Stephan Morgenstern

*1951, Bautzen, Germany

Stephan Morgenstern pays attention to every detail, interested and devoted. "I've always looked. All my life. Just curious," he says succinctly. He doesn't attract much attention about himself and his profession, but pretty strong images. Emotional snapshots that tell stories at a glance - of people, countries, living conditions that shape and authentically reflect contemporary history.

Morgenstern is a precise observer. He patiently searches for the decisive scene with his camera, waits for the right moment that focuses on everything that is essential and puts it in the spotlight in a spectacular way. He documented everyday life in East Germany and the attitude towards life of the people during the fall of the Berlin Wall from 1990 onwards. The Frankfurter by choice moved to Leipzig for two years and traveled all over the country from which his parents escaped with him in 1956 as a five-year-old: from Bautzen into the Allgäu, on to Hannover, and finally Lauffen am Neckar.

His expressive black-and-white photos tell of decline, development and optimism, of the formative legacy of everyday life in the GDR, of hope for freedom, travel and consumption, but also of the loss of home and the dark sides of a past that has never been dealt with today casts its shadow.

Stephan Morgenstern made a very conscious decision to use black and white documentation. Let the countless nuances of gray in all its shades between white and black, the use of light and shadows create far more complex and expressive images in which no color distracts and covers what is shown. Storytelling in black and white. Especially in times of digital photo technology with its unlimited possibilities, this design tool also focuses on the art of photography. For him it was a thrilling adventure from the beginning: A friend asked him if he wanted to come to Persia with him. He was 17 years old at the time, a high school student with no desire to graduate from high school. He went on an exciting three-month trip; his mother gave him a camera and films. So he came back with his first own photographs - and an obsession for life.

"An extraordinary artistic talent" recognized the legendary photographer Otto Steinert at first glance and promptly accepted Stephan Morgenstern at the Folkwang School in Essen - without a high school diploma, from a field of 4000 applicants. After graduating, Morgenstern began working as a press photographer in 1979, working for newspapers and magazines such as Frankfurter Rundschau, Der Spiegel, Spiegel-Online, Merian, Brigitte. He designs travel guides, exhibitions, illustrated books, multimedia shows, and combines photography with new media. Among other things, he produced more than 500 audio slideshows for the iPad edition of the Frankfurter Rundschau.

2016 he and the journalist Michaela Böhm received the Grimme Online Award for their joint report “Trappeto - an Italian village emigrates”. He tirelessly roams the country with his camera, capturing stories of people, regions, their peculiarities and changes. The Zabergäu, the Hohenloher Land - its picture-audio productions have been in demand with tourist offices and cultural offices.

Morgenstern dives into life, rousing, with an open eye.