Romanian-born photographer Maria Sturm (*1985) initially studied photography at Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences before completing her MFA in photography at the Rhode Island School of Design on a Fulbright and DAAD scholarship. She portrays people in their socio-cultural environment with a particular sensitivity for the cracks and gaps in the carefully selected excerpts of reality. The fragile strength of her protagonists comes to light in a way that is both delicate and relentlessly expressive. Maria Sturm's work has already won several international awards, been published and shown in exhibitions.
Members’ Assembly
A long-term photographic project by Maria Sturm
Photo: Peter Rossner / Illustration: Anja Jurleit (Bikini Kommando)
Normally, the members of the garage communities meet once a year to discuss their concerns. This time, young photographer Maria Sturm brings them together from dozens of different garage yards and puts them in front of her camera to create something extraordinary. The Romanian-born artist met over 100 people and captured them in large-format portraits. Her images don’t just portray the people who use the garages: They also reveal a diversity that you might not have expected from the seemingly monotonous garage landscapes. Sturm’s photographs tell stories about isolation and togetherness, fragile strength and self-assured level-headedness. The portraits will be on display in shops in Chemnitz from January to the end of April 2025 and will move to the Garage Campus on Zwickauer Straße in the second half of the year.
When?
17. January - 26 April, shops in the city centre
09. May - 30 November, Garage Campus, Chemnitz
Where? Shops, supermarkets and craft and service shops, to be announced, Chemnitz
