About
Photographer Stefan Falke
Reportage photographer Stefan Falke was born in Paderborn, Germany, in 1956. After abandoning his civil engineer studies he worked as a photographer's assistant in Munich and later as a silk screen printer in Hamburg. He moved to New York in the mid 80s for a while where he photographed for German and Austrian magazines. After his return to Hamburg in the early 90s, German film studios hired him as a set photographer for movies filmed mostly in Europe and Africa. He credits his time working on movie sets with “my most important time for becoming a working photographer". Besides his assignments he started a long-term photography project about a stilt walking school in the Caribbean titled "Moko Jumbies: The Dancing Spirits of Trinidad", which was exhibited at the prestigious photo festival "Visa Pour L'Image" in Perpignan/France in 2004 and published in New York as a book with the same title.
He again lives and works in New York City. For his ongoing project “LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US – Mexican Border” he photographed about 200 artists on both sides of the 2000 miles long US-Mexico border in order to put a spotlight on the vibrant cultural activities of this bi-national region which is portrayed by politicians and the international media mostly with the sole focus on violent crime and illegal immigration. This project so far resulted in 18 solo exhibitions (in Germany, the United States and Mexico) and a book, LA FRONTERA, published by Edition Faust (Germany), and numerous interviews and publications, among them the New York Times, BBC, Wired, Huffington Post …. and many others (see list below).
His most current project about the empty streets of New York during the Covid 19 pandemic resulted in the self published book (blurb.com / 2021) titled Keep Going New York !! A series of 10 pictures from this book were awarded 2nd place for series by the American Society of Media Photographers in the Best of ASMP 2020 contest, January 2021.
Stefan Falke's photographs were presented by international galleries, photo festivals and museums: Visa Pour l'Image, Perpignan (France), Photoville, Brooklyn (USA), Triennale der Photographie, Hamburg (Germany), Festival Tijuana Interzona (Mexico), IMAS - International Museum for Art and Science, McAllen, Texas (USA), The Cervantes Institute, Cultural Institute of Spain, Frankfurt (Germany), Galeria 409, Brownsville, Texas, (USA), The Mexican Cultural Institute of Washington, D.C. (USA), CEART Mexicali, (Mexico), Deutsches Haus at NYU, New York City (USA) ... just to name a few (see detailed list below).
He became a member of the German photo agency "laif / agentur fuer photos und reportagen" in 1999 (Laif is represented by Redux in the US).
Books:
2021 - KEEP GOING NEW YORK: New York City in 2020 - by Stefan Falke / a photographic portfolio. Self published 2021. View and order here
2004 - MOKO JUMBIES: The Dancing Spirits of Trinidad - by Stefan Falke / Published 2004 by Pointed Leaf Press, New York. View here
2014 - LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US Mexican Border - by Stefan Falke / (LA FRONTERA: Künstler an der US-Mexikanischen Grenze) published 2014 by Edition Faust, Frankfurt/Germany. View here
Magazines and other print media:
The New York Times, New York Magazine, Die Zeit, Der Spiegel, FAZ, Focus, Brigitte, Cicero, Geo Spain, Geo Korea, PHOTO, FotoMagazin, Photographie, Cicero, TAZ, Cinema, Architectural Digest, SonntagsBlick, Sports, Caribbean Travel & Life, Caribbean Beat, Tank, Topos, Verdi, Dogs, Elle, ART, Weltwoche, Schweitzer Familie, The Oxford American, NZZ am Sonntag, Kunstzeitung, La Repubblica Del Donne ...
