Biography of Annette Hauschild
The versatile German photographer, Annette Hauschild, is renowned for her ability to capture the thrilling, life enhancing elements that make a composition exceptional. Subtly observed, her socially-critical reportages and portraits are unobtrusive, down-to-earth, and always with a humanitarian outlook.
In 1996 she joined the highly-regarded OSTKREUZ agency, rapidly becoming a leading light in the agency. OSTKREUZ is renowned for taking socially engaged photography, taking a stance on political issues, as well as physical and imaginary boundaries. Formed in the aftermath of the Eastern Bloc’s dissolution in 1989, East German photographers came together to form OSTKREUZ. United by their humanistic view of the world, OSTKREUZ took inspiration from the legendary Parisian agency, Magnum.
Since 2011 Annette Hauschild has been photographing Romani throughout Europe, travelling to Italy, Kosovo, and Slovakia. Her series entitled Hit the Road Jack explores the largest minority in Europe, and the discrimination that surrounds them. Continually displaced, the Romani are constantly seeking a permanent place to settle. In 2012 Annette Hauschild took the M29 Bus in Berlin and took photographs of the people she found waiting at each of the destinations the bus stopped. Although she spoke to everyone she photographed, the faces of the subjects appear totally unconstrained and natural, as though a photographer was not there.
Born in Gießen in 1969, Annette Hauschild moved to Germany’s capital, Berlin, at the age of 20. There she studied at the Lette-Verein, and later studied under the well-respected Arno Fischer. Alongside Ute Mahler she organized the exhibition “OSTZEIT. Stories form a Vanished Country” as well as the exhibition “On Borders” at Haus der Kulturen und der Welt in 2012. In 2013 she exhibited with OSTKREUZ at C|O Berlin with an exhibition entitled “OSTKREUZ. To the West”.