Caroline Heinecke (b. 1986 in Nordhausen, Germany) is a Berlin-based photographer specializing in conceptual still life and documentary photography. She studied Visual Communication at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences in Dessau and later refined her artistic approach at the Ostkreuzschule für Fotografie in Berlin. Her work explores the interplay between objects, memory, and human perception, often focusing on how meaning is assigned to seemingly ordinary things. A central theme in her practice is the act of collecting and preserving. In her work on collectors of unusual objects, she shifts the perspective from the individual to the collected, questioning what gives an object value and how human perception transforms the overlooked into something meaningful. Her creative process involves extensive research, fieldwork, and precise visual composition. Whether through staged still lifes or documentary-style imagery, she creates visually striking narratives that blur the boundaries between abstraction and storytelling. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at Les Rencontres de la Photographie d’Arles (2022), Copenhagen Photo Festival (2020), and Villa Grisebach (2024), and has been featured in various publications.
mail@carolineheinecke.com
@caroline.heinecke
Exhibitions
Hypnotic State, Group Show, AFF Gallery, Berlin, 2025
FOTOFILMIC, Bowen Island, Canada, 2025
Paw Paradox, Solo Show, BRUNG Gallery, Berlin, 2024
Paw Paradox, Group Show, Art space Kreuzberg, Bethanien, Berlin, 2024
Grisebach x DER GREIF, Group show, Grisebach, München, Berlin, 2024
Herr der Dinge/Master of Things, Holsten Art, 2023
Herr der Dinge/Master of Things, Marburg, 2023
Brick, Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort, Sept 2022 – Jan 2023
Bloemen, Brinkman+Bergsma, Amsterdam, 2022
Les Rencontres d'Arles, FOTOHAUS | PARISBERLIN, Espace MLB, Group Show, Arles, 2022
Art Island, Brinkman+Bergsma, Amsterdam, 2022
A9 A6 A5, Group Show, Delphi Space, Freiburg, 2022
High Noon, Group show, Van Zijll Langhout Contemporary Art, Amsterdam 2021
Hamburg Portfolio Review Group Show, Photopia fair, Hamburg, 2021
High Noon, Group Show, Wellenmaschine, Berlin 2021
NEXUS, Room 1, XLVI Space, Online Exhibition 2021
Herr der Dinge/Master of Things, Group Show VIERZEHN, Treptow Ateliers, Berlin 2021
Herr der Dinge/Master of Things, Copenhagen Photo Festival, The Censored Exhibition, 2020
Herr der Dinge/Master of Things, 7th LUMIX Festival, Hanover, 2020
Fernwärme – photographic positions, Biesdorf Palace, group exhibition, Berlin, 2019
Staged, PH21 Gallery, Budapest, 2019
Interviews and Features
Der Greif Alumni, Paw Paradox, 2024
De Correspondent, 2024
Fisheye photothèque, 2024
Der Greif x Grisebach Online Auction, 2024
Fisheye Magazine Part 2, 2023
Fisheye Magazine, 2023
Catnip Magazine, 2023
Der Greif, The Collectivity Issue, 2022
Milkxtaiwan, 2022
Hamburg Portfolio Review Participant, 2021
Pétala Magazine by Studio Saudari, 2021
2020edited (New York Edited)
Top 250 PHmuseum Stories of 2020
Der Greif Guest Blog, 2020
Stern, Special Issue No. 3, Review of the year, 2020
Der Greif Artist Feature
Photonews, January 2020
Stern no. 47, large colour feature, 2020
Der Greif #13, 2020
Photographic Museum of Humanity PHOTOGRAPHY GRANT Shortlist, 2020
Das UND, 2019
Tagesspiegel, Berlin Art, 2019
Books & Publications
Herr der Dinge, Artist-Edition of 100, 140 pages, self published, 2021
Petschafte, Groenke Collection, 2019
Fernwärme – photographic positions, 2019
Prints
the-copy.shop
Awards & Nominations
2021 Kassel Book Dummy Award, Shortlisted
2021 German Photo Book Award, Silver in the category Student project
2020 C/O Berlin Talent Award Nominee, series HERR DER DINGE / MASTERS OF THINGS
Commercial Representation
Julia Waldmann
Lectures & Workshops
Uni Potsdam, Bildungsforum, 6. Internationale Semiotische Woche, 2025
Hochschule Anhalt Dessau, Design Department, 2023
Education
2008 – 2011 Visual Communication at Hochschule-Anhalt Dessau
2017 – 2020 Photography at Ostkreuzschule Berlin
Selected Clients
Aldi
Berliner Zeitung
Bloomberg Businessweek
Capital Magazin
De Correspondent
Der Spiegel
Die Zeit
Emotion Magazin
Zeit Campus
Zeit Magazin
Zeit Verbrechen
All images and concepts appearing on this website are the exclusive property of Caroline Heinecke, unless stated otherwise. Copyright © 2021 Caroline Heinecke. All rights reserved. The images may not be reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without prior written permission.