Rebecca Sampson is a German-American photographer living in Berlin. Her photographic work has tackled a wealth of socially and personally sensitive topics—from Berlin‘s African drug dealer community, through the treatment of eating disorders to the parallel lives and ambiguous sexual identities of Hong Kong’s Indonesian housemaids. Her passion is for reportage and social commentary. For her picture stories, she does extensive research and writes her own texts.

Rebecca studied photography under Prof. Ute Mahler at the Ostkreuzschule in Berlin. She has won the "gute aussichten – junge deutsche fotografie" award and holds scholarships from the Foam Museum Amsterdam, the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the Literary Colloquium Berlin (LCB). Her work has been exhibited, among other places, at the Museum Deichtorhallen, Haus der Photographie, Hamburg, at the Willy- Brandt-Haus, Berlin, and internationally in America, Hong Kong, India, Luxembourg, Mexico, The Netherlands, Poland, Austria, Cyprus and China. Her book “Apples for Sale” was published by Kerber Verlag.

 

AWARDS and SCHOLARSHIPS

2020     Shortlist Format Festival UK

2018     Foam Museum Scholarship FRV Amsterdam

2018     Kassel Dummy Award, Shortlisted as one of the best international photobooks of 2018

2018     gute aussichten deluxe

2018     Nominated for Vonovia Award

2018     Artist in Residence V54 Hong Kong

2018     Scholarship China Center for Science and Technology, Technical University Berlin

2016     Scholarship Robert Bosch Foundation / Literarisches Colloquium Berlin

2011     Nominated for Joop Swart Masterclass (World Press Photo)

2011     Winner of the award „gute aussichten – young german photography 2010/2011“

2011     PX3 Silver, Student Category / Portrait

2010     Finalist New York Photo Festival, Student Social Documentary Essay

 

EDUCATION

2011-2013   Postgraduate Masterclass, Prof. Ute Mahler and Robert Lyons, Ostkreuzschule, Berlin

2009             Final project supervised by Prof. Ute Mahler

2006-2017   Seminars with Thomas Meyer/Ostkreuz and Ute Mahler/Ostkreuz, Andreas Herzau, Gisela Kayser/Willy-Brandt Haus,                                     gute aussichten Plattform/Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Gesellschaft für Humanistische Fotografie/Berlin

2006-2009   Ostkreuzschule – School of Photography and Design, Berlin, Germany

2005-2006   School of Photography, Schiffbauerdamm, Berlin, Germany

  

EXHIBITIONS

2024 Jimei X Arles Photo Festival, Xiamen, China

2024 Technical University Berlin, Exhibition "Diamond Love", Kaiserin-Augusta-Allee 104, 10553 Berlin (ongoing)

2022 Jimei X Arles Photo Festival, Xiamen, China

2022 Stadthaus Ulm, "Apples for Sale" Single Show

2022 Kunstverein Schloss ob Ellwangen

2020 "Apples for Sale", LCB Literarisches Colloquium Berlin

2020  "Apples for Sale", Museum für Fotografie Braunschweig

2019 „Die Anderen sind Wir", Brandenburgisches Landesmuseum für moderne Kunst, Cottbus, Eröffnung 16. August 2019

2019 "The Sampsons", Kunsthalle Lüneburg, 28th of June 2019

2019 "Apples for Sale" Fotodoks Munich, Festival: 16. Oktober - 20. Oktober, Ausstellung bis 24. November, Lothringer13 Halle

2019 "Apples for Sale", Single show, Goethe-Institute Shanghai, 23. May - 25. August 2019

2019 "Apples for Sale", group show Vonovia Award, Kunstmuseum Bochum, 24. May - 25. August 2019

2019 "AUSSEHNSUCHT", KUB Galerie, Leipzig

2019 "Apples for Sale", group show Vonovia Award, Kommunale Galerie Berlin

2018 „Apples for Sale“, Foam Museum Amsterdam November 2018

2018 „Apples for Sale“ Book Presentation, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, 7.Dezember 2018, 7pm

2018 „Apples for Sale“, Vonovia Award Exhibition, Düsseldorf, December 2018

2018 „Apples for Sale“, Goethe-Institut Hong Kong

2018 „Apples for Sale“, Gallery Technopolis 20, Paphos, Cyprus

2018 „Apples for Sale “, gute aussichten DELUXE, Haus für Photographie, Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, Germany

2018 „Apples for Sale“, Kulturbäckerei Lüneburg, Juli 2018

2018 „Apples for Sale“, TU Berlin, Germany

2018 Retrospektive einer Zusammenarbeit, Modefotografie unter Prof. Ute Mahler, Kunststiftung des Landes Sachen-Anhalt, Halle Saale

2018 „Apples for Sale“, Goethe Institute Cyprus

„Apples for Sale“ Buch, Kassel Dummy Award, Wanderausstellung 2018/2019:

PhotoIreland Festival, Dublin/Ireland, May 2018

documenta-Halle, Kassel/Germany, Fotobookfestival, May/June 2018

Deichtorhallen Haus der Photographie, Triennial of Photography, Hambug/Germany, June 2018

