A member of OSTKREUZ photographer’s agency since 2019, Sebastian Wells, born in Königs Wusterhausen in 1996, is based in Berlin, but is rarely at home.

Sebastian’s work centers on long-term documentary projects that examine the interplay between spaces, people, and systems of power. His photographic series about the Olympic Games, ARENA I (2018-2024), focuses on the staging of sports, taking a critical stance on the mass spectacle. This investigative lens also informs Utopia (2018-2019), a visual journey through the improvised structures of refugee camps, and La Rada di Augusta (2019-2020) , which documents daily life in the shadow of an oil refinery in Sicily. In Typ/Traube/Tross (2021-2023), he explores the persistence of nationalist ideologies using Flanders as a focal point, and in A Garden of Roots (2023), he investigates the personal and societal implications of commercial genealogy through the search for his unknown grandfather.

In 2022, he co-founded the English-language magazine Solomiya with Vsevolod Kazarin, contributing as a photographer, writer, and editor-at-large. From visual art to personal stories, the magazine features the work of emerging and established artists from Ukraine and beyond, reflecting on an environment shaped by ongoing imperial aggression.

Sebastian works on photographic assignments for various editorial clients, among them taz.die tageszeitung, 11Freunde, and Der Spiegel. As a passioned runner and one of the official photographers of SCC Events, Sebastian has been shaping the visual account of Germany’s largest running event, the

Berlin Marathon.

Follow and Contact

mail@sebastianwells.de
+49 176 39818647

Instagram
OSTKREUZ
Solomiya Magazine

Press

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
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?

Artistic Education

2015–18	Ostkreuzschule for Photography and Design, Berlin
2020–24	University of Applied Sciences, Bielefeld
2021–22	KASK School of Arts, Ghent

Selected Exhibitions

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

Awards and Residencies

2024	Artist in Residence, Cité internationale des Arts, Paris
2024	Gold, Art Directors Club Germany
2024	Gold, Art Directors Club Europe
2024	Distinction, Joseph Binder Award, Vienna
2023	German Peace Prize for Photography, Osnabrück
2023	Nomination for the Story of the Year, Stern Preis 2023, Hamburg
2023	Portraits Hellerau Photography Award, Dresden
2023	Gold, Art Directors Club Germany
2023	Distinction, Art Directors Club Germany
2023	Bronze, Art Directors Club Europe
2022	Award of the Jury, Les Boutographies, Montpellier
2019	Finalist, Leica Oscar Barnack Award, Berlin
2019	Winner, New Talent Award at Photo Month, Belgrade
2018	Winner, FOLA Photobook Award, Buenos Aires
2018	Winner, Art Competition, Münzenberg Forum, Berlin
2017	Young Talent Prize, Dumont Journalism Awards 2016, Halle an der Saale
2017	1st Prize, VDS Sportsphoto of the Year 2016, Dortmund

Curating

2025	Solomiya Studio, KVOST - Kunstverein Ost, Berlin

Imprint

Sebastian Wells
c/o OSTKREUZ – Photographer’s Agency
Behaimstraße 34
13086 Berlin
mail@ostkreuz.de
+49 30 47373930

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