School for Artistic Photography
The School for Artistic Photography is characterised by its preoccupation with analogue photography. The school was founded in 1990 by the artist Friedl Kubelka and has been run by Anja Manfredi since 2010.
The School for Artistic Photography in Vienna is the first school (since 1990) in Austria, which devotes itself exclusively to artistic photography. In opposition to the commercial training facilities, we pay particular attention to the recognition and utilization of the specific characteristics of photography as an art form. The photographic work should reflect both conceptual and formal aspects, thus allowing the casual viewer to relate to it multi-dimensionally.
The primary emphasis of this one year program, is to encourage the students to develop their own personal methods of creation, in order that they can begin to realize their full potential as visual artists. It is about independence of perception, thinking, and learning; and about the courage, to stand behind your convictions as an artist, even though they may deviate from the norm.
The artist/teachers of the school do not set tasks. To discover the unconditional interest in the motive is the most important requirement for each student. Formal solutions, and technical skills are kept subordinate to the artists' passions, which are distilled through concentrated activity. In connection with this, generally unappreciated characteristics in the educator, such as dissatisfaction, aggression, envy, or delusions of grandeur, become valuable driving forces which provide inspiration, topics, and themes for the students to work on.
The educational goal presents itself additionally after the completion of the program. Besides the acquisition of the knowledge and skills necessary for creative image making, emphasis is placed on the importance of personal interactions with the contemporary artists, theorists, craftsmen, and mentors in the students' everyday lives.
What it is all about is attitude - to go to work with all the energy you can give,in what can be a very lonely process where success is never guaranteed.
Curriculum:
To inspire photographers, to learn from artists, who come from various artistic fields, like poets, composers, architects, filmmakers, sculptors, and painters, and to confront themselves with their work methods, concepts and the ability to be concise. All artist/teachers and theorists (art history, film history, and history of photography) are invited to teach about topics which they are interested in. From 1991 we offered practical work in painting (Martin Kippenberger, Muntean&Rosenblum, Hermann Nitsch, Hubert Scheibl, Hans Scheirl) and film (Martin Arnold, Robert Beavers, Joerg Burger, Pip Chodorov, Karl Kels, Niki List, Dorit Margreiter, Mara Mattuschka, Hans Scheirl), to give every participant the possibility, to recognize the power and the limits of photography through sensuous experience.
The following artists have taught since 1990:
Martin Arnold (filmmaker), Eugen Bavcar (photographer), Robert Beavers (filmmaker), Norbert Becwar (photographer), Veronique Bourgoin (photographer), Nin Brudermann (visual artist), Joerg Burger (filmmaker), Clegg&Guttmann (visual artists), Hermann Czech (architect), Dejanov&Heger (visual artists), Sepp Dreissinger (photographer), Georg Eckmayr (photographer), Monika Faber (art historian), Sissi Farassat (photographer), Bernard Faucon (photographer), Christian Fischer (photographer), Seiichi Furuya (photographer), Gelitin (visual artists), Mark Glassner (photographer), Nan Goldin (photographer), Maren Gröning (art historian), Erich Hackl (writer), Maria Hahnenkamp (photographer), John Hilliard (photographer), Ruth Horak (art historian), Horakova&Maurer (photographers), Alexander Horwath (film theorist), Alfred Hrdlicka (sculptor), Franz Hubmann (photographer), Hans Hurch (film theorist), Leo Kandl (photographer), Karl Kels (filmmaker), Martin Kippenberger (painter), Herlinde Koelbl (photographer), Franz Koglmann (composer, musician), Bettina Komenda (photographer), Rolf Koppel (photographer), Markus Krottendorfer (photographer), Elke Krystufek (visual artist), Erich Lessing (writer), Niki List (filmmaker), Ernst Logar (photographer), Anja Manfredi (visual artist), Dorit Margreiter (filmmaker), Mara Mattuschka (filmmaker), Michael Mauracher (photographer), Boris Mikhailov (photographer), Boris Missirkov (photographer), Misato Mochizuki (composer), Rudi Molacek (photographer), Muntean&Rosenblum (painters), Hermann Nitsch (action artist), Florian Pumhösl (visual artist), Lois Renner (photographer), Gerhard Rühm (poet, painter), Hubert Scheibl (painter), Hans Scheirl (painter, filmmaker), Markus Schinwald (visual artist), Ferdinand Schmatz (poet), Franz Schuh (writer), Michael Schuster (photographer), Julian Schutting (poet), Elfie Semotan (photographer), Margherita Spiluttini (photographer), Timm Starl (film theorist), Beat Streuli (photographer), Wolfgang Tillmans (photographer), Harry Tomicek (film theorist), Octavian Trautmansdorff (visual artist), Javier Vallhonrat (photographer), Andrea van der Straeten (photographer), Nikolaus Walter (photographer), Nick Waplington (photographer), Hans Weigand (object artist), Franz West (sculptor), Anita Witek (photographer), Maria Ziegelböck (photographer).
Artistic Director:
since 2010 Anja Manfredi
1990-2010 Friedl Kubelka (Founding)
Space:
since 2013 Neubaugasse, artist studio manfredi (85m²)
1990 - 2013 Gartengasse, artist studio kubelka (60m²)