Andrea Diefenbach (*1974) is a German photographer based in Wiesbaden. She graduated from the Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences and Arts in 2006 and has since worked on her own photographic book and exhibition projects as well as on commission for German and international institutions and magazines.
Her first book, 'СПИД [spid] AIDS in Odessa' about the AIDS epidemic in the Ukraine, was published by Hatje Cantz in 2008 followed by exhibitions in Hamburg, Mannheim, and New York, among other venues. Her second book, 'Land ohne Eltern' (Country without Parents), was published in November 2012, and a second edition was published in June 2016. For more than two years she followed the life of Moldovan migrant workers in Italy and their children staying behind in Moldova.
Diefenbach’s work has been shown at Hamburger Kunsthalle, Folkwang Museum Essen, Reiss Engelhorn Museum Mannheim, and the Munich Stadtmuseum, among many others.
'Realitatea' is Diefenbach's third monograph and her second book on the Republic of Moldova after 'Land ohne Eltern'.
For her critical and incisive reflection of social situations she has received several awards and grants, in 2024 she was honored with the Dr. Erich Salomon Award by the German Society of Photographers (DGPh).
Andrea Diefenbach had been teaching photography at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts since 2016 and became a full professor at the University of the Arts in Bremen, Germany in September 2022.
Awards, Grants, Recidencies
Dr. Erich Salomon Award, German Photographic Society, DGPh, 2024
Scholarship, Cultural Foundation of Hesse, 2021
Scholarship Neustart Kultur Stiftung Kunstfonds, 2020
Project Grant, Grenzgänger, Robert Bosch Foundation for ›Realitatea‹, 2017
2. Prize, Photographic Museum of Humanity Grant 2014
1. Prize, Abisag Tüllmann Preis 2013
PDN Annual Award 2013 for the publication ›Land ohne Eltern‹, 2013
Kindernothilfe Medienpreis, Honorable Mention, 2013
1. Prize, n-ost Reportagepreis, 2012
Unicef Photo, Honorable Mention, 2012
Moving Walls 18, Open Society Foundation, New York, 2010
Finalist W. Eugene Smith Award, New York, 2010
Goethe Institute Sarajevo, Artist in Residence in Sarajevo, 2010
Project Grant Grenzgänger, Robert Bosch Foundation for ›Land ohne Eltern‹, 2010
Project Grant VG Bildkunst for ›Young widows in Nepal‹, 2010
DAAD-scholarship for ›Land ohne Eltern‹, 2010
Goethe Institut Sarajevo, Artist in Residence in Banja Luka, 2010
Grant, Fotografie Forum Frankfurt for Portfolio Reviews at Houston Fotofest, 2008
Wüstenrot Dokumentarfotografie Förderpreis 07/08, 2007
Plat(t)form Fotomuseum Winterthur, Honorable Mention, 2007
DAAD-scholarship for ›Aids in Odessa‹, 2006
Publications (authored)
›Realitatea‹, Hartmann Books, 2022
›Land ohne Eltern‹, (2. Edition) Kehrer, 2016
›Land ohne Eltern‹, Kehrer, 2012
›AIDS in Odessa‹, Hatje Cantz, 2008
Collections
Open Society Foundation, New York, USA
Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany
Münchner Stadtmuseum, München, Germany
Jüdisches Museum, Berlin, Germany
Artothek, Wiesbaden, Germany
Artothek, Strasbourg, France
Solo Exhibtions (selected)
2022
Land ohne Eltern, Einstein Haus, Ulm, Germany
2017
Land ohne Eltern, Franz Hitze Haus, Münster, Germany
2016
Land ohne Eltern, FHV Galerie Voralberg, Dornbirn, Austria
Land ohne Eltern, Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, USA
Land ohne Eltern, Goethe Institut, San Francisco, USA
2013
Land ohne Eltern, Münchner Stadtmuseum, München, Germany
Land ohne Eltern, Schaufenster Stadtmuseum, Wiesbaden, Germany
2011
AIDS in Odessa, Apollonia Gallery, Straßburg, France
2009
Frauenhaus, Frauenmuseum, Wiesbaden, Germany
AIDS in Odessa, Galerie Clamp Art, New York, USA
AIDS in Odessa, Kunsthaus, Wiesbaden, Germany
AIDS in Odessa, Reiss Engelhorn Museum, Mannheim, Germany
2008
AIDS in Odessa, Freelens Galerie, Hamburg, Germany
Group Exhibtions (selected)
2023
Realitatea / Kunstforum Hermann Stenner, Bielefeld, Germany
2022
Land ohne Eltern / Einstein Haus, Ulm, Germany
2020
Land ohne Eltern / Literarisches Colloquium, Berlin, Germany
Realitatea / Nassauischer Kunstverein, Wiesbaden, Germany
2018
Land ohne Eltern / Triennale der Photographie, Hamburg, Germany
Land ohne Eltern / Morgen Land, DRIVE Volkswagen Group Forum, Berlin, Germany
2017
Land ohne Eltern / Vorsicht Kinder, Humboldt Forum, Berlin, Germany
Land ohne Eltern / Warten, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany
2016
Land ohne Eltern, Kunstverein Walkmühle, Wiesbaden, Germany
2015
Land ohne Eltern / Geh und spiel mit dem Riesen!, Villa Stuck, München, Germany
Land ohne Eltern, PhotoBookMuseum, Oslo, Norway
Land ohne Eltern / Ex East, Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney, Australia
AIDS in Odessa, Festival Chobi Mela, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Land ohne Eltern, AFF Galerie, Berlin, Germany
2014
Land ohne Eltern / Die Bielefelder Schule, Former City Library, Bielefeld, Germany
Land ohne Eltern, PhotoBookMuseum, Cologne, Germany
Land ohne Eltern, Museum Dieselkraftwerk, Cottbus, Germany
Land ohne Eltern / 20 Jahre Wüstenrot Förderpreis, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany
Land ohne Eltern / Abisag Tüllmann Preis, Heussenstamm Gallery, Frankfurt, Germany
2013
Land ohne Eltern, Museum der Arbeit, Hamburg, Germany
Land ohne Eltern / Moving Walls 18, Open Society Institute, London, GB
2011
Land ohne Eltern / Moving Walls 18, Open Society Institute, New York, USA
2010
AIDS in Odessa, Latvian Museum of Photography, Riga, Latvia
Land ohne Eltern / Wüstenrot Förderpreis, Goethe Institut, Washington D.C., USA
Land ohne Eltern / Wüstenrot Förderpreis, Photomuseum Braunschweig, Germany
2009
Art and it’s context, Museum of Contemporary Art, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina
AIDS in Odessa, F-Stop-Festival, Leipzig, Germany
Unmögliche Freundschaft, Darmstädter Tage der Fotografie, Designhaus, Darmstad,t Germany
2008.
Photograhy Meets Industry, Museo di Palazzo Pepoli Campogrande, Bologna, Italy
Gibt es die Welt auch ohne mich, Kunstverein Bielefeld, Germany
AIDS in Odessa, Lumix Festival for Young Visual Journalism, Hanover, Germany
2007
AIDS in Odessa / Plat(t)form, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland
2006
Jüdisches, Jüdisches Museum, Berlin, Germany
2005
Jüdisches, Historisches Museum,Bielefeld, Germany
2004
Atemwege – Leben mit Mukoviszidose, Konrad-Adenauer-Haus, Berlin, Germany