The Epson art photo award is not only one of the most highly endowed photo awards (a total of EUR 37,500 prize money), but is also an ideal platform for young artists to attract attention internationally thanks to their own special exhibition at ART COLOGNE and several other shows throughout the world. At ART COLOGNE 2007 from 18 – 22 April 2007 in Hall 5.1, Stand G/061 a selection of winning photos from the Epson art photo awards 2005 and 2006 will be presented; furthermore, participation details for the Epson art photo award 2007 will be provided.
In addition to the winner of the individual prize from the Epson art photo award 2005, Andreas Kohler, one young photographer in particular currently stands out from the winning class of the same year: Julian
Faulhaber, considered by many to be one of the genre’s rising stars. Faulhaber’s monochromatic uninhabited photos are dominated by surface shades ranging from bright-violet to vivid yellow as well as austere geometric forms. The artist photographs spaces, intersections, building façades and everyday objects which, through deliberate lighting accents and inner inertness, have an intensely artificial effect reminiscent of science fiction backdrops and computer games.
Julian Faulhaber, LDPE
Faulhaber, born in Würzburg in 1975, studied photo design from 1999 to 2006 at the Technical College in Dortmund. In addition to the “Epson art photo award 2005” he was honoured with the “Reinhart Wolf Prize” from the Bund Freischaffender Foto-Designer (German Association of Freelance Photographers). Numerous exhibitions, including the one at ART COLOGNE 2005 and photokina 2006, not only amplified his popularity, but also the prices for his works: the prices for his work have already surpassed the 5,000 euro mark. “The Epson art photo award,” according to Julian Faulhaber, “has clearly had an effect on my career thus far. This holds particularly true for the exhibition of the winning photos at ART COLOGNE as part of the overall concept, which provides a basis for entry into the art scene.”
Andreas Kohler, the individual winner of the Epson art photo award 2005, also benefited enormously from winning the attention-getting contest: only a few months after the presentation of his photos at ART COLOGNE 2005 he was the subject of a solo exhibition in the Shanghai-based gallery “1918 Artspace” in August 2006; he then went on to participate in the group exhibition “Risk & Allure” in September, followed by the show “Alabaster Bodies” at the Goethe Institute Istanbul – with photo works for which he was awarded the Epson art photo award. What's more: In November 2006 the artist participated in the exhibition “Forever Young” in the gallery of the EESC in Brussels, and in December was another exhibition of “Alabaster Bodies” at the Goethe Institute in Rotterdam. The grand finale of his “year’s balance for 2006”: a stipend from Quartier 21 at the MuseumsQuartier in Vienna for summer 2007.
Andreas Kohler, Alabaster Bodies
Andreas Kohler is not only successful on the gallery and exhibition scene: he has, in the meantime, also demonstrated his creative potential with recent magazine work. In January 2007 he published an exciting photo series in “Kid’s Wear Magazine”, and one month later “Vorn Magazin” featured photographic works by the young photographer.
Yet another example of how the Epson art photo award can act as a career boost for rising photographers: The prize for the best art from all group submissions for the Epson art photo award 2006 went to Elmar Vestner from Berlin for his work “Stadtmärchen (Urban Fairytales)”. Inspired by American big city life and their inhabitants, Elmar Vestner’s photos reveal a romantic, almost magical perspective on life in the USA.
Elmar Vestner, Stadtmärchen
Born in 1975, Elmar Vestner studied at the Berlin University of the Arts and Parsons School of Design in New York. He has already had numerous exhibitions including "the One Minutes" in DenHaag, "Bilderklub" in Berlin, "How to love a ready made" in New York and "Viper International" in Basel. Winning the Epson art photo award has also yielded first results for him: “I recently completed a project with a Berlinbased art dealer and have received an inquiry about a public project. I am
also currently in the running for a few stipends and subsidies for further projects. I hope that the prize continues to exert a positive influence on my chances.”
Henning Ohlsson, Managing Director of Epson Deutschland, sums up the distinctiveness of the Epson art photo award: “Young creative photography is fresh. Stylistically, it is often not yet fully accomplished, but full of enormous potential and already on a very high international level. For Epson, it is a pleasure and a profound necessity to support this strong blossoming of such creativity. That is what the Epson art photo award is all about.”