Rainer Christian Kurzeder is a Berlin-based photographer and visual artist. His practice combines documentary observation with conceptual approaches to portraiture and long-term photographic series. His work explores identity, intimacy, power structures and the tensions between proximity and distance within familial and social relationships — with a particular focus on queer and male identities.
Born in Wasserburg am Inn and raised in his family‘s printing house, among paper stacks and ink, his eye was shaped early by materiality and the physical presence of the printed image. Alongside his artistic practice, a background in communication, printing, and publishing continues to inform his sensitivity to narrative, materiality, and visual language. After many years in applied and editorial photography, he now focuses on free, long-term artistic projects.
Since 2024 he has attended the masterclass at the Ostkreuzschule für Fotografie in Berlin under Linn Schröder and Ingo Taubhorn. His ongoing long-term series Beyond the Silence examines the relationship between fathers and their queer sons and was first presented in Berlin in 2026.
E-Mail studio@rainerchristiankurzeder.com
Instagram @rainerchristiankurzeder
EDUCATION
2024–2026 — Masterclass (Linn Schröder & Ingo Taubhorn), Ostkreuzschule für Fotografie, Berlin
2008–2012 — Independent photographic studies; assistantships and seminars at Ostkreuzschule für Fotografie and Lette-Verein, Berlin
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026 — Beyond the Silence, BerlinDiscoveries 2026, f3 – freiraum für fotografie, Berlin
2026 — Beyond the Silence, Masterclass Ostkreuzschule, Haus am Kleistpark, Berlin
2023 — People of Folsom, Lighthouse Gallery, London
SELECTED PRESS & PUBLICATIONS
2026 — die tageszeitung (taz), „Sollen wir uns umarmen?“, May 2026, print & online
2026 — Siegessäule, „Du bist richtig! Vatertag und die Wunden schwuler Söhne“, May 2026, print & online
2026 — Berliner Zeitung, „Von Systemsprengern und Zärtlichkeiten“, April 2026, print & online
2026 — Mannschaft Magazin, „Beyond the Silence – Intime Porträts queerer Söhne und ihrer Väter“, April 2026, online
ARTIST TALKS & LECTURES
2026 — BerlinDiscoveries 2026 Artist Talk, f3 – freiraum für fotografie, Berlin
2026 — Artist Talk Masterclass, Haus am Kleistpark, Berlin
PORTFOLIO REVIEWS
2025 — Photo Folio Review, Les Rencontres d‘Arles, FR
© 2026 All images and texts by Rainer Christian Kurzeder Photographer. All rights reserved. No parts of this website can be used without prior permission from the publisher.