vernissage on wednesday october 28th in bonn

The exhibition will be opened at the Landesmuseum in Bonn this Wednesday.

This is a good occasion to give a few updates on the participants.

 Photo by: Dar Yasin


Andy Spyra

The new father is working on his first book on Bosnia and his long-term projects on the Middle East. The last months he has spent travelling between Bosnia, Serbia, Turkey, Iraq, Kurdistan, and Germany.


Dar Yasin

This year Yasin has spent a lot of time working abroad, mostly in Afghanistan.
He was one of the fourteen recipients of the Dart Centre Asia Pacific Fellowships 2011 in Bangkok.
His pictures were chosen as picture of the day or picture of the week by several magazines, as TIME and New York Times numerous times.

 Photo by: Enrico Fabian



Lin Zhipeng


Lin has travelled a lot and worked on various art projects. This month he has been one of the artists exhibited at a gallery in Antwerpen.
He has recently published a photo book and is working on a book that will be published in Taiwan in spring 2012.

Enrico Fabian


Is working on his long-term projects in India. He was one of the participants of the Magnum Masterclass in Paris and was selected for the Eddie Adams Workshop 2011 in New York.
Recently the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime published his pictures and the story on drug use in India "Death for 50 Ruppes" and in the German magazine DUMMY  his pictures appeared with the article on manual scavengers in India: "Die Hölle, das sind die anderen".

Christophe Gateau

Inspired by the workshop, Christophe spent two months in Priština where he completed an internship working as a photographer for the Kosovan newspaper Gazeta Express. He was kindly hosted by Atdhe Mulla. Amongst other events he took part in the international film festival Dokufest in Prizren. Now he is back in Berlin working on his own projects in film, music and photography.

February 17th

Today is the exhibition opening at the Berlin GiZ office

Photo by: Rafik Zaidi

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For an impression on the results: Bonn - Witzenhausen - Berlin: Ein fotografischer Roadtrip

november 26th

The participants, joined by Randa and Raphael, meet at the Landesmuseum. Gabriele Ülsberg, the director of the museum gives us a tour of the current exhibition of last year's GTZ photo workshop. Representatives of the GTZ Bonn office come to meet us and to give us a presentation to the topic of Green Economy. After a q&a session and a discussion on the facts, the group collects their first associations and ideas. Each participant contributes their own perspective and vision of the concept of sustainability. Plans are made for the next day of shooting. The photographers build small groups and discuss their destinations.
In the evening, Ralf takes the group to a traditional local Pub in Cologne, where the guests can explore the traditional Kölsch beer, the food and cheerfulness of Rhineland.

december 4th

After late breakfast the last participants part, having exchanged adresses and invitations. The participants had a good time and are very grateful to the GTZ, especially the organizers Randa Kourieh and Raphael Pfautsch as well as the workshop instructor Ralf Bäcker.

december 2nd - december 3rd

In the morning we are invited for breakfast at the GTZ office where we get a tour of the building and the current exhibition and the photographers get the chance to get an impression of the space for their works. afterwards everyone is off to work. It's the last day for shooting as friday is scheduled to be the final editing of the pictures and the roundup of the exhibition concept.
In the early evening everyone gets to Ralf's studio, where the first edited pictures are printed. Almost everyone is busy with working on their shots into the night, but especially Lin has an enormous amount of work to do as he used an analog camera and now has to develop the film and scan each picture. Also, unfortunately, Thinh has to leave earlier for Hanoi as the temperature is taking its toll on him. Before saying goodbye we have a group picture taken that is probably the only one where the participants are complete.
For most of the participants the next morning is off as they have finished their personal projects in time.

Around 2 p.m. the next day, the crucial part of the workshop - just as important as the potographers' ideas and their realization -  is about to begin: First, the artists choose and edit the pictures that satisfy them (while they in some cases get advice and assistance from another participant), then they have to match it in a coherent set of pictures; an overall composition not only of their own work, but also combined with the other photographers' work. This recquires a lot of discussing among the group. The prints are layed out at a table and the group, guided by Ralf, decides upon the final selection and the different thematical aspects. The initial selection has to be reduced and finally there are more pictures that have to be left out than the approximately 40 that are taken - not for the sake of their quality but for the whole concept. By 9 p.m. the fotografers finish and everyone is satisfied and relieved. For our last evening together we head to the café Freies Neukölln. The group is in good spirit, yet also somewhat melancholic as most of the participants leave early next morning. The trip was special to every one in their very special way and we look forward to meeting again.

 © Lin Zhipeng

 © Lin Zhipeng

 © Lin Zhipeng

december 3rd

For most of the participants the next morning is off as they have finished their personal projects in time. Around 2 p.m. the crucial part of the workshop - just as important as the potographers' ideas and their realization -  is about to begin: First, the artists choose and edit the pictures that satisfy them (while they in some cases get advice and assistance from another participant), then they have to match it in a coherent set of pictures; an overall composition not only of their own work, but also combined with the other photographers' work. This recquires a lot of discussing among the group. The prints are layed out at a table and the group, guided by Ralf, decides upon the final selection and the different thematical aspects. The initial selection has to be reduced and finally there are more pictures that have to be left out than the approximately 40 that are taken - not for the sake of their quality but for the whole concept. By 9 p.m. the fotografers finish and everyone is satisfied and relieved. For our last evening together we head to the café Freies Neukölln. The group is in good spirit, yet also somewhat melancholic as most of the participants leave early next morning. The trip was special to every one in their very special way and we look forward to meeting again.

december 1st

From morning on the photographers are shooting at various locations in Berlin. It's the coldest start to December for decades and all photographers have to struggle taking pictures. Especially the participants from other continents - Rafik fom Algiers (where the temperature is around 20 degree Celsius), Lin from  Beijing, Thinh from Viet Nam and Yasin from Kashmir - have a hard time. In the evening we gather and head to a concert in the Haus der Kulturen der Welt which Randa invited us to. Every one is very greatful and having a good time enjoying the international athmosphere.

© Dar Yasin

© Rafik Zaidi

© Lin Zhipeng

© Lin Zhipeng