This week, the German instant photography scene comes together in Berlin for the fourth edition of , organised by Deutsche Sofortbild Kunst e. V. at the Projektraum im Kunsthaus Bethanien.
The exhibition brings together 50 artists and reflects the remarkable variety of contemporary instant photography. Classical landscape, portrait and nude photography share the space with mechanical interventions, physical manipulation and chemical alterations of the film material. Rather than presenting instant photography as something nostalgic, shows a medium that continues to be tested, transformed and pushed beyond the moment of exposure.
At a time when digital images are created and circulated faster than we can process them, the instant photograph offers a different experience. Each image exists as a physical original, shaped by light, chemistry, temperature, time and chance. Its imperfections are not necessarily errors to be corrected. They can become part of the image, giving every piece a presence that cannot be reproduced in exactly the same way.
Some of the works remain close to traditional photographic language, while others treat the instant image as material in itself, something that can be opened, pressed, scratched, dismantled or chemically transformed. This tension between control and uncertainty runs throughout the exhibition and reveals how much can still happen within the apparently small space of an instant frame.
The participating artists are Anika Neese, Anja Bauermann-Hutchison, Anna Borek, Ayleen Weiss, Barbara Schieb, Beate Klahold, Bernd F. Oehmen, Caroline Immendorfer, Cesar Barrios Lain, Christian Baron, Christiane Schatz, Clara Sophie Gerke, Dagmar Kolatschny, Daniel Christensen, Daniela Mütinga, Diliara Brileva, Dominika Pancewicz, Erin O’Leary, Fred Johnsson, Grit Dora von Zeschau, Havva Ayvalık, HE.NK, Ina Echternach, Jennifer Rumbach, Julia Kossack, Jürgen Moers, Katharina Maaß, Kevin Lenear, Kirsten Mengewein, Laura Heda, Luis Eduardo Perez Estrada, Lula, Lumen Nguyen, Manfred Galle, Mariela Palmeri, Nicole Woischwill, Nikolai Vogel, Oliver Langer, Peter Zenker, Ralf Schmidtke, Ron Niendorf, Rüdiger Echterhoff, Sabine Kranich-V., Sabine Skodda, Sandra Ronca, Stefan Streich, Steffen Lenze, The Unknown Artist, Thomas Eden and Uwe Koppotsch.
Deutsche Sofortbild Kunst e. V. was founded in 2024 to support instant photography in Germany, give the medium greater visibility and create spaces where its diversity can be experienced. Through its Werkschau, exhibitions, workshops and collaborations, the association has helped bring together artists working across different styles, generations and approaches.
Instant Photographers will be present in Berlin this Friday for the Vernissage. We are looking forward to seeing the selected works together in the same physical space, meeting the artists behind them and experiencing an exhibition that celebrates instant photography not as a resistance to change, but as a medium that continues to evolve through experimentation, imperfection and surprise.
Programme
- Vernissage: Friday, 24 July 2026, 19:00
- Exhibition: 25 July to 1 August 2026
- Opening hours: Monday to Saturday, 15:00 to 20:00; Sunday, 11:00 to 20:00
- Guided Tour in English with Andrés Aguilar Caro (Instant Photographer’s Director): Saturday, 25 July 2026, 15:00
- Guided tours: Monday to Friday, 18:00
- Fotowalk: Sunday, 26 July 2026, 11:00 to 13:00
- Workshops with artists: 25 and 29 July 2026
- Finissage: Saturday, 1 August 2026, 12:00 to 16:00
- Mitmach-Aktion: Saturday, 1 August 2026, 13:00 to 15:00
- Location: Projektraum im Kunsthaus Bethanien, Mariannenplatz 2, 10997 Berlin