Festival für zeitgenössische Fotografie
Sarah Koller
Wildcard-Winner
Ortwein Graz
My name is Sarah Koller. I grew up in Gratkorn, a small suburb of Graz in Austria. While the area itself offered limited cultural infrastructure, my way of seeing was shaped early on by an environment that felt open and unconventional. A contemporary circus family lived next door. The house of my great-grandparents, where I grew up with my mother, was decorated with elaborate wall paintings created by my family. This environment became a space that stood for openness, creativity, and otherness. These experiences had a lasting impact on my worldview and instilled in me an early awareness for diversity, alternative perspectives, and forms of expression beyond social conventions
I graduated from HLW Schrödinger in Graz in 2019. The year that followed was an important period of searching and orientation. Through travelling and gathering experiences, I slowly found my way toward photography as a medium that allowed me to observe, question, and reflect on the world around me. This led me to enroll in the three-year photography program at the Ortweinschule in Graz, a school that combines practical and theoretical training in professional photography. Following my diploma, our class presented our works at Schaumbad, an independent artist-run studio house and cultural space in Graz. Alongside exhibiting my own work, I was involved in the curatorial process.
Foto: Sarah Koller; FOMO Ort: Unterwäsche Herunter, Stempfergasse 7, 8010 Graz
14. April – 15. Mai 2026