Kathrin Tschirner

Kathrin Tschirner is introduced by aff galerie.

2015 Master Degree - Communications Design/Photography, HAW Hamburg, under the direction of Ute Mahler and Vincent Kohlbecher, Hamburg (D)
2010 Bachelor Degree - Bachelor of Fine Arts/Photography at the AKI/ArtEZ, Enschede (NL)
2006 Diplom graduation - Social Pedagogue/Education Welfare Worker, at the KFH-NRW, Münster (D)

Kathrin Tschirner is a photograper, living and working in Berlin. In the context of her Masters at the HAW Hamburg, she made a portrait of the prostitution district 'Kurfürstenstraße' in Berlin.
Since 1885, the north of Schöneberg has continuously been one of the major prostitution areas in Berlin. Beside Rostock, Berlin is the only city without any off-limits areas. The sexwork takes part in a normal residential area. Kathrin Tschirner was living there for a long time without getting in touch with the life of the woman working there at all. Once she made a step toward the woman the oil started to get mixed with the water. Whats the everyday life, when you take the superficial label 'prostitute' beside? The word has such a negative connotations and the woman are often not seen as individuals. Political discussions exist away from the day to day reality of the women of Kurfürstenstrasse, are often far removed from their actual needs and fail to serve them as individuals from diverse backgrounds.

Kathrin Tschirner photographed the women and their surroundings on medium format film during the time she volunteered at 'Olga Women’s Centre' and produced the book Kurfürstenstrasse as part of her Master’s thesis at the HAW Hamburg under professor Ute Mahler. The book is being shown publicly for the first time at this exhibition. The book is like a puzzle from the tales of sex workers, the coexistence of a heterogeneous environment and Tschirner’s experiences during this time.

www.kathrin-tschirner.com