer he is working for many art books and solo-exhibitions.