About
I was born in Paderborn, Germany, and lived there until I finished high school. I studied civil engineering in Aachen and Essen for a few years but I was already far more interested in printing black and white photos in my makeshift darkroom than studying so I become a photo studio assistant in an advertising agency in Munich. From there I moved to Hamburg where I took over a small silk screen printing studio for a year or two. But photography was calling and I so I tried New York for a while, where I photographed stories for German and Austrian magazines and newspapers. I moved back to Germany in the mid 90's and got lucky as a set photographer in the motion picture industry through my friend Hermine Huntgeburth, who became a well known film director. During those years I also shot books and catalogues for German sculptor Luise Kimme, who lived and worked in Tobago. The collaboration led to my interest in Trinidad & Tobago, where I would later photograph for my first book MOKO JUMBIES: The Dancing Spirits of Trinidad.
I now live and work in New York City again and shoot for international magazines, film studios and corporate clients when I am not working on my personal long term project, photographing artists who live and work along both sides of the US-Mexico border.
I am the author of two books: “MOKO JUMBIES: The Dancing Spirits of Trinidad”, a photo essay about a stilt walking school in Trinidad, and “LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US – Mexican Border”, the result of an ongoing project for which I photographed over 200 artists who live and work on both sides of the 2000 miles long US-Mexico border.
My work has been shown in international galleries, photo festivals and museums: Visa Pour l'Image, Perpignan (France), Photoville, Brooklyn, New York (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).
I became a member of the German photo agency "laif / agentur fuer photos und reportagen" in 1999 (Laif is represented by Redux in the US).
Magazines and other print media:
The New York Times, New York Magazine, Die Zeit, Der Spiegel, FAZ, Focus, Geo Spain, Geo Korea, PHOTO, FotoMagazin, Photographie, Cicero, TAZ, Cinema, Architectural Digest, SonntagsBlick, Sports, Caribbean Travel & Life, Caribbean Beat, Tank, Brigitte, Topos, Dogs, Raum und Mehr, ART, Weltwoche, Schweitzer Familie, The Oxford American, NZZ am Sonntag, Kunstzeitung ...
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 clients:
Saks Fifth Avenue, Fitch Ratings
Film Studios:
Warner Brothers (Germany), Bavaria Film, Constantin Film, NFP Berlin, Josefine Film, UFA, WDR
Grant:
2012 - Stiftung Kulturwerk der VG BILD-KUNST granted support for my project "LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US Mexican Border"
Award:
2013 - David Chow Humanitarian Award for "LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US Mexican Border"
Books:
2004 - MOKO JUMBIES: The Dancing Spirits of Trinidad - Published 2004 by Pointed Leaf Press, New York "LA FRONTERA: Künstler an der US-Mexikanischen Grenze"
2014 - LA FRONTERA: Artists along the US Mexican Border - (LA FRONTERA: Künstler an der US-Mexikanischen Grenze) published 2014 by Edition Faust, Frankfurt/Germany.
Panel Invitations:
2018 - Deutsches Haus at NYU, New York: "Art and Migration"
2016 - Phillips Museum, Washington DC: "Migration/Immigration"
Podcast:
B&H Photography Podcasts - Art Between Us - Photography on the U.S.-Mexico Border
NPR Marketplace - Documenting Art on the US-Mexico Border
Lectures, Presentations:
2019 - Frank Meo's PROJECTIONS / NYC
Interviews:
San Diego Free Press - La Frontera
#FACESOFPHOTOGRAPHY (Interview in German about my work in New York during the Corona Crisis 2020) here
Moment: New York Blog (German interview about my New York photographs during the Corona Crisis 2020) here
Solo Exhibitions:
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 Shows:
2017 - 2019 - 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