Eleven glances on happiness. Eleven photographic and, at the same time, personal perspectives on life, community, nature and the space in between. Portraits, landscapes, scenes from everyday life.

Small, big, loud or quiet moments of bliss: over the past year, the participants in Anne Schwalbe’s seminar at the Ostkreuzschule für Fotografie met on ten Sundays to seek out, find and now present these moments through their photographs in this exhibition.

With works by Peter Czikowski, Angela Giebner, Patricia Haas, Christina Häublein, Peter Jacoby, Sibylle Kölmel, Christiane Landgraf, Maria Langhammer, Matthias Merz, Barbara Seyerlein, Mara Stöhr.

Angela Giebner | Seven Heavens

Four cardinal directions that give us orientation.
The heavenly ladder, the ascent and descent between earth and sky, which Jacob sees in a vision of a dream.
To reach for the stars. Heaven is full of violins. To be in seventh heaven. To lie through one’s teeth. To promise the moon.
Sky blue lifts our mood. Yet, no blue light source exists. The air molecules merely scatter the blue component of sunlight more strongly than the other spectral colors. There is so much to tell about the sky.
Looking into the sky, observing its vastness, its radiant and muted colors, its moods and faces, makes me happy.

Instagram: @angelafoto

Barbara Seyerlein | Ice Bathing

Ice-cold water. Submerging. Every single nerve is wide awake. In this moment, there is only the here and now. Ice bathing is more than a test of courage. Feeling oneself, perceiving one’s own body with unforeseen clarity. The cold strips away everything that is superfluous. What remains is the sheer moment of immersion. What initially feels like an individual experience transforms into a sense of community. You look at each other, laugh, hesitate, and together take the step into the water. From this experience, a quiet happiness grows. Not a loud, fleeting happiness, but one that spreads through the body: warm despite the cold, light despite the effort. A wave surges through the body, one that can be felt for a long time to come.

Website: barbaraseyerlein.de | Instagram: @barbaraseyerlein

Christiane Landgraf | The Singing Gang

Singing makes you happy. In Zernikow, the 100-soul village in the Uckermark where I live, a group meets weekly to sing together. Anyone can join in – out of the joy of singing, community, life, or simply curiosity.
I set out to explore what this “Singing Gang” and singing in general means to each of us.
The Uckermark is often called the “Tuscany of the North,” a sparsely populated region with vast landscapes, lakes, large fields, and tranquility in the villages. However, it lacks a village shop or a local pub. The Wednesday meetings of the Singing Gang are a welcome change: we sing, talk, laugh, and share moments of joy and sorrow. Mutual support and a warm, open community are deeply important to us.
We sing folk songs, occasionally pop hits or humorous songs – anything that brings joy. Sometimes a song sticks, becoming a catchy tune that carries the good mood all the way back home.

Website: christianelandgraf.myportfolio.com | Instagram: @landfotograf_um

Christina Häublein | Enough

I stand here. Seeing the moment. My body vibrates.

I collect

Glances.
Stories.
Relationships.
Light and shadow.

Small things that vanish so easily.

Too often, I didn’t trust my own truths and lost myself in the worlds of others.

Then I learned
to follow myself and my images.
To find myself again in the moment.
To feel.
Entirely.
To be connected.

Now you stand here. Seeing my moments.
What do you feel?

Website: christina-haeublein.de | Instagram: @handgemacht.magazin

Mara Stöhr | Guardians

A key, a cat, a linden tree: How can we think of happiness outside of patriarchal and capitalist concepts? “Guardians” seeks answers to this within the feminist centers “Paula Panke” in Weißensee and Pankow. While funding for protection against violence continues to be cut in Berlin, safe spaces for exchange, solidarity, and refuge are created and guarded there every single day.

Instagram: @marasthr

Maria Langhammer | Hildegarten

Maria Langhammer explored happiness in a community garden in Leipzig. Between garden beds and the changing seasons, in active doing and in pausing, together or alone.
The Hildegarten is an urban community garden located at the Bürgerbahnhof Plagwitz. On this former industrial wasteland, plums and medlars now grow alongside potatoes and herbs. Here, people of various ages and backgrounds come together to garden, exchange ideas, and collaboratively organize events such as flea markets or open-air summer cinemas.

Matthias Merz | The Garden

A garden in the middle of the city. A piece of nature.
A sanctuary. Inner peace. Quality of life. Happiness.

Website: matthiasmerz.com | Instagram: @matthias_merz

Patricia Haas | Men and Plants

Following her previous work “Gefährtin” (Female Companion) about women and animals, these portraits mark the beginning of a new series focusing on men and plants. It opens up a perspective where men are shown in contexts of care, vulnerability, patience, and dependency. Like animals, plants are living organisms that require care, time, and attention; however, compared to a dog, for example, they do not move, do not react immediately, and make no sound. Typically male traits such as dominance, strength, and drive are not what is needed here.

Website: patriciahaas.com | Instagram: @patricia__haas

Peter Czikowski | Colors of Gemstones – Faces in Dance – Togetherness: In Search

Website: bergedorfer-fotoclub.de | Instagram: @czikowskipeter

Peter Jacoby

“Happiness is a side order of french fries.”
Snoopy – Cartoon Dog

Website: peterjacoby.de | Instagram: @peter_jacoby_post

Sibylle Kölmel | Support

Seven years ago, my mother fell ill with ALS. During the pandemic in 2020 and during the lockdown, she passed away, very lonely in a care facility. Only four years later, my father passed away. Throughout all this time, I had my dog Amadeus by my side, a male Golden Retriever who is now seven years old. He was an immense source of support for me. I dedicate this analog-photographed series to him. It shows some of our many walking paths – both at home and while traveling.

Website: sibyllekoelmel.de | Instagram: @sibyllekoelmel

Thursday, Sep 24, 2026, 7:30 pm
Opening Reception

Also opening at Kunstquartier Bethanien | Projektraum that day at 7 pm:
Ostkreuzschule für Fotografie × Kunstquartier Bethanien | Halten – Seminar Ina Schoenenburg