About/Bio
Chris Becher, *1990 Cologne, is a photographer, writer, and mentor.
His socially conscious and consent-based practice ponders on the potential to convey the ways how identity and self-image are shaped by the relationship of individual lived experience and larger social histories through photographic portraiture, incorporating video, text, archival material, and essayistic writing.
Preceded by a long-term and dialogic process with his protagonists, his practice strives to reintroduce complexity, beauty and intimacy into the representation of individuals and communities, often compartmentalised by media and dominant discourses, and seldomly depicted from a sensitive and poetic angle.
Outlining society indirectly by its contours, his work draws from and transcends visual legacies such as social documentary, conceptual photography, vernacular culture, figurative portraiture, and art history.
Chris has presented his various projects in group exhibitions and lectures internationally, including Centro de la Imagen Mexico City, Melkweg Amsterdam, MEP Maison Européenne de la Photographie Paris, Humble Arts Foundation New York, at the Noorderlicht International Photo Festival, and Haus der Photographie/Deichtorhallen Hamburg.
Writings of his have been published in English and German, most recently in TRIGGER magazine #1 with Fotomuseum Antwerp and Fw:Books Amsterdam.
He is recent selectee of the FOTODOK Talent Embassy award, recipient of the Emerging Artist Grant by Mondriaan Fonds, and the FOLLOW award, among others.
Chris is co-founder/-organiser of the Undisciplining Photography Symposium (founded 2021)—in collaboration with KABK Royal Academy of Art The Hague, Nederlands Fotomuseum Rotterdam and RCMC Research Center for Material Culture Amsterdam.
