Maria Sturm

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Maria Sturm (*1985, Romania) received a diploma in Photography from FH Bielefeld in 2012 and a MFA in Photography from Rhode Island School of Design. She is a Fulbright and DAAD scholar. She has won several prizes including the New York Photo Award 2012 and the DOCfield Dummy Award Barcelona 2015 with the work Be Good.

Her most recent work “You don't look Native to me” about the unrecognized Lumbee tribe of North Carolina won the SPE Student Award for Innovations in Imaging 2017 and was nominated for Vonovia Award, shortlisted for PhotoLondon La Fabrica Book Dummy Award and won the 2nd place at Unseen Dummy Award 2018. It was published in British Journal of Photography (October 2018 issue) and Filmbulletin (Issue #5 2018) and exhibited in the German Consulate New York, Clamp Art New York, Wiesbadener Fototage, Encontros da Imagem, Outono Fotográfico, at Artists Unlimited Bielefeld and at Aperture Foundation New York. It will be shown in Addis Fotofest in Ethiopia in December 2018.

Having met in during a month-long residency at Atelier de Visu Marseille and workshop with Antoine d'Agata in 2012 Cemre Yeşil and Maria Sturm kept in touch ever since. Their permanent exchange led them to start a collaboration and in 2014 they have photographed For Birds' Sake, a work about the Birdmen of Istanbul. This work was published as a photobook by La Fabrica Madrid and featured in Colors Magazine, The Guardian, British Journal of Photography and ZEITmagazin among others. It was exhibited during Internacional de Fotografa de Cabo Verde, FotoIstanbul, Bitume Photofest Lecce, Organ Vida International Photography Festival Zagreb, Format Festival Derby, Darmstädter Tage der Fotografie and at Daire Gallery, Sol Koffler Providence, La Fabrica Madrid, Pavlov's Dog Berlin, Deichtorhallen Hamburg and it was a finalist at PHE OjodePez Award for Human Values 2015 and Renaissance Photography Prize 2017 and nominated for Lead Awards 2016 and Henri-Nannen-Preis 2016. It was also shortlisted at Arles Author Book Award 2016 and Prix Levallois 2017. For Birds' Sake is included in the book How We See which showcasses photography books by women throughout the history and which will be released in October 2018.

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