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