Tobias Zielony

Zielony in 2015Tobias Zielony (born 1973) is a German photographer and short filmmaker, living in Berlin. He has made work about communities at the margins of society, such as young people. In 2015, Zielony's series on African refugees in Germany, the Citizen, co-represented the country at the Venice Biennale and was shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize. He had a mid-career retrospective at Museum Folkwang in Essen, Germany in 2021 and his work is held in the collection of Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Biography Zielony was born in Wuppertal, Germany. From 1998 to 2001, he studied documentary photography at the University of Wales, Newport in Wales. He now lives in Berlin. Big Sexyland (2008) – 3 mins The Deboard (2008) – 8 mins Le Vele di Scampia (2009) – 9 mins Der Brief (The Letter) (2013) – 5 mins Kalandia Kustom Kar Kommandos (Dream Lover) (2014) – 4 mins Al-Akrab (2014) – 7 mins Tamil Stars (2016) – 9 mins Alles (Chemnitz) (2002, 2017) – 6 mins Maskirovka (2018) – 8 mins

Exhibitions Solo exhibitions Tobias Zielony. The Fall, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany, 2021. A mid-career retrospective of photography and video.

Group exhibitions German pavilion, 55th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy, 2015. Curated by .

Awards One of four shortlisted, Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize, London, 2015 for the Citizen

Collections Zielony's work is held in the following permanent collection: Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: 5 prints (as of 25 September 2022)