19. Focus Award // Fachhochschule Dortmund // 18. – 20. May 2011

Rob Hornstra Rob Hornstra Rob Hornstra Rob Hornstra Rob Hornstra Rob Hornstra Rob Hornstra Rob Hornstra

Rob Hornstra

Rob Hornstra studied Social and Legal Services at the Utrecht University of Applied Sciences from 1994 to 1998. From 1999 to 2004 he studied photographic design at Utrecht School of the Arts.

Since graduation Hornstra has combined editorial work for newspapers and magazines with more personal, longer-term documentary work in the Netherlands, Iceland, and the former Soviet Union. Hornstra considers himself a maker of photographic documentaries rather than a photographer; when not photographing for a particular purpose, he does not carry a camera. Further, he sees books as more important than exhibitions, and regards his own editing, publication and marketing of books of his photography as an important part of his work.

Starting with his first collection, Communism and Cowgirls, Hornstra has published his

own books. These skip forewords by other writers, biographical notes, ISBNs and the other trappings of conventionally published books; by taking advance orders and selling copies directly and also working through a small number of retailers, Hornstra is able to avoid normal distribution channels.

Together with the writer and filmmaker Arnold van Bruggen, in 2009 Hornstra started the Sochi Project, which over five years would document the area of Sochi (Krasnodar Krai, Russia) and the changes to it during the preparation for the 2014 Winter Olympics.
www.borotov.nl

Labor B Labor B Labor B Labor B Labor B Labor B Labor B Labor B

labor b

Labor b designbüro was founded in 2003 of the graphic artists Sebastion Gröne and Björn Rüther as well as the photographers Simon Busse und Thomas Wucherpfennig during their studies. First assignments, mainly in the field of event communication and corporate design, followed after many collective student projects. In this way came many campaigns for different art and culture institutions into being. Just as well was a main focus of labor b in recent years the graphical assistance of numerous private business. The clients are besides public institutions such as museums of Dortmund, the hartware MedienKunstVerein (hmkv) and PACT Zollverein from Essen also big business companies such as Siemens AG or the German Sparkassen- and Giroverband.

The works of labor b cover the entire spectrum of communications design: it ranges from web to print, from photography to motion graphics. The base of everything ist the combination of creative ideas and manual quality as well as the obligation to choose

the right medium concerning the particular statement. The desire to do innovative projects and solutions that are thought outside the box are a basic element of labor b’s works. A creative dynamic develops by consitent co-operation with external experts and the realisation of liberal research projects. This allows room for fresh ideas and a continued advancement of the individual skills.
www.laborb.de

Oliver Langbein Oliver Langbein Oliver Langbein Oliver Langbein Oliver Langbein

Oliver Langbein

As of 2005, architect Oliver Langbein (Dipl.-Ing. Architekt) has been one of the founding members of »osa - office for subversive architecture«, Netzwerk für Kunst, Architektur und Stadtentwicklung (Network for Art, Architecture and Urban Development). He has been the head of the »Darmstädter Architektursommer« since 2010 as well as a member of the steering committee for the »Architektursommer Rhein Main / Frankfurt-Darmstadt-Offenbach-Wiesbaden« (Architecture Festival). Langbein hosted workshops for osa and Sitios at the Muthesius Kunsthochschule in Kiel & »The Knot« in Warsaw. He has been lecturing at the Technical University of Darmstadt (TUD), the Hochschule Darmstadt (h_da), the Coburg University of Applied Sciences and the University of Kassel ever since 2003 as well as holding workshops and seminars for osa.

An exhibition (Contemplating the Void) took place at the Guggenheim museum in New York in 2010 which featured a contribution by osa.
www.osa-online.net

Raumlaborberlin Raumlaborberlin Raumlaborberlin Raumlaborberlin Raumlaborberlin

Raumlaborberlin

Raumlaborberlin began working on the issues of contemporary architecture and urbanism in 1999. In various interdisciplinary working teams it investigate strategies for urban renewal. Raumlabor does urban design, architectural design, build, interactive environments, research.
www.raumlabor.net

Uli Staiger Uli Staiger Uli Staiger Uli Staiger Uli Staiger Uli Staiger Uli Staiger

Uli Staiger

Uli Staiger completed his full training as a photographer and subsequently worked as an assistant for international photographers. He has been working as a freelance photographer since 1993 and founded »die licht gestalten« in 2002. He has become a master in digital picture editing and composing. In his workshop Uli Staiger passes on tricks and tips in photo editing to all those interested.
www.dielichtgestalten.de