Jörg Colberg
US-resident German writer, educator, photographer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jörg M. Colberg (born 15 February 1968)[1] is a German writer, educator and photographer,[2] living in Northampton, Massachusetts, USA.[3] He is the founder and editor of Conscientious, a blog dedicated to contemporary fine-art photography.[4][5] He worked as a research scientist in astronomy[6] and has been a professor of photography at the Hartford Art School.[7]
Life and work
Colberg studied physics and astronomy at the University of Bonn; he earned a Ph.D. in physics (theoretical cosmology)[citation needed] at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics. He moved to the United States in 2000. After a short and unsatisfying experience in the computer programming industry.[citation needed] Colberg returned as a postdoc at the University of Pittsburgh.[8]
He discusses and dissects contemporary fine art photography on his blog, Conscientious, started in 2002.[4][9][10] In 2009, Source included Conscientious in its list of ten recommended photography blogs;[9] in 2010 Wired said that "Joerg Colberg is a pioneer in photography blogging, and his blog Conscientious maintains a tight editorial voice";[11] and in 2012 Sean O'Hagan included it among his few most recommended online photography websites and publications.[4] In 2006, American Photo named Colberg one of their Photography Innovators.[12]
Colberg is the author of Understanding Photobooks: The Form and Content of the Photographic Book (2016), a guide to making photobooks. He has contributed essays to photography publications, including Foam Magazine,[13][better source needed] British Journal of Photography,[14] and Creative Review.[15][16][17] Along with Andrés Marroquín Winkelmann, he was a founder of the short-lived photobook publishing company Meier & Müller.[18] From 2010, he was a faculty member of the Hartford Art School.[7][19]
In the photobook Vaterland (2020), Colberg reflects on the rise of anti-immigrant racism and xenophobia in Germany, "which he believes is not being taken seriously enough",[3] with right-wing ideology having become normalised.[20] It was described in the British Journal of Photography that Colberg achieves this through "an atmosphere of uneasiness. [. . .] There is little contrast between black and white. [. . .] Each picture frames a lingering uncertainty; something out of place. [. . .] The images work together to create a mood of angst." He made the images in Berlin, Hamburg and Warsaw.[3]
Personal life
As of 2021[update] he was living in Northampton, Massachusetts.[3]
Publications
Publications by Colberg
- Linking cluster formation to large scale structure. Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, 1997. OCLC 60144166.
- Peculiar velocities of galaxy clusters. Munich: Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, 1998. OCLC 75873003.
- At the Edge of the Known World (According to Google Street View). Self-published.[21]
- Understanding Photobooks: the Form and Content of the Photographic Book. London: Focal, 2016. Hardback, ISBN 978-1138892712; paperback, ISBN 978-1138892699.
- Photography's Neoliberal Realism. Discourse 4. London: Mack, 2020. ISBN 978-1-913620-16-5.[10]
- Vaterland. Bielefeld, Germany: Kerber, 2020. ISBN 978-3-7356-0709-6. Text in English, German and Polish.[2][3]
- Fault Lines. Bielefeld, Germany: Kerber, 2024. ISBN 978-3-7356-1000-3 With text by Judith Gellér, Milos Kallai, Domonkos Németh, Ákos Polgárdi, Andi Schmied, and Liza Szabó. In English and German.
Publications with contributions by Colberg
- Image Makers, Image Takers: the essential guide to photography by those in the know. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2010. By Anne-Celine Jaeger. ISBN 9780500288924. Second expanded edition.
- Conditions by Andrés Marroquín Winkelmann, Meier & Müller, 2010. Edition of 300 copies. Edited by Adam Barto. Co-published and with an introductory essay by Colberg.
- Observed. London: Ivorypress, 2013. ISBN 978-8494053559. Sixth volume of C Photo. Guest edited by Colberg.[22]
- 2013 project. Caf́é Royal, 2013. ISBN 978-0957586703. Includes texts by Colberg, Craig Atkinson, Sarah Bodman and Lawrence Zeegen.
- Ostkreuz 25 Jahre. Ostfildern, Germany: Hatje Cantz, 2015. Edited by "Ostkreuz" (photo agency). ISBN 978-3-7757-4062-3. With a foreword by Wolfgang Kil and essays by Colberg and Laura Benz. Text in German, English and French.
- Tim Richmond: Last Best Hiding Place. Heidelberg: Kehrer, 2015. Edited by Tim Richmond and Lee C. Wallick. ISBN 9783868286038. With an essay by Colberg.
Awards
- 2011: Life.com picked Conscientious for its Photo Blog Awards.[23]