Istituto Europeo di Design, Madrid/Spain July 2018

FotoLeggendo, Rom/Italy, June 2018

International Photography Festival, Zagreb/Croatia, September 2018

Photography Seminar Litauen, Nida/Lithuania, September 2018

Photobook Week Aarhus, Aarhus/Denmark, October 2018

Internationale Photoszene Köln, Cologne/Germany, September/October 2018

Zentralbibliothek im Kulturpalast Dresden, Dresden/Germany, November 2018

The Tokyo Art Book Fair, Tokyo/Japan, Spring 2019

2017 „Apples for Sale “, Museo de la Cancilleria, Mexico City, Mexico

2017 „Apples for Sale“, KLEISTER, Berlin, Germany

2015 „The Sampsons“, Keep Your Eyes Peeled, Aff Galerie, Berlin, Germany

2014 „TRANSIT“, Ballhaus Naunynstrasse, Berlin, Germany

2014 „TRANSIT“, KLEISTER / Courage, Berlin, Germany

2013 „AUSSEHNSUCHT”, gute aussichten - heimspiel, Haardter Schloss, Neustadt/Weinstraße, Germany

2013 „TRANSIT/POST“, Kunstquartier Bethanien, Berlin, Germany

2013 „AUSSEHNSUCHT”, Golgatha Kirche Berlin, Germany

2012 „AUSSEHNSUCHT“, Anita Neugebauer – photo art basel, Das Verborgene Museum, Berlin, Germany

2012 „TRANSIT“, Görlitzer Park, Berlin, Germany

2012 „AUSSEHNSUCHT“, Künstlerhaus k/haus, Vienna, Austria

2012 „AUSSEHNSUCHT“, Rathaus Tübingen, Germany

2011 „AUSSEHNSUCHT”, „gute aussichten – junge deutsche fotografie 2010/2011”,

2011 „AUSSEHNSUCHT”, Haus der Photographie, Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, Germany

2011 „AUSSEHNSUCHT”, vhs photogalerie, Stuttgart, Germany

2011 „AUSSEHNSUCHT”, Goethe Institut, Washington D.C., U.S.

2011 „Das Geheimnis bleibt- Modefotografie von Ute Mahler und Schülern”, Burg Giebichenstein, Halle, Germany

2010 „The Promised City / Glückssucher”, Willy-Brandt-Haus , Berlin, Germany

2010 „The Promised City / Glückssucher”, Centrum 1500 m2, Warsaw, Poland

2010 „The Promised City / Glückssucher”, Piramal Gallery (NCPA), Mumbai, India

2010 „AUSSEHNSUCHT / Born to be wild?”, Musée d'Histoire de la Ville de Luxembourg, Luxemburg

2009 „AUSSEHNSUCHT”, Jüdische Mädchenschule, Berlin, Germany

 

Selected LECTURES, WORKSHOPS AND TALKS

Technical University Berlin, Center for Science and Technology in China, 2023

Konfuzius Institut Hannover, Diamond Love, Seminar SoSe 2021

Technical University Berlin, Diamond Love, Seminar SoSe 2021

Chinnotopia - Future designed by China, 2021

Huawei Digital Seeds Students, 2021

Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, 2020

University of Applied Sciences Bielefeld, 2020

Academy of Fine Arts, HGB Leipzig, 2020

UN Headquarters Nicosia, Cyprus, Visual Voices Conference: ARTS-BASED PEACEBUILDING IN THEORY AND PRACTICE, Feb. 2020

Framing Identity, Museum für Photographie Braunschweig, January 2020

Technical University Berlin,  Homosexuality in China, 2019

Fotodoks, Festival for Contemporary Documentary Photography, Munich, 2019

Deichtorhallen Hamburg, 7.December 2018, Book Launch

Fachhochschule Potsdam, Urban Future Talk 4, 2019

Baptist University Hongkong, China, 2018

Museumsnacht, Amsterdam, FOAM Museum, 2018

The Power of Documentary Photography, Goethe-Institut Hongkong, China, 2018

Technische Universität Berlin, Human rights in China, 2018

Freie Universität Berlin, Love in China, 2018

Lange Nacht der Fotografie, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, 2018

Technische Universität Berlin, 2017

Präventions- und Beratungsstelle für Essstörungen, Tima e.V. Tübingen, 2016

Berggrün Gymnasium Berlin, 2012

Kinder und Jugend Psychatrie, Uniklinik Köln, 2012

 

PUBLICATIONS

Die Anderen sind Wir, 2019, Exhibition Catalogue, 112 Pages, ISBN: 978-3-942798-09-9, BLMK

The Sampsons, 2019, Exhibition Catalogue, 88 Pages, Edition Kunstarchiv, German / English

Fotodoks Vis-À-vis, 2019, Exhibition Catalogue, 97 Pages, FOTODOKS e.V., Munich,

Apples for Sale, 2018, Kerber Verlag, ISBN 978-3-7356-0534-4, 144 Pages, 92 colored illustrations, Hardcover, German/English