What happens when anarchy meets personality on stage? Ideally, it results in great moments of acting. The same is true in photography. With his unerring instinct for the street and fashion, renowned photographer Just Loomis brings the acting graduates of the class of 2027 in front of the camera.
Together, they roam through Berlin, search for locations, try out different roles, experiment with costumes and poses. With his experience and patience, Just Loomis encourages the young actors to develop their own ideas and reveals the essence of each individual. The result is 22 unique portraits. Each image tells a different story: sometimes provocative, sometimes intimate, sometimes revolutionary, sometimes dramatic. Just Loomis doesn’t simply create a portrait; he creates a moment where acting and photography converge. Simply great theater—Just Drama.
Just Loomis, born in 1957 in Reno, Nevada, has been living in his adopted home of Berlin for several years. He studied in Nevada and Pasadena. Beginning in 1980, he worked as an assistant to Helmut Newton. In the 1980s, he was a fashion photographer in Milan and received a Grammy nomination for the cover of Aha’s album *Hunting High and Low*. From 1985 to 1997, he worked as a fashion photographer in New York for *Harper’s Bazaar* and *The New York Times Magazine*. Since 1995, portrait and documentary photography. Projects for DreamWorks and Warner Brothers Records. Exhibitions in Santa Monica, New York, Berlin, Paris, and Oslo. Starting in 2013, he began photographing at the Volksbühne and other German theaters, most recently at the Schauspielhaus Hamburg, the Burgtheater in Vienna, the Lausitz Festival, and many others. In 2017, under the title *Rausch und Kontrolle* (*Intoxication and Control*), he documented the final weeks of the legendary Berlin Volkstheater under Frank Castorf in a book and exhibition.
Concept and photography: Just Loomis (@justloomis), in collaboration with the Class of 2027 (@ernstbusch27)
Production: Just Loomis, Laura Diehl
Assistants: Julica Raudonat, Luna Eselebor, Yaiza Otero
Printing & proofing: Jens Rosendahl
With thanks to MaHalla Berlin
Class of 2027 @ernstbusch27:
Framework program
☞ Sign-up for PiE’s free, weekly Newsletter and stay up to date!
Starting Monday, Oct 5, 2026
Soft Opening
Wed, Oct 14 & Thu, Oct 15, 2026, 10 am – 1:30 pm (incl. break)
Graduates’ Final Showcase
For industry professionals and invited guests. For further information and registration, please contact presse@hfs-berlin.de.
The exhibition is open to the public free of charge during the university’s regular opening hours: Mon – Fri 8 am – 11 pm, Sat 9:30 am – 10 pm.
