Female Photoclub and European Month of Photography Berlin | EP72 Subtext & Discourse Art World Podcast

In this episode I am speaking with four members of the Berlin chapter of the Female Photoclub. A Germany wide professional association which aims to increase visibility of female photographers, advocates for equality in the industry, and raises awareness of issues such as pay inequality and lack of representation. 

In addition to the Female Photoclub, we’ll also be speaking about the group exhibition Invisible Lines: Reflexionen der Gegenwart, opening this Saturday 15th of March at the Alte Münze Berlin from 6:00pm, which showcases projects from 28 members of the Female Photoclub, and is included in the official program of the European Month of Photography Berlin.

Michael Dooney
https://beacons.ai/michaeldooney

This episode of Subtext & Discourse Art World Podcast was recorded on 9. March 2025 between Perth (AU) and Berlin (DE).

 

Invisible Lines - Reflexionen der Gegenwart

Under the title Invisible Lines – Reflexionen der Gegenwart 28 photographers from the Berlin Regional Group of the Female Photoclub explore the invisible boundaries of our society. In a time of growing conflicts and divisions, the photographs illuminate the subtle lines between closeness and distance, familiarity and otherness, community and isolation.

“Invisible Lines” establishes a dialogue between individual perspectives and larger social structures, calling for reflection on the fractures of our time and encouraging ways to overcome them.

- https://emop-berlin.eu/en/exhibition/invisible-lines/5624f791-8dd3-4d9d-8096-c29d75dc1bea/
- https://femalephotoclub.com/post/female-photoclub-berlin-invisible-lines-reflexionen-der-gegenwart-2025/

The Female Photoclub

The Female Photoclub was initiated in 2017 and has been a registered association since 2020 for professional photographers.

Currently, the club has around 500 members who are organised in nine cities and regions across Germany. The association’s goals are to increase the visibility of photographers, advocate for greater equality in the industry, and raise awareness of issues such as pay inequality and lack of representation.

- https://femalephotoclub.com/
- https://www.instagram.com/femalephotoclub/

EMOP Berlin - The European Month of Photography

EMOP Berlin is the largest biennial festival of photographic images in Germany.

Museums, exhibition institutions, memorial sites, archives, libraries, collections, cultural institutes, universities, art academies and other educational institutions, municipal and private galleries and project spaces from Berlin and Potsdam - together with the exhibiting artists - are the key players in this open festival format.

- https://emop-berlin.eu/
- https://www.instagram.com/emopberlin/

Photographers who joined the conversation

Natalia Carstens is a freelance photographer based in Berlin, specializing in architecture and art documentation. Her work primarily focuses on art and cultural institutions, where she combines her two passions. In her personal projects, she explores how architecture appears in the absence of people, particularly in cultural spaces like cinemas, clubs, and swimming pools. Her photographs capture these spaces in their unique aesthetics and atmosphere. She completed her photography training at Lette Verein and holds a degree in Art History and Cultural Studies from Humboldt University in Berlin. Since 2024, she has been a board member of the Female Photoclub and leads its Berlin regional group.

- https://www.nataliacarstens.com/
- https://www.instagram.com/natalia_carstens/

Catherine Lieser works with digital photography, with a focus on portraits. She was born in Essen in 1986, studied at the University of Television and Film in Munich and lives and works in Berlin. She is a part of the Female Photoclub and the Professional Association of Freelance Photographers and Film Designers. In her art projects she is dealing with the question of whether and how one can unlearn normative thinking and behavior, such as gender-specific categorisations. We as society are surrounded by an imagery that shape such thinking and behavior and her work is an attempt to create visual counter-narratives, that stand in contrast to the normative imagery.

- https://www.catherinelieser.com/
- https://www.instagram.com/catherine_lieser/

Chiara Dazi is an Italian documentary photographer with a passion for sports and the East; she is interested in how collective memories and borders influence identities and how individuals and communities deal with the notion of belonging and traditions. Born in the Italian Po' valley, she studied languages and graduated in communication sciences at the Università di Bologna with a thesis on the ‘nostalgia for the former GDR’. She worked as a photo editor in Paris, then graduated from the Berlin Ostkreuz school of photography. After artist residencies in Georgia, Kaliningrad and the Republic of Moldova, Chiara currently lives and works in Berlin.

- https://www.chiaradazi.com/
- https://www.instagram.com/frau_loesung

Victoria Kämpfe is a photographer and art director whose work explores themes of feminism, identity, and belonging. Born in Chemnitz, she started her professional creative career in Detroit, USA - an experience that shaped her artistic perspective and deepened her engagement with themes of attachment and rupture. Now based in Berlin, she works across photography, fashion, and music, drawing inspiration from (sub)-culture and politics. With a background in anthropology, she explores the unspoken and challenges conventional narratives of beauty and power, inviting a closer look at what we see and why we see it.

- https://victoriakaempfe.com/
- https://www.instagram.com/victoriakaempfe/