“CONTINENT—In Search of Europe” is the new publication and exhibition project of OSTKREUZ—Agency of Photographers, Berlin. On an irregular basis the agency members designate a common topic for them to work on for several years. After To the West, East of Eden, Deutschlandbilder, Ostzeit, The City, On Borders, KONTINENT is the seventh joint thematic publication of the agency members. Over the past three decades they have received recognition in Germany and abroad for their high-quality artistic, documentary photojournalism. In times of shrinking markets for agencies and photographers, OSTKREUZ is truly one of the rare wonders of Berlin. As an artistic and political statement, the twenty-two photographers of the agency focus on the European present with their highly contemporary but diverse photographic series. In this project, the OSTKREUZ photographers explore various aspects of coexistence in Europe, focusing on personal, social, and political phenomena as well as fundamental structures and historical
developments. They always find access to complex content through pictures of people and their environments. The themes of the series range from questions of identity and security, renationalization, migration, and integration to a fundamental understanding of humanism, democracy, and freedom of expression. KONTINENT attempts to offer fruitful impulses for the current debate on Europe by asking questions such as: What connects us? How do we live together? How will our continent develop? How will its people live together? And who exactly does “we” refer to when we are speaking about Europe?

The book is published on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name at the Akademie der Künste, Berlin.

Participating photographers: Jörg Brüggemann, Espen Eichhöfer, Sibylle Fendt, Johanna-Maria Fritz, Annette Hauschild, Harald Hauswald, Heinrich Holtgreve, Tobias Kruse, Ute Mahler, Werner Mahler, Dawin Meckel, Thomas Meyer, Frank Schinski, Jordis Antonia Schlösser, Ina Schoenenburg, Anne Schönharting, Linn Schröder, Stephanie Steinkopf, Mila Teshaieva, Heinrich Völkel, Maurice Weiss, Sebastian Wells und Sibylle Bergemann (1941–2010)