Born 1983 in Mainz (Germany), lives in Berlin (Germany). He was raised in Sao Paulo (Brasil) and Mainz (Germany). After finishing high school, he attended university. Initially studying architecture, he changed focus and ultimately completed his Bachelor in Fine Arts in 2014 at the Berliner Technische Kunsthochschule and has since participated in several international shows. He has lived, travelled to and worked in South America, Europe, South East Asia, Western Africa and North America. Thomas Friedrich Schaefer had the opportunity to observe different social and familial environments within distinct communities. Since moving back to Germany, he has tried to assess his memories and his past within his images. He recently finished a long-term photographic project creating and documenting elaborately staged environments that play on the essence of fragmented childhood memories. The project required him to construct staged rooms using technical skills which he obtained early in his studies while studying architecture and engineering. Thomas continues to stage images in his studio in Berlin. His work includes hyper-realistic sets that provide the narrative framework to moments of interpersonal relationship. What seem like irrelevant and forgettable moments take on an importance and poignancy. 

I am mad about the forest, the fog, the sea. There is an halo in the details that appear in my photographs. Nothing is casual in the silence of melancholy living in the mood I capture. My private life affects the shoot. I grew up in a volcanic island called Tenerife plenty of nature and energy. I came to Berlin in 2008 after finishing my Journalism Bachelor´s degree in Madrid, I also studied Photo Edition at the Ostkreuzschule in Berlin and nowadays I am working as photo editor and photographer.

Severin Matusek is the founder of co-matter, a platform that explores what makes communities thrive. He likes bicycles, film photography and reading the newspaper on a Sunday morning.

Designer and Developer

I’m a multidisciplinary designer with 7+ years experience in in-house and freelance design environment. My practice focuses on products, design research and brand identities – mainly at the intersection of culture and technology. Currently, I’m based in Berlin and working as Designer and Managing Director at Minge+Schmidt.