Fotografie Forum Frankfurt
Braubachstraße 30-32, 60311 Frankfurt am Main
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Workshop
JESSICA BACKHAUS“ABSTRAKTE DIMENSIONEN”
“ABSTRAKTE DIMENSIONEN”
Saturday/Sunday,
April 18/19, 2026, 10 am–5 pm
Subjects
Still life, visual poetry, colour, intuition, composition, abstraction, image review, personal inspirations, photo books and presentation.
Workshop programme
April 18
Morning
- Jessica Backhaus leads a guided tour of her exhibition.
Afternoon
- Exercise: creating a visual poem and opportunity to discuss participants’ ongoing projects.
April 19
Morning
- Jessica Backhaus presents what inspires her artistic practice.
Afternoon
- Further development and discussion of the visual poems.
Preparation/Equipment
Please bring your own materials needed for the visual poem exercise (scissors, paper, pens, magazines, photographs, camera, prints, paints, brushes, etc.). If you would like to discuss specific works with Jessica Backhaus, please bring them in a portfolio (20–30 images) in printed form.
Location
Fotografie Forum Frankfurt
Braubachstraße 30–32, 60311 Frankfurt
Jessica Backhausl, © Ilaria Turba
Language: German
Price members: 350 EUR
Price non members: 450 EUR
Number of participants: Min. 8 / max. 10
Registration deadline: April 4, 2026
Duration: 2 days, one public lecture
Forgotten everyday objects, a sheet of paper, a paperweight bathing in sunlight – such things can become quiet moments of intimacy – moments that a trained eye can translate into images. With passion, empathy, and a deep understanding of light, Jessica Backhaus composes colours and forms in such a way that even the most inconspicuous objects acquire a life of their own and an emotional depth.
In the workshop, she will speak about the joys of experimentation, the making of a photobook, and the careful preparation of an exhibition. Part of the workshop will also be dedicated to presenting what inspires Backhaus. Participants will be in lively exchange with Jessica Backhaus, will have the opportunity to discuss their own projects with her, and, through a practical exercise, to explore their own creativity, allowing intuition to guide them into a spirit of experimentation. Depending on their preferences and individual artistic practice, participants will collage, photograph, draw, paint, or work in other ways, and try their hand at creating visual poems.
Form, light, and colour describe Jessica Backhaus’s visual narrative in a concise and entirely natural way. It is precisely through these elements that participants will be encouraged over the two days of the workshop to reconsider the potential inherent in simple things.
Jessica Backhaus, whose exhibition Shadows Might Dance is on view at the FFF (January 31–April 26, 2026), has in recent years repeatedly arrived at remarkable visual solutions with her artistically narrative photographs, both in single images and in sequences. Her work to date represents a fascinating interplay between the depiction of reality and enigmatic abstraction.
Alte Liebe, 2015, from the series “Six degrees of freedom”, © Jessica Backhaus, 2026
The photography of Jessica Backhaus (*1970, D/USA) is based in the tradition of documentary photography. Her works are a fascinating interplay between the depiction of reality and enigmatic abstraction. Backhaus grew up in an artistic family. At the age of sixteen she moved to Paris, where she later studied photography and visual communication. Here she met Gisèle Freund in 1992, who became her mentor.
From 1995 to 2009, she lived in New York, where she worked as an assistant to various photographers and pursued her own projects.
Now based in Berlin, Jessica Backhaus is considered one of the most distinguished voices of contemporary photography in Germany. Her work has been presented in numerous solo and group exhibitions. She has published many outstanding monographs, including Jesus and the Cherries (2005), What Still Remains (2008), One Day in November (2008), Once, Still and Forever (2012), Six Degrees of Freedom (2015), A TRILOGY (2017), Cut Outs (2021), Plein Soleil (2024), and Indications of the Sea (2024). Her photographs are held in national and international museum and private collections, including the Art Collection Deutsche Börse; and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA.
She is represented by Robert Morat Galerie, Berlin; Galerie Anja Knoess, Cologne; Petra Becker/ International Art Bridge, Meggen; Carlos Carvalho Arte Contemporanea, Lisbon; MiCamera, Milan; Bridgette Mayer Gallery, Philadelphia; Robert Klein Gallery, Boston and Wouter van Leeuwen Gallery, Amsterdam.
Sign up now for the workshop with Jessica Backhaus:
Please note that for this event the access is limited and a previous registration is necessary.
After the submission of your data we will send you a confirmation by e-mail. This e-mail also includes the bank information for the transfer of the workshop fee. Your payment should reach our account fourteen days before the start of the workshop and is necessary for the participation. In the event of your absence without prior notice of at least 14 days we can unfortunately not refund the fee of the workshop.
With your registration you will confirm that you have read and understood the PRIVACY POLICY of Fotografie Forum Frankfurt.
Do not hesitate to contact us by e-mail at anmeldung@fffrankfurt.org or telephone at +49 (0) 69 291726 if you have any questions regarding workshop schedule, registration or payment.
Thank you for your registration. We will contact you shortly.
FOTOGRAFIE FORUM FRANKFURT
The Fotografie Forum Frankfurt (FFF) is one of the leading centres of photography in Europe. As an exhibition space, institution and event forum the FFF deals with all types and aspects of photography. Since its founding in 1984 it has presented more than 300 exhibitions with historic and contemporary artists. Additionally, the programme of the FFF comprises of regular workshops, talks and discussions with internationally renowned photographers, artists and experts.
