Andy Spyra

“Usually in photography, and especially in German photography, there is a tendency to overthink images until there are no emotions left. Shooting with the Holga was a more direct and emotional approach to photography that relied on instincts—not light and composition and all the other ingredients that usually define a ‘good’ photograph.”
Andy Spyra is a German photographer, who was born in 1984 in Hagen. After graduation, he traveled through Central America and Southeast Asia, where he discovered his love for photography. From 2007 to 2009 he studied photojournalism and documentary photography at the University of Applied Sciences in Hannover.

For his outstanding stories, which happens beside conflict situation, he was not only honored with prizes such as the “Getty Images Grant for Editorial Photography“, but also achieved international acclaim for his photographic work, such as the “New Yorker“, or the “Time Magazine.“
The German newspaper “Zeit“ devoted a whole title page story to his last major photo project about the chaotic life in afghan villages during the war, such as Abdul Khel.

“The hate and the hope“

https://www.zeit.de/zeit-magazin/2018-03/afghanistan-dorf-abdul-khel-krieg-bewohner-bg
 
To document the unseen and to transform it in an aesthetic way, that is what the project 'Humanity & Earth' was about.
The aim of the mentors was to help participants to develop their own visual language, so that they can focus on important issues, which affects the future of the next generations.
The photographer Andy Spyra brings the message of the topic on point with his own words:

"For me it takes a radical ecological overthinking to offer a dignified life not only to us and our children, but also to all other living beings in this world."

All in all the photoworkshop has not only trained the participants in photography expertise, but also provided a new generation of photographers with the tools to document such relevant issues to the society. To build up photoseries, which are based on true stories, is the best way to combine facts and emotions with the aim to effect something great.