Members’ Assembly
A long-term photographic project by Maria Sturm
The members of a garage community usually meet once a year to discuss current issues such as maintenance, work assignments or administrative matters. For her exhibition, Maria Sturm brought together people from dozens of garage courtyards. In 2024, the Romanian-born photographer took portraits of 164 people with her analogue medium-format camera as she roamed the Chemnitz garage landscape.
Her photographs showed people who were familiar with their surroundings and exuded a confident serenity. Behind every photo was an encounter, a conversation, an exchange, sometimes even a friendly relationship. The result is a photographic community portrait of the city of Chemnitz.
17. January - 26 April 2025
Shops in Chemnitz
9. May - 29 November 2025
As part of the #3000Garages exhibition on the Garage Campus, Chemnitz
Garages can be found everywhere in Chemnitz: in the city centre, next to Wilhelminian-style villas, in former working-class districts and in the large prefabricated housing complexes. There are said to be almost 30,000 of these small buildings in Chemnitz. The people who use garages in Chemnitz, whether young or old, in the centre or on the outskirts - they all have their own stories. Together they make up Chemnitz, as members of a special community: a large garage community. What do they have to say? Listen for yourself!
Maria Sturm
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.
