JURY STATEMENT
Meret Eberl does not, in the best possible way, close-cut capture her protagonists and their experiences. In her compositions, there is room for questions and space for the human experience. Queer people are usually not either/or, they carry multi-layered intersections with and within them and heroically assert themselves anew every day, especially in a context of intersectional discrimination such as as a non-binary person in sex work has to face.
NBSW
NBSW documents the range of experience of non-binary sex workers. Meret Eberl chooses a reserved, clear and calm visual approach. She mainly shows individual portraits and completes them with interiors, landscapes and a double portrait. Her subjects sometimes face the viewer or keep to themselves; their bodies are often relaxed or in motion in slightly swung poses. The series avoids flashy, voyeuristic clichés and opens up much more identificatory space. Her compositions are clearly structured, yet not forcefully set. Meret Eberl highlights that „»NBSW« is about the experiences of non-binary people who are or have been engaged in sex work and thus have to repeatedly stand up for their very right to exist in personal, as well as professional development. On several levels, this reflects central tasks in the life of every human being: the search for one’s own identity and, along with it, for a secure place in our society. If one develops outside of socially accepted categories, they face the possibility of precarization in every aspect of their life. Thus, these discussions remain necessary and influence decisions made about the livelihoods of whole groups of people.“
BIOGRAPHY
Meret Eberl (born 2000 in Cologne) works as a freelance photographer in Berlin, as well as an assistant in the archive of Ute Mahler and Werner Mahler. After her first intensive encounter with design and photography 2018 in Leipzig, she moved to Berlin to study at the Ostkreuzschule für Fotografie. In 2023, she graduated in the class of Ina Schoenenburg. She is particularly interested in exploring identity and social structures – the search for a place within oneself and society. She approaches these complex themes through analogue portraits and still lives.
JURY STATEMENT
Meret Eberl fängt die Erfahrungswelten ihrer Protagonist*innen auf die beste Art nicht vollends ein. In ihren Kompositionen gibt es Platz für Fragen und genügend Raum für das Menschliche. Queere Menschen sind meist kein Entweder Oder, sie tragen vielschichtige Intersektionen in und mit sich und behaupten sich held*innenhaft jeden Tag aufs Neue, besonders in einem mehrfach diskriminierten Kontext wie als nicht-binäre Person in der Sexarbeit.
NBSW
dokumentiert Erfahrungswelten nicht-binärer Sexworker*innen. Meret Eberl wählt dabei eine zurückhaltend klare, ruhige Bildästhetik. Sie zeigt hauptsächlich Einzelportraits und ergänzt diese mit Interieur, Landschaft und einem Doppelportrait. Ihre Subjekte schauen uns mal an und mal nicht, meist sind ihre Körper entspannt oder in Bewegung, in leicht geschwungener Pose. Die Serie umgeht plakative, voyeuristische Klischees und öffnet viel mehr identifkatorische Räume, in welchen es eine Ordnung gibt, aber noch nicht alles ausgemacht ist.
Die Autorin schreibt: „In ‚NBSW‘ geht es um die Erfahrungen von nicht-binären Menschen, die in der Sexarbeit tätig sind oder waren und so immer wieder für ihre Existenzberechtigung in der persönlichen, aber auch beruflichen Entfaltung einstehen müssen. Dies spiegelt auf mehreren Ebenen zentrale Aufgaben im Leben eines jeden Menschen wider: die Suche nach der eigenen Identität und damit nach einem sicheren Platz in unserer Gesellschaft. Wer sich außerhalb gesellschaftlich akzeptierter Kategorien bewegt, sieht sich mit der Möglichkeit der Prekarisierung in allen Lebensbereichen konfrontiert. Daher sind diese Diskussionen nach wie vor notwendig und beeinflussen die Entscheidungen über die Lebensgrundlagen ganzer Gruppen von Menschen.“
BIOGRAFIE
Meret Eberl (geb. 2000 in Köln) arbeitet als freie Fotografin in Berlin, sowie als Assistentin im Archiv von Ute Mahler und Werner Mahler. Nach ihrer ersten intensiven Begegnung mit Design und Fotografie 2018 in Leipzig, zog sie nach Berlin, um an der Ostkreuzschule für Fotografie zu studieren. 2023 machte sie ihren Abschluss in der Klasse von Ina Schoenenburg. Ihr besonderes Interesse gilt der Erforschung von Identität und sozialen Strukturen – der Suche nach einem Platz in sich selbst und der Gesellschaft. Sie nähert sich diesen komplexen Themen durch analoge Porträts und Stillleben.
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