Jessica Backhaus

Born in Cuxhaven, Germany, in 1970, and raised in an artistic family, Jessica Backhaus is regarded as one of the most distinguished voices in contemporary photography in Germany today. Her work has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including the National Portrait Gallery, London, the Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin and the Kunsthalle Erfurt. To date, she has ten publications to her name; Jesus and the Cherries, 2005, What Still Remains, 2008, One Day in November, 2008, I Wanted to See the World, 2010, ONE DAY- 10 photographers, 2010, Once, still and forever, 2012, Six degrees of freedom, 2015, A TRILOGY, 2017, Far away but Close, 2019 and Cut Outs, 2021, all published by Kehrer Verlag, Heidelberg/ Berlin, except Far Away but Close which is published by Another Place Press, Scotland. Her work is also featured in the book: Women Photographers by Boris Friedewald (Prestel Verlag 2014).

From her large number of solo and group show we highlight the ones that took place in National Portrait Gallery, London, Goethe Institut, Paris, France, Arles, France Centrum Kultury Zamek, Poznan, Poland, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Kunsthalle Erfurt, Germany, Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation, Germany, Midland Art Centre, Birmingham andScottish National Portrait Gallery.

Jessica Backhaus’ works are in many prominent art collections including Art Collection Deutsche Börse, Germany, ING Art Collection, Belgium, Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA and the Margulies Collection, Miami, USA. In 2012 FOAM Fotografiemuseum, Amsterdam produced a short documentary “Wonder Jessica Backhaus”, a film by Willem Aerts.

CV Apresentação Website

Cactus, The Nature of Things, 2023
Archival Pigment print
90 x 60 cm

"Jessica has the natural ability to make relevant the most minimal. She has the talent to give it a touch of transcendence to the ephemeral, sensing the exact light needed to create its charm. Her photographs combine the simplicity of the motive with a sophisticated eye that makes them fresh, even inaugural.“ Antonio Skármeta

“As writers, we admire the art of photographers - so close to reality and at the same time enigmatically personal. We are amazed by its dance, interwoven in the movement of ebbing lights and shadows; its suggestive presence hitting us in a single gush: that touch of revelation, atmosphere and color that merge us affectively with the image.

Not unlike the photo, we succumb to the poem, with its brief and paused breaths. Through half-closed eyelids we are witness to the plenitude of the moment, which invites us to simultaneously see and feel the familiar contours that are engraved in our daily lives."

Antonio Skármeta

Leaves, The Nature of Things, 2023
Archival Pigment print
90 x 60 cm

Chair, The Nature of Things, 2022
Archival Pigment print
90 x 60 cm

Dust, The Nature of Things, 2023
Archival Pigment print
90 x 60 cm

Purple Cactus, The Nature of Things, 2024
Archival Pigment print
50 x 40 cm

Sunrise, The Nature of Things, 2022
Archival Pigment Print, 50 x 40 cm

Moon, The Nature of Things, 2022
Impressão com Tinta Pigmentada em Papel de Arquivo, 50 x 40 c

Ghost, The Nature of Things, 2022
Archival Pigment print
50 x 40 cm

Vientecito, 2017
Archival Pigment Prints, 40 x 60 cm

Confinement in Berlin series, 2020
C-Print on index card
24,5 x 30,6 cm

Beyond 18, 2017
Inkjet print
45 x 30 cm [48 x 33 cm (framed)]

Beyond 15, 2016
Inkjet print
45 x 30 cm [48 x 33 cm (framed)]

Cut Outs, 2020
Archival Pigment Print
60 x 40 cm, 112.5 × 75 cm

Cut Out #23, 2020
Archival Pigment Print
112.5 × 75 cm

Alma, Far Away but Close, 2019
Archival pigment print
90 x 60 cm

Desire, Far Away but Close, 2017
Fine Art pigment print
90 x 60 cm

Coming along, 2016
Inkjet print, 60 x 40 cm

You will see, 2016
Inkjet print, 60 x 40 cm

Piece of Berlin, 2015
C-print, 51 x 34 cm

Cuxhaven, Germany, 1970