Documentary photography

Doc­u­men­tary pho­togra­phies are telling a story and giv­ing a voice to peo­ple and their actions from far away. It breaks the silence and con­nects the spec­tac­u­lar with the spec­ta­tor. It encour­ages us to see and  reflect. And it is one of the most demand­ing dis­ci­plines of pho­tog­ra­phy. Call­ing for open­ness, aware­ness and a good stomach.

How every­thing started

I was drawn to doc­u­men­tary pho­tog­ra­phy with 19 and when study­ing one sum­mer abroad in South Africa. I lived with a black fam­ily in Kim­ber­ley and made many acquain­tances from town­ships and small vil­lages in the desert. I was tak­ing pic­tures of them and their sur­round­ing, and when I met again with the other pupils of my exchange group at the air­port, I had pre­sented them with the ques­tion, If any of them had the chance to be in the town­ships, only one girl answered. “Yes, with an armored lim­ou­sine and police escort”. By then I was amazed of the expe­ri­ence I had made even more, but was dis­ap­pointed with my skills to cap­ture them. I even had for­got­ten my cam­era at the air­port in Kim­ber­ley in the hands of a big African Mama, with it my last and most pre­cious roll of film.
After that expe­ri­ence I could not not travel equipped with my cam­era. Allow­ing me to learn, to see and to let images speak. This desire has taken me to sev­eral places in the world, South Korea, Ethiopia and Nepal being some of the most impres­sive among them. Giv­ing me the lessons of life from another point of view and allow­ing me to cap­ture the places and peo­ple that enrich the habi­tat, that we call earth.

Being doc­u­men­tary pho­tog­ra­pher allows me to tell a story. Whether the one of the chil­dren in need in Ukraine, or of the cof­fee farm­ers in Ethiopia. My aim is to give voice to those who have none in our daily news and media. There­fore I am work­ing on top­ics with social relevance.

selected doc­u­men­tary projects

Jimma 42 – explor­ing the world of ethiopian cof­fee farm­ers
Our Kids – pho­to­series about a cen­ter for chil­dren in need
Red Star Lan­zarote – selected works for a Sur­f­camp in Lan­zarote
Like­wise – doc­u­men­tary pho­tog­ra­phy from Nepal, India and Korea
Lost in Par­adise – pho­tog­ra­phy from paradise

I am happy to dis­cover, learn and cover sto­ries related to cul­tural, social & eth­i­cal top­ics.
Please con­tact me, if you have a doc­u­men­tary project in mind.

Imagery & Vision
Alexander Klebe

tele­phone:  +49 151 275 70 458
email:  me (at) alexanderklebe.de

bright­side stu­dio berlin
grün­berg­er­strasse 48, 10245 Berlin