Tobias Zielony
Tobias Zielony (born 1973) is a German photographer and short filmmaker, living in Berlin. He has made work about communities at the margins of society, such as young people. In 2015, Zielony's series on African refugees in Germany, the Citizen, co-represented the country at the Venice Biennale and was shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize.
Tobias Zielony

RomanDeckert · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- Tobias Zielony
- Born
- 1973
- Birthplace
- Wuppertal, Germany
- Education
- University of Wales, Newport, Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig
- Occupation
- Photographer
- Nationality
- Germany
- Honours
- Karl Ströher Award
- Languages
- German
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Tobias Zielony (born 1973) is a German photographer and short filmmaker, living in Berlin. He has made work about communities at the margins of society, such as young people. In 2015, Zielony's series on African refugees in Germany, the Citizen, co-represented the country at the Venice Biennale and was shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Tobias Zielony. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q1389607 · wikipedia · Tobias Zielony
In this article
Biography
Biography
He had a mid-career retrospective at Museum Folkwang in Essen, Germany in 2021 and his work is held in the collection of Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The recorded working language is German. Employment is recorded with Academy of Media Arts Cologne. Work by Tobias Zielony is recorded in the collections of ZKM Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe and Berlinische Galerie. Distinctions recorded are Karl Ströher Award.

Presentation of the artists for the German Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2015 (left to right): Hito Steyerl, Tobias Zielony, Florian Ebner (curator), Philip Rizk, Jasmina Metwaly, Olaf Nicolai - at Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin-Kreuzberg
RomanDeckert
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Tobias Zielony • Born — 1973 • Birthplace — Wuppertal, Germany • Education — University of Wales, Newport, Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig • Occupation — Photographer
Biography
Biography
Zielony was born in Wuppertal, Germany. From 1998 to 2001, he studied documentary photography at the University of Wales, Newport in Wales. From 2001 to 2006, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig. He now lives in Berlin.
Solo exhibitions
Solo exhibitions
• Tobias Zielony. The Fall, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany, 2021. A mid-career retrospective of photography and video.
Group exhibitions
Group exhibitions
• German pavilion, 55th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy, 2015. Curated by Florian Ebner.
Books by Zielony
• Behind the Block. Leipzig: Institut für Buchkunst, 2004.. • Tobias Zielony. Marion-Ermer-Preis; Universitätsverlag, Weimar, 2004.. • The Cast. Berlin: C/O Berlin; Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2007.. • Trona: Armpit of America. Leipzig: Spector Books, 2008.. • Story / No Story. Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz, 2010.. • Manitoba. Leipzig: Spector, 2011.. • Jenny Jenny. Leipzig: Spector, 2013.. • Vele. Leipzig: Spector, 2014.. • The Fall. Leipzig: Spector, 2021.. A series of six books, each including a text or work of fiction by one of Dora Koderhold, Joshua Groß, Sophia Eisenhut, Enis Maci, Mazlum Nergiz and Jakob Nolte. Published on the occasion of a retrospective exhibition at Museum Folkwang. In English and German.
Films
• Big Sexyland (2008) – 3 mins • The Deboard (2008) – 8 mins • Le Vele di Scampia (2009) – 9 mins • Der Brief (The Letter) (2013) – 5 mins • Kalandia Kustom Kar Kommandos (Dream Lover) (2014) – 4 mins • Al-Akrab (2014) – 7 mins • Tamil Stars (2016) – 9 mins • Alles (Chemnitz) (2002, 2017) – 6 mins • Maskirovka (2018) – 8 mins
Collections
Collections
Zielony's work is held in the following permanent collection: • Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: 5 prints (as of 25 September 2022)
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Tobias Zielony”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q1389607: Tobias Zielony
General reference · Wikidata
Awards
• One of four shortlisted, Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize, London, 2015 for the Citizen
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Kito Nedo: . Interview mit Zielony in: art – Das Kunstmagazin, 17. Juni 2009.
- 2.Tobias Zielony. Story/No Story. Ausstellung im Museum für Photographie Braunschweig, 2008.
- 3.Tobias Zielony. Manitoba. Ausstellung im Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, 2011.
- 4.Archivseite 2015 des Deutschen Pavillons, Venedig.
- 5.Tobias Zielony. The Fall / von Tobias Zielony, Sophia Eisenhut, Joshua Gross, Dora Koderhold, Enis Maci, Mazlum Nergiz, Jakob Nolte.
- 6.HFBK: Tobias Zielony.
- 7.Tobias Zielonys Heimatbilder aus dem Prekariat in FAZ vom 17. November 2017, Seite 13
- 8.In weiter Nähe, so fern in FAZ vom 25. Juni 2013, Seite 30
- 9.Bandenwesen und Stammeskultur in FAZ vom 12. November 2011, Seite 50
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Photography
11,392 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Tjalf SparnaayPhotographer
- Tjaša IrisPhotographer
- Tjokorda Gde Raka SoekawatiPhotographer
- Tobi BakrePhotographer
- Toby AmiesPhotographer
- Toby GlanvillePhotographer
- Toby McFarlan PondPhotographer
- Tod PapageorgePhotographer
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Tobias Zielony?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.