Eva Leitolf (1966) studied communication design with a focus on photography at University GH Essen. She earned her MFA at the California Institute of the Arts with Allan Sekula and taught regularly at international art schools and universities. Since February 2019 she is Professor of Fine Arts and head of Studio Image at Free University of Bozen/Bolzano.
Critical examination of the practices of image production and contextualisation is a central thread running through all of Eva's work, which explores contested societal phenomena such as colonialism, racism and migration. Leitolf's work often combines photography with textual elements – from police reports and information researched from a wide range of sources to personal notes drawn from her journal. Adopting a conceptual approach, Leitolf visualises concrete conflicts, evaluates the absent, and captures traces of xenophobia and racism, while at all times questioning the boundaries between the foreign and the familiar.
Her works have been shown at international institutions including the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, the Hamburger Kunsthalle, the Kunstverein in Frankfurt, the Sprengel Museum in Hannover, the Kunstmuseum in Wolfsburg, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands Photo Museum in Rotterdam, the KunstHausWien in Vienna, the National Gallery of Kosovo in Pristina, the Fotozentrum Winterthur (Switzerland) and the Wallach Art Gallery in New York. Leitolf's work is also regularly featured in the colour Supplement of the Süddeutsche Zeitung and Die Zeit. Her publications include Postcards from Europe 03/13 (2013), Deutsche Bilder – eine Spurensuche (2008), and Rostock Ritz (2004).
Edited by Karen Fromm, Sophia Greiff, Malte Radtki and Anna Stemmler.
ISBN 978-3-496-01646-5
INTERVIEWS
Mehrfachbelichtung, Eva Leitolfs Arbeit im Prozess (German Version), by Franziska Brückner, March 2009
Conversations, by Rémi Coignet, The Eyes Publishing 2014.
Interviews with Morten Andersen, Irène Attinger, Lewis Baltz, Daniel Blaufuks, Broomberg & Chanarin, Elina Brotherus, Raphaël Dallaporta, JH Engström, Bernrd Faucon, Horacio Fernandez, Paul Graham, Guido Guidi, Rob Hornstra, Pieter Hugo, Kummer & Herrman, Syb, Eva Leitolf, Ethan Levitas, Michael Mack, Lesley A. Martin, Daido Moriyama, Mathieu Pernot, Anders Petersen, Joachim Schmid, Ivan Vartanian.
An interview with Eva Leitolf on her work Company Town (Ein Konzern, eine Stadt) in the exhibition Wolfsburg Unlimited,
Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, 2016
Eva Leitolf on her work By the Sea, Greece 2012, iPad app, Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin, 2012
A look back at "Looking for Evidence": A recent interview with Eva Leitolf, by Stan Banos, 30 March 2010
Eva Leitolf - an interview, by Stan Banos, 9 March 2010
TRANSLATIONS
Translations into English are by Meredith Dale, who is also a valued source of constructive criticism and stimulating discussion (as well as pedantic proofreading). Meredith lives and works in Berlin and Rheinsberg, and can be contacted at medale@t-online.de.