Corporate magazines:
DHL, Siemens, Union Investments, American Express, Bulthaup
Featured online (click on links for published stories) :
The New York Times, BBC, NBC, The Huffington Post, Wired, aCurator, The FORWARD THINKING MUSEUM, Hyperallergic, L'Oeil de la Photographie, Hahnemühle, FAZ Magazin, Courrier International, Trip Magazin, Photoville, photo-letter, American Photography's ProPhotoDaily,
Corporate interior photography:
Saks Fifth Avenue (since 2012) see work here
Film Studios:
Warner Brothers (Germany), Bavaria Film, Constantin Film, NFP Berlin, Josefine Film, UFA, WDR
Grants:
2012 - Stiftung Kulturwerk der VG BILD-KUNST granted support for my project "LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US Mexican Border"
Awards:
2021 - Communication Arts Photography Annual 62 - category: books, for "Keep Going New York !!" (see photos here)
2021 - Best of American Society of Media Photographers 2020 contest - category series - 2nd place for "Keep Going New York"
2013 - David Chow Humanitarian Award for "LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US Mexican Border"
Lectures, Presentations:
2021 - Talk Show "Spin It Social Hour" with Steffen Kaplan (about "Keep Going New York" book) watch the recording of it on YouTube here
2020 - Talk Show "Spin It Social Hour" with Steffen Kaplan (about "LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US Mexican Border") watch the recording of it on YouTube here
2020 - Frank Meo's PROJECTIONS / NYC ("Keep Going New York")
2019 - Frank Meo's PROJECTIONS / NYC ("LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US Mexican Border")
2013 - Rubin Center for the Arts El Paso ("LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US Mexican Border")
Panel Discussions:
2018 - Deutsches Haus at NYU, New York: "Art and Migration"
2016 - Phillips Museum, Washington DC: "Migration/Immigration"
Podcasts:
B&H Photography Podcasts - Art Between Us - Photography on the U.S.-Mexico Border
NPR Marketplace - Documenting Art on the US-Mexico Border
Interviews:
Deutsches Haus at NYU - MOKO JUMBIES: The Dancing Spirits of Trinidad (English) read here
San Diego Free Press - La Frontera
#FACESOFPHOTOGRAPHY (Interview in German about my work in New York during the Corona Crisis 2020) read here
Moment: New York Blog (German interview about my New York photographs during the Corona Crisis 2020) read here
Reviews:
Reviews in Digital Humanities 2020 (LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US-Mexico Border) Review in Spanish and English here
Solo Exhibitions:
2021 - Galerie Max Hünten Haus Zingst, Germany:
"LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US Mexican Border"
2019 - Centennial Museum at UTEP, El Paso, Texas:
"LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US Mexican Border"
2018 - American Space Leipzig, Germany:
"LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US Mexican Border"
2018 - Steppling Art Gallery at SDSU Imperial Valley in Calexico, California:
"LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US Mexican Border"
2018 - German-American Center Stuttgart/Germany:
"LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US Mexican Border"
2018 - Deutsches Haus at NYU, New York City:
"MOKO JUMBIES: The Dancing Spirits of Trinidad"
2017 - d.a.i. Tübingen, Germany (Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut / German-American Institute):
"LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US Mexican Border"
2017 - Deutsches Haus at NYU, New York City:
"The Wall(s)"
2017 - CEART Mexicali, Mexico :
"LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US Mexican Border"
2017 - Galeria 409, Brownsville, Texas:
"LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US Mexican Border"
2016 - Festival Tijuana Interzona, Mexico, (outdoor exhibition on the border fence):
"LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US Mexican Border"
2016 - Goethe Institut Washington DC :
"2,000 MILES: DIVIDED LAND, COMMON HUMANITY"
2016 - Deutsches Haus at NYU, New York:
"LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US Mexican Border"
2015 - Triennale der Photographie Hamburg :
"LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US Mexican Border"
2014 - Photoville, Brooklyn, New York :
"LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US Mexican Border"
2014 - The Cervantes Institute, Cultural Institute of Spain, Frankfurt, Germany :
"LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US Mexican Border"
2014 - Mexican Consulate in Frankfurt, Germany:
"LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US Mexican Border"
2014 - International Museum for Art and Science (IMAS), McAllen, Texas :
"LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US Mexican Border"
2013 - The Mexican Cultural Institute of Washington, D.C., :
"LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US Mexican Border"
2013 - La Casa Familiar, San Ysidro, USA:
"LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US Mexican Border"
2013 - La Tentacion Gallery, Tijuana, Mexico, :
"New York Fake Polaroids II"
2012 - La Casa Del Tunel, Tijuana, Mexico:
"LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US Mexican Border"
2012 - La Tentacion Gallery, Tijuana, Mexico:
"New York Fake Polaroids"
2011 - Visa Pour l'Image / Perpignan, France - evening screening:
"Machine Gun Show in Kentucky"
2010 - Visa Pour l'Image / Perpignan, France - evening screening:
"Camp Hope"
2004 - Visa Pour l'Image / Perpignan, France - official festival selection:
"MOKO JUMBIES: The Dancing Spirits of Trinidad"
2003 - Visa Pour l'Image / Perpignan, France - evening screening:
"MOKO JUMBIES: The Dancing Spirits of Trinidad"
Group Exhibitions:
2017 - 2020 - Sierra Club - traveling exhibition, USA:
"Lens On The Border"
2017 - SDSU Downtown Gallery San Diego, USA:
"We Are Here/Somos Aqui"
Portrait: Neil Beckerman neilbeckerman.com