Realize
Surfaces hold memory. To realize is to make conscious, to make real. What was always there, but unseen?
amateur category
Realize (Series)
DESCRIPTION
AUTHOR
My name is Michael Hagen. I began practicing photographic art in early 2025, after a serious illness forced me to leave my previous profession. During this period of crisis and transformation, art became a way to process inner experiences and reflect on questions of existence and change.
In my work, I explore what I describe as the “echoes of the seen”—the emotional and intuitive resonance that visual impressions leave within us. Using simple tools such as a smartphone and accessible editing software, I transform photographs into intuitive visual interpretations of perception, memory, and inner states. Through layering, fragmentation, and manipulation, I investigate both the materiality of the photograph and the subtle shifts of attention it can evoke.
EDITORIAL SELECTIONS & AWARDS
LensCulture Art Photography Awards 2026 – 2× Editors’ Pick
LensCulture Critics´ Choice Awards 2026 - 1 x Editors´ Pick
IPA 2025 – Official Selection, Honorable Mention
PX3 / TIFA / BIFA / ND Awards 2025 – multiple Honorable Mentions
LICC 2025 – Official Selection (multiple works)
EXHIBITIONS & COLLECTIONS
• TRIESTE PHOTO DAYS 2025: 10 artworks exhibited at Trieste Airport & ARCI Trieste, Italy.
• SALON FÜR KUNSTBUCH, VIENNA: Art books "VITA" & "Requiem" included in the permanent archive
In my work, I explore what I describe as the “echoes of the seen”—the emotional and intuitive resonance that visual impressions leave within us. Using simple tools such as a smartphone and accessible editing software, I transform photographs into intuitive visual interpretations of perception, memory, and inner states. Through layering, fragmentation, and manipulation, I investigate both the materiality of the photograph and the subtle shifts of attention it can evoke.
EDITORIAL SELECTIONS & AWARDS
LensCulture Art Photography Awards 2026 – 2× Editors’ Pick
LensCulture Critics´ Choice Awards 2026 - 1 x Editors´ Pick
IPA 2025 – Official Selection, Honorable Mention
PX3 / TIFA / BIFA / ND Awards 2025 – multiple Honorable Mentions
LICC 2025 – Official Selection (multiple works)
EXHIBITIONS & COLLECTIONS
• TRIESTE PHOTO DAYS 2025: 10 artworks exhibited at Trieste Airport & ARCI Trieste, Italy.
• SALON FÜR KUNSTBUCH, VIENNA: Art books "VITA" & "Requiem" included in the permanent archive
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