Biography
Alexa Vachon is an image maker and visual storyteller whose work focuses on themes including agency, addiction, the body, feminist pornography, trauma, queer identity, power structures, and ethical responsibilities in visual representation. She’s drawn to issues that she has personal experience with, connecting with those who often don’t fit neatly into society’s boxes. After many years in New York (BFA, School of Visual Arts), Berlin (Meisterklasse, Ostkreuzschule), and The Hague (MA, Photography & Society), she recently relocated to Toronto to pursue her PhD research on the issues of ongoing and evolving consent in photographic representation. She has a diverse creative identity – working commercially, editorially, and on long-term personal projects, her images can be found in exhibitions, in magazines, on billboards, and in her books. Vachon’s practice is driven by a desire to connect with people and she actively works to find the balance between learning, listening, and fair representation and dissemination methods in visual storytelling.
Select Exhibitions/Awards/Publications/Residencies
2020
Adonis, FOAM Magazine, September 2020, Amsterdam (NL) (group)
Adonis, Parts Unknown, Interactive Digital Performance & Website, Amsterdam (NL) (group)
Adonis, British Journal of Photography, London, U.K. (group)
RISE, Voltaire Magazine, Feature, Dortmund (DE)
RISE, Seeking.Moving.Belonging., Digital Exhibition, Dortmund (DE) (group)
Olympic women athletes, Adidas, London (U.K.)
Created the Mentorship program between BA & MA photography students at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague (NL)
2019
what we do in the light, Der Grief, Issue 12, edited by Broomberg & Chanarin, Munich (DE)
RISE, shortlist, German Peace Prize for Photography, Osnabrück (DE)
Wundergirl, shortlist, Felix Schoeller Photo Award (Portrait), Osnabrück (DE)
RISE, shortlist, Jakarta International Photo Festival, Jakarta (ID)
Nominated for the C/O Berlin Talent Award for young photographers, Berlin (DE)
‘Ethics in Visual Storytelling,’ Workshop teacher, Universität der Künste, Berlin (DE)
PH Museum, Review (RISE), London (U.K.)
Portfolio Review, International Women’s Media Foundation/Blink, Brooklyn (U.S.A.)
Deutsche Welle, Radio Feature, Berlin (DE)
‘Long Term Projects - in Development,’ Workshop teacher, Bard College Berlin, Berlin (DE)
A Photo Editor, Review (RISE), Santa Fe (U.S.A.)
Leica Fotografie International Magazine, Review (RISE), Hamburg (DE)
Collaboration with Nike and Hijabi Ballers, Toronto (CA)
2018
RISE, salon wellenmaschine. Berlin, DE (solo)
RISE, Artist Talk, salon wellenmaschine. Berlin, DE
RISE, The Book, self published. Berlin, DE
Organ Vida, ENGAGED, ACTIVE, AWARE. Zagreb, HR (group)
3hd: System.Lure, Berlin, DE (group)
Schönborn: Parallel Living at the Museum Schloss Doberlug. Brandenburg, DE (solo)
Breathing the Ultimate Wave #Feminism and Class, Sprechsaal, group show, Berlin, DE (group)
Family of No Man Cosmos. Arles, FR (group)
The ones and the others, Kunsthaus Bethanien. Berlin, DE (group)
PH Museum - shortlist for the Women Photograph Grant. London, U.K.
Joined Women Photograph
Project Grant, Deutscher Fußball-Bund Kultur Stiftung. Berlin, DE
Project Grant, US Embassy Berlin. Berlin, DE
Project Grant, Canada Council for the Arts. Ottawa, CA
Workshop with Alec Soth, Med Photo. Crete, GR
Workshop with Peter van Agtmael run by Magnum and World Press Photo. Amsterdam, NL
Portfolio Review, C/O Berlin, European Month of Photography. Berlin, DE (jury selected)
Portfolio Review, Freiraum für Fotografie. Berlin, DE (jury selected)
2017
European Journalism Fellowship, Freie Universität (2016-2017). Berlin DE
what we do in the light, Athens Photo Festival, book award, Athens (GR)
Shaking the Habitual, The Knife on Tour, Book, produced and released by Rabid Records, Stockholm, SE
Curated by GIRLS, Agora Rollberg. Berlin (DE) (group)
Project grant, VB Bild-Kunst, Stiftung Kulturwerk, Bonn, DE
Project Grant, Canada Council for the Arts. Ottawa, CA
Deutsche Welle, Video Feature. Goa, IN
2016
Contes/xting Sport, neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst (nGBK), Co-founder and contributing artist. Berlin, DE (Group)
homosexualität_en, group show, LWL-Museum für Kunst und Kultur (Landschaftsverband Museum for Art and Culture). Münster, DE
Keep Your Eyes Peeled, Atelier für Freie Fotografie Galerie (aff Galerie), Berlin, DE (group)
Labor or Labor, Glogair Art Space, curated by Coven Berlin. Berlin, DE (group)
Do Not Feed The Krokodil, Direktorenhaus. Berlin, DE (group)
The Nude, Streit House Space, curated online exhibition, International
what we do in the light, 80 page artist edition book, Self-Published. Berlin, DE
Award of Excellence, Society of News Design. Photographer for The Wall Street Journal produced multimedia long-term exploration of refugee arrivals in Germany. New York, USA
Playing for Justice, Critical review of Contest/xting Sport, Art Slant. Berlin, DE
Missy Magazine, feature article including interview and review. Hamburg, DE
2015
homosexualität_en, Deutsches Historisches Museum & Schwules* Museum. Berlin, DE (group)
From Our Rooms, aff Galerie, Curator and contributor. Berlin, DE (group)
Real Ground. Mexico City, Montreal, Berlin, Geneva (group)
From Our Rooms, artist talk with Frank Wagner, aff Galerie. Berlin, DE
Zu Zweit added to the collection of the Schwules* Museum. Berlin, DE
Kwerfeldein, feature article including interview and review. Berlin, DE
art: Das Kunstmagazin, feature article including interview and review. Hamburg, DE
OA/13, Feature. Paris, FR
homosexualität_en, exhibition catalogue, Sandstein Verlag. Dresden, DE
2014
what we do in the light, Porn Film Festival. Berlin, DE (solo)
Queer in Another Country, Another Country. Berlin, DE (group)
Artist in Residence, Porn Film Festival. Berlin, DE
Artist in Residence, Expatriarch: Generations, Berlin, DE
Arte, TV Feature, Berlin (DE)
Education
2021 Royal Academy of Art - The Hague, NL
Master of Arts, Photography & Society
2018 Ostkreuzschule für Fotografie – Berlin, DE
Master Class under the direction of Ingo Taubhorn and Ute Mahler
2002 School of Visual Arts – New York, NY
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography
Imprint Datenschutzerklärung
COPYRIGHT 2020
The contents of this web site are copyrighted. All rights of the pictures and texts are reserved by Alexa Vachon. Publication, reproduction as well as other use of the texts and pictures is strictly forbidden without the written permission of Alexa Vachon.
DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY
I do not take responsibility for the contents of external web sites.