about

Telling the private and political through photography and film is the approach of unofficial.pictures. Our aim is to create empathy and understanding beyond social groups and milieus and thus reduce discrimination. Specifically, we develop exhibitions, books, newspapers and films and, above all, empower other people in workshops to use these approaches for themselves and their concerns. The focus is always on the inclusion of people from social groups that are underrepresented in the media.
In 2016, documentary photographers Rafael Brix and Frieder Bickhardt founded the collective of the same name. In past projects in cooperation with other sponsors, other artists and project managers have joined them time and again and the participants have developed their own initiatives in our thematic field. At the end of 2021, an association was finally founded to give the non-profit activity a suitable legal form and to offer even more opportunities for active participation in shaping unofficial.pictures. Thanks to a growing number of new project grants, over 40 projects have been realized to date.

2023/03 Production of the solo exhibition by Frieder Bickhardt »Komplex : Heimat«, Hoyerswerda Castle and City Museum.
2022-23 Sociocultural project »Suhl-Nord – Wieder im Gespräch« with street festival, workshop, open-air exhibition
2022 Interview and portrait series »geboren, gekommen, geblieben – Porträts einer diversen Stadt«.
2022/03 Photo newspaper »KEINE RUHE«. Suhl and Leipzig
2021/11-2022/04 Group exhibition »Photo books – art to leaf through«. GRASSI Museum for Applied Art, Leipzig.
2021/06-07 Exhibition »A marked neighborhood.« as a satellite to the f/stop festival for photography. Villa Plagwitz, Leipzig
2020-22 Long-term workshop and exhibition »New Views for Hoyerswerda«, Kulturfabrik & Schloss, Hoyerswerda.
2021/05 Exhibition »Dangerous Object: Eisenbahnstraße« for the Art Go East Biennale. SagArt, Leipzig
2020&21 Portraits and interviews »Thinking in boxes« as part of the Intercultural Week, Suhl
2020/07 Photo newspaper »Dangerous Object: Eisenbahnstraße« Issue 2
2019/10 Youth Exchange »laboro ergo sum #2« at Circolo ArciRagazzi Gli Anni in Tasca, Terni, Italien
2019/08-09 Participation and organization of the touring exhibition »Kein schöner ____ in dieser Zeit«, 4 small towns in Saxonia
2019/05-07 Photo newspaper »Dangerous object: Eisenbahnstraße«, Leipzig
2019/04 Youth Exchange »laboro ergo sum« with Autodidaktische Initiative e.V., Leipzig
2019/02-04 Workshop »out of the box« in Stadtteilprojekt Dresdner59, Leipzig-Reudnitz
2019/01 Group exhibition »von ihnen von uns von wem« in Pöge-Haus e.V., Leipzig
2018/10-12 Workshop »How to Publish« in Pöge-Haus e.V., Leipzig-Neustadt-Neuschönefeld
2018/08-09 Workshop »sharing.unofficial.pictures« in Treibhaus e.V., Döbeln
2018/08 Seminars about racism-critical photography during volunteer services, Evangelisch–Lutherisches Missionswerk Leipzig e.V.
2018/07 Workshop »out of the box« in kunZstoffe – urbane Ideenwerkstatt e.V., Leipzig-Lindenau
2018/06 Start of the continual lab »Foto, Film & Pizza« in our own space, Leipzig-Kleinzschocher
2018/02 Zine Workshop »born to work« in the Autodidaktische Initiative e. V., Leipzig-Lindenau
2018/01 Research visit for the photo book project »appropriation / expropriation: city plaza, athens«, Greece
2017/12 Exhibition and book presentation of »The Yasmine Flight« by Fahd Aldaya in Tipi im Westwerk, Leipzig-Plagwitz
2017/11 Zine Workshop »the personal is political« in the Autodidaktische Initiative e. V., Leipzig-Lindenau
2017/11 Crash course »The documentary portrait«, Leipzig-Plagwitz
2017/10 Exhibition »now.unofficial.pictures« as part of LindeNOW art festival, Leipzig-Lindenau
2017/08 Zine Workshop »Good material for a story« in Dorf der Jugend through the Spurensuche federal programm, Grimma
2017/05 Exhibition »Topographies of Resistance« as part of Kulturelle Landpartie, Gasthof Meuchefitz/Wendland
2017/04 Start of the monthly »Idea Lab« with former workshop participants, Leipzig
2017/03 Workshop »out of the box« in krudebude e.V., Leipzig-Schönefeld
2017/01 Theory seminar »How can photography be political?« in the Autodidaktische Initiative e. V., Leipzig-Lindenau
2016/06 Film- und theatre project »MOMO« with a German as a second language class of Nachbarschaftschule, Leipzig-Lindenau
2016/04 Workshop »sharing unofficial pictures« in krudebude e.V., Leipzig-Schönefeld