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The

Artist

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Photographer

Helena Kalleitner

Nominated in
2026
By
FOTO ARSENAL WIEN
Lives and Works in
Salzburg
Helena Kalleitner (*1996) lives and works as a freelance photographer in Salzburg. In 2021, she graduated from the College for Photography and Audiovisual Media at Die Graphische Wien, followed by the Friedl Kubelka School for Artistic Photography, where she graduated in 2022. Beside her personal projects, she works in the fields of editorial, portrait, and documentary photography. She has been part of FOTOHOF Salzburg since 2022. Her approach focuses strongly on immersing herself in different realities through the medium of photography. Starting from a critical but curious basis of observation, she often deals with social issues and phenomena.
Projects
2025

Portrait of a rebuilt City

"Portrait of a rebuilt City" explores the visual and social transformation of Salzburg. The work is based on historical photographs taken by a military photographer who documented the city's extensive bomb damage in 1945. The year 2025—the 80th anniversary of the city's liberation from National Socialism—forms the temporal and thematic framework of the series. It was initiated by an invitation from the public broadcaster Salzburg (ORF) to develop an artistic work based on this historical image material. Salzburg was heavily bombed during World War II, large parts of the city were destroyed and rebuilt in the following decades. These places were visited several times and photographed from today's perspective. The work focuses on how memory is anchored in urban space – and where it is simultaneously covered up or suppressed. The photographs show everyday places whose historical significance is barely visible in the current cityscape. By juxtaposing the past and the present, the culture of remembrance is experienced an ongoing process rather than a static commemoration. Of course, the work was created from a privileged position, without ever having experienced war. Nevertheless, the work aims to raise awareness that destruction is a brutal reality for many people.
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Helena Kalleitner
was nominated by
FOTO ARSENAL WIEN
in
2026
Show all projects
Each year every member of the FUTURES European Photography Platform nominates a set of artists and projects to become part of the FUTURES network.

In collaboration with experts from the Austrian cultural sector, we have curated a selection that highlights the plurality of artistic approaches – from (auto-)biographical studies to cityscapes to glimpses of everyday and past lives.

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Naa Teki Martey Lebar (*1989) centers her practice on experiences of living across multiple cultures. Her ongoing series “Family Meetings” (2013–) documents recurring visits to her grandmother in Accra and reflects on questions of identity and belonging. Origin and home are navigated as shifting and negotiated positions.

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Thomas Albdorf (*1982) questions the mechanisms of image-making, perception and meaning. His series “Body Double” (2022-23) explores how the image of the city Los Angeles unfolds through the lens of visual culture – from Google Street View, Hollywood films to vintage photographs.

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Julia Gaisbacher (*1983) examines the relationship between architecture and society through extensive, long-term observations. For her project “Hanne Darboven. Am Burgberg” (2023), she spent several weeks in the untouched studio of the Conceptual artist, creating a sensitive exploration of Darboven’s life and legacy.

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Eric Asamoah (*1999) explores questions of identity, memory and diasporic experience through portraiture. His project “Here, Nowhere Else” (2023) documents intimate encounters with the boxing community of Jamestown, Accra, emphasizing photography as a relational practice.

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Helena Kalleitner (*1996) revisits sites destroyed in Salzburg during World War II and photographs them as they appear today. By juxtaposing past and present, the series “Portrait of a rebuilt City” (2025) explores memory as an ongoing, shifting process rather than a fixed state.

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The 2026 committee consisted of three external jurors from Austria, who supported the curatorial team of FOTO ARSENAL WIEN in the selection process:

Rainer Iglar, Curator & Editor, FOTOHOF, Salzburg

Christina Töpfer, Editor-in-chief, Camera Austria, Graz

Maria Venzl, Curator for Contemporary Art, OK, Linz

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Felix Hoffmann, Artistic Director, FOTO ARSENAL WIEN

Marit Lena Herrmann, Curator, FOTO ARSENAL WIEN

Mona Schubert, Curator, FOTO ARSENAL WIEN

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