"I found myself in the position where I was always looking, you know, observing. I was always behind rather than in front, and I think somehow there, the dream, the desire, was born to become a photographer." - Jessica Backhaus
Jessica Backhaus was born in Cuxhaven, Germany in 1970 and grew up in an artistic family. At the age of sixteen, she moved to Paris, where she later studied photography and visual communications. Backhaus met famed photographer Gisele Freund in Paris in 1992. Freund was an important mentor and major source of inspiration for Backhaus’ early work. In 1995, Backhaus’ passion for photography drew her to New York, where she assisted photographers, pursued her own projects and lived until 2009.
Backhaus is regarded as one of the most distinguished voices in contemporary photography in Germany today. Her work has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including the National Portrait Gallery, London, and the Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin. To date, she has fivepublications to her name:Jesus and the Cherries, 2005; What Still Remains, 2008;One Day in November, 2008;I Wanted to See the World, 2010; and Once, Still and Forever, 2012, all published by Kehrer Verlag, Heidelberg.
Based in Berlin, Backhaus divides her time between Europe and the United States.
Collections
Taunus Sparkasse, Bad Homburg, Germany
Art Collection Deutsche Börse, Germany
Arendt Art Collection, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Margulies Collection, Miami, Florida, United States
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, United States
Fred and Laura Ruth Bidwell Collection, Akron, Ohio, United States
ING Art Collection, Belgium
Fonds National d'Art Contemporain (FNAC), France
Artothèque de Passac, France
Alexander Tutsek Foundation, Germany
Art Collection, Cleveland Clinic, United States
Private Collections, Europe and the United States