Tobias Zielony (born 1973)[1] is a German photographer and short filmmaker, living in Berlin.[2] He has made work about communities at the margins of society, such as young people.[3][4][5][6][7] In 2015, Zielony's series on African refugees in Germany, the Citizen, co-represented the country at the Venice Biennale and was shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize.[8][9] He had a mid-career retrospective at Museum Folkwang in Essen, Germany in 2021[10] and his work is held in the collection of Philadelphia Museum of Art.[11]
Biography
Zielony was born in Wuppertal, Germany. From 1998 to 2001, he studied documentary photography at the University of Wales, Newport in Wales.[2] From 2001 to 2006, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig.[12] He now lives in Berlin.[2]
Publications
Books by Zielony
- Behind the Block. Leipzig: Institut für Buchkunst, 2004. ISBN 978-3-9328-6537-4.
- Tobias Zielony. Marion-Ermer-Preis; Universitätsverlag, Weimar, 2004. ISBN 978-3-8606-8238-8.
- The Cast. Berlin: C/O Berlin; Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2007. ISBN 978-3-4220-6626-7.
- Trona: Armpit of America. Leipzig: Spector, 2008. ISBN 978-3940-06400-4.
- Story / No Story. Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz, 2010. ISBN 978-3-7757-2284-1.
- Manitoba. Leipzig: Spector, 2011. ISBN 978-3-9400-6493-6.
- Jenny Jenny. Leipzig: Spector, 2013. ISBN 978-3-9446-6900-7.
- Vele. Leipzig: Spector, 2014. ISBN 978-3-9446-6953-3.
- The Fall. Leipzig: Spector, 2021. ISBN 9783959055321. A series of six books, each including a text or work of fiction by one of Dora Koderhold, Joshua Groß , Sophia Eisenhut, Enis Maci, Mazlum Nergiz and Jakob Nolte. Published on the occasion of a retrospective exhibition at Museum Folkwang. In English and German.
Films
- Big Sexyland (2008) – 3 mins
- The Deboard (2008) – 8 mins
- Le Vele di Scampia (2009) – 9 mins[15]
- Der Brief (The Letter) (2013) – 5 mins
- Kalandia Kustom Kar Kommandos (Dream Lover) (2014) – 4 mins
- Al-Akrab (2014) – 7 mins
- Tamil Stars (2016) – 9 mins
- Alles (Chemnitz) (2002, 2017) – 6 mins
- Maskirovka (2018) – 8 mins
Exhibitions
Solo exhibitions
- Tobias Zielony. The Fall, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany, 2021. A mid-career retrospective of photography and video.[10]
Group exhibitions
- German pavilion, 55th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy, 2015. Curated by Florian Ebner.[9]
Awards
- One of four shortlisted, Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize, London, 2015 for the Citizen[8]
Collections
Zielony's work is held in the following permanent collection:
- Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: 5 prints (as of 25 September 2022)[11]