Sven Marquardt, one of Europe's most recognised photographers, brought his work to Paris for the first time. Futur Passé was his first solo exhibition in France: two bodies of work spanning four decades of Berlin, shown together during Paris Men's Fashion Week.
Eastside Girls (1984–1990) captured East Berlin before the Wall came down, the punks, artists and performers of Prenzlauer Berg's underground who built a culture under surveillance. Rudel (2012), the German word for "pack," was his portrait series of Berlin's nightlife community today. The future was already present in those early faces; the past is still alive in the work now. Berlin's underground as one continuous act.
Black and white was the through line. Alongside the prints, the exhibition included a video work of the photographs by visual artist Tilius Sodeika, scored with a David Lynch piece from a playlist Sven made, giving the space a mystical, otherworldly feeling. The intention was simple: to give Paris a taste of his universe, and let them step inside it.
The show paired two bodies of work, twenty-five years apart, that came from the same instinct. Eastside Girls is Sven coming up as a photographer in the punk scene of East Berlin while the Wall still stood. Rudel is his community now; the word means "pack," and for him it is about trust, community, and his connection to Berlin nightlife. Two different worlds, seen through the same perspective.
I planned the show during Men's Fashion Week deliberately. Fashion shaped Sven as a cultural figure, and it runs through his photographs: the way his subjects dress and present themselves is an act of identity, not styling. This was more than a photography exhibition. It was about community, freedom, and a way of living.
The works below are available as Fine Art HM Baryta-Prints in editions. To reserve a work or request pricing and availability, contact the curator. All sales are handled by Galerie Deschler, Berlin, the artist's representing gallery and gallery of record for this exhibition.
All works © Sven Marquardt. Prices shown are for the 90 × 60 cm edition unless otherwise noted; pricing for larger formats and editions is available on request. All prices, availability and edition status are confirmed by Galerie Deschler at the time of sale.
East Berlin, 1984–1990. Comprising the series "wild verschlossen" and "Future's Past" (Zukünftig Vergangen). Fine Art HM Baryta-Prints, available in multiple sizes and editions. Select any work for full catalogue details.
Berlin, 2012. "Rudel," German for pack. Marquardt's portrait series of his nightlife community. Fine Art HM Baryta-Prints.
"Both projects focus on subcultures, and both feature people who were part of my life: friends, companions, colleagues. They are connected by a shared spirit, a sense of freedom, community, and living fully in the moment."
I work exclusively with daylight and analogue film. Black and white lets emotion become more visible; without colour, you pay more attention to expression and atmosphere. Atmosphere always comes first. Many of these portraits are technically very simple: only daylight, no elaborate lighting. Just good light and the right moment.
"I don't look at the past as better, only different. I am always looking into the future, working in the moment."
Born 1962 in East Berlin, Sven Marquardt was a defining part of the emerging punk, New Wave and arts scene in Prenzlauer Berg from the mid-1980s. He is considered the only East Berlin photographer whose work follows the tradition of visual artists Arno Fischer and Sibylle Bergemann, combined with an avid emphasis on fashion. His subjects have always been people who dress, present and carry themselves as an act of identity.
His portraits and figure studies have been exhibited internationally in New York, Montreal, Toronto, Mexico City, Sofia and Berlin, and are held in private collections across Europe and North America. His work combines formal severity and clear imagery with bleak impermanence, and a dramatic art of monochrome contrast.