Arne Piepke
Based on True Events
“Based on True Events”, documents war reenactments in Europe with the aim of questioning the understanding of historical wars and confronting viewers with the paradoxical aesthetics of war. It raises questions about how history is created and accessed, as well as which aspects of it may be forgotten or repressed.
His work is based on recreations of the Napoleonic Wars of Liberation, the American Civil War, and both World Wars in Belgium, France, and Germany. With each of these recreations, the real events behind them are constantly reinterpreted and, therefore, run the risk of being altered. The reenactments always present a sort of perfect war that cannot fully represent death, displacement, and trauma.
Through his photography, the over-aestheticization of these representations is highlighted to evoke the tension between truth and fiction. The question arises: what understanding of war is conveyed here and how do we want to remember these wars?
Winner of the third prize in the 2024 Open Call edition.
Arne Piepke (Dortmund, Germany)
Is a photographer who grew up in a small village in Germany. He questions how people find their identity and how they are influenced by their environment and history.
With his photographic essays, he seeks to offer an alternative and surprising vision, thus contributing to a deeper examination and a better mutual understanding.
He holds a degree in photography from the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Dortmund.
He is a founding member of DOCKS, a collective of five documentary photographers who operate under a shared mindset of openness, honesty, and sensitivity.
His photos have been published in the Washington Post, New York Times Magazine, Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin, Der SPIEGEL, ZEIT online, and LeMonde.
In 2023, he won the Lucie Foundation Scholarship in the Professional Fine Arts category; in 2020, he received the Annual Student Photography Award and also the PDNedu Student Competition.
Winner of the third prize in the 2024 Open Call edition.
