Sebastian Wells

Sebastian Wells (b. 1996, based between Berlin and Kyiv) merges documentary photography, writing, and publishing to investigate power structures, political staging and cultural production.

A member of OSTKREUZ photographer’s agency since 2019, he undertakes editorial and commercial assignments, participates in exhibitions, and produces his own publications, including Arena, published with Spector Books in 2026.

As co-founder of Solomiya Magazine, he navigates the artistic scenes of Kyiv, Berlin, and beyond, exploring magazine publishing as a political, artistic, and transnational practice.

Get in touch!



Press

NÉPSZAVA: Ukrán életigenlés az oroszok háborújában
ZEIT ONLINE: Vor Ort sieht Olympia so anders aus
Kitchen Conversations Podcast: From Berlin to Kyiv - A Magazine Journey
Courrier international: Ces semaines où Paris chantait : la fête olympique vue par Sebastian Wells
WePresent: Solomiya - The Ukrainian magazine helping artists to reckon with life at war
ZEIT ONLINE: Das waren die Olympischen Spiele
London Short Film Festival: Martyna Ratnik conversation with Ivanna Kozachenko and Sebastian Wells
The Guardian: ‘We created our own weapon’: the anti-invasion magazines defying Putin in Ukraine
Magculture: At work with Sebastian Wells, Solomiya
Digifotopro.nl: La Rada di Augusta van Sebastian Wells
Deutschlandfunk Kultur: Fotoblog „Across the Great Wall“ – Ein anderer Blick auf Olympia  
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: Fotograf Sebastian Wells: „Ich schlendere oft ziellos umher“
 Lenscuture: Utopia - Feature
OSTKREUZ: Podcast - Kontinent - Auf der Suche nach Europa
Deutschlandfunk Kultur: Bewegende Bilder – was darf Sportfotografie?  




Books

2026Arena, Take 1: Facing the Spectacle, Spector Books, 2026



Selected Exhibitions

2026Group Exhibition, Berlin on Camera - 100 Years of Photography and the Press, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Berlin
2026Solo Exhibition, ARENA, Galerie Springer, Berlin
2024Solo Exhibition, Typ/Traube/Tross, Haus am Kleistpark, Berlin
2024Solo Exhibition, La Rada di Augusta, Galerie Focale, Nyon
2024Solo Exhibition, Eine Sportschau, Institut français, Berlin
2023Group Exhibition, A Garden Of Roots, HSBI WERKSCHAU 2023, Bielefeld
2022Artist Talk and Group Exhibition, Solomiya № 1, Galerie Springer, Berlin
2022Group Exhibition, Kontinent, OSTKREUZ Agentur, Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation, Frankfurt
2021Group Exhibition, Kontinent, OSTKREUZ Agentur, Kunsthalle Erfurt
2021Solo Exhibition, La Rada di Augusta, Artphilein Foundation, Lugano
2020Group Exhibition, Kontinent, OSTKREUZ Agentur, Akademie der Künste, Berlin
2020Group Exhibition, Framing Identity, Museum for Photography, Braunschweig
2019Solo Exhibition, Anhänger, Galerie Fenster, Eberswalde
2018Group Exhibition, Olympia, at Lumix Festival, Hannover
2018Group Exhibition, Sharing Spaces, Feldfuenf Project Gallery, Berlin



Awards and Residencies

2025Grand Prix, Art Directors Club Germany
2024Artist in Residence, Cité internationale des Arts, Paris
2024Gold, Art Directors Club Germany
2024Gold, Art Directors Club Europe
2024Distinction, Joseph Binder Award, Vienna
2023German Peace Prize for Photography, Osnabrück
2023Nomination for the Story of the Year, Stern Preis 2023, Hamburg
2023Portraits Hellerau Photography Award, Dresden
2023Gold, Art Directors Club Germany
2023Distinction, Art Directors Club Germany
2023Bronze, Art Directors Club Europe
2022Award of the Jury, Les Boutographies, Montpellier
2019Finalist, Leica Oscar Barnack Award, Berlin
2019Winner, New Talent Award at Photo Month, Belgrade
2018Winner, FOLA Photobook Award, Buenos Aires
2018Winner, Art Competition, Münzenberg Forum, Berlin
2017Young Talent Prize, Dumont Journalism Awards 2016, Halle an der Saale
20171st Prize, VDS Sportsphoto of the Year 2016, Dortmund



Curating

2025Solomiya Studio, KVOST - Kunstverein Ost, Berlin
2025After Now - Navigating Peace, Goethe Institut, Sarajevo



Imprint

Sebastian Wells
c/o OSTKREUZ – Photographer’s Agency
Behaimstraße 34
13086 Berlin  
mail@ostkreuz.de


© for the photographs: Sebastian Wells, 2016-2025
© for the music: Doomscroll Shame by Poly Chain, 2025


Baumwanderung for CMS Hasche Sigle
Photography, Assignment
2021-2022


Quercus robur #492
Pinus nigra #507
Carpinus betulus #459
Sorbus intermedia #422
Sorbus intermedia #425
Carpinus betulus #442


Sebastian Wells was commissioned by Germany's largest business law firm, CMS Hasche Sigle, to document the planting of a small mixed forest on the roof of their new Stuttgart office in the Calwer Passage. The 15–25-year-old trees were carefully lifted onto the roof using a special crane. His photos of this “tree migration” are now displayed in the offices directly beneath the rooftop forest.

Exhibition View: Baumwanderung, CMS Hasche Sigle, Stuttgart
Curated by Sassa Trülzsch