Traces of Becoming

• Prize
  Honorable Mention
• Photographer
  Michael Hagen, Germany
• Date of Photograph
  June 2025
• Instagram
  @mhio_71

In Traces of Becoming, emergence and dissolution weave a dialogue of light, matter, and myth—an echo of my own path. The series moves inward and outward, beginning in quiet reflection, touching on time, resilience, and transience. It opens the gaze to shifting perspectives, letting one feel the gentle ache of hubris. From insight and surrender grows the choice not just to shape oneself, but to join a greater whole. In the end, the outer path turns inward, inviting pause, feeling, and the completion of becoming and fading through personal understanding.

In my work, I explore what I describe as the “Echoes of the Seen”—the emotional and intuitive resonance that visual impressions leave within us. Using simple tools such as a smartphone and accessible editing software, I transform photographs into intuitive visual interpretations of perception, memory, and inner states. Through layering, fragmentation, and manipulation, I investigate both the materiality of the photograph and the subtle shifts of attention it can evoke.

A central part of my current practice is translating these visual explorations into tactile artist books.

Awards Public Collections & Archives

The artist books VITA, Requiem, and Immersive have been accepted into permanent collections and research archives.

Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF), Richelieu Historic Site / Department of Prints and Photography, Paris, France (VITA, Requiem, Immersive)
Cambridge University Library, Cambridge, UK (Immersive)
The Getty Research Institute Library, Los Angeles, USA (Immersive)
Tate Britain, London, UK (Immersive)
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain (VITA, Requiem, Immersive)
State Library Victoria, Melbourne (AUS) – [VITA, Requiem, Immersive]
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands (VITA, Requiem, Immersive)
Centre des livres d'artistes (CDLA), Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche, France (VITA, Requiem, Immersive)
ZKM | Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany (Integrated into the Heyne/Neusüß Photo Archive, Immersive)
Deutsches Buch- und Schriftmuseum der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek (DBSM), Leipzig, Germany (VITA, Requiem, Immersive)
Hasselblad Foundation, Gothenburg, Sweden (VITA, Requiem)
Franklin Furnace Archive, New York, USA (VITA, Requiem)
National Gallery of Canada Library & Archives, Ottawa, Canada (Immersive)
Kunstbibliothek, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany (VITA, Requiem)
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich, Germany (VITA, Requiem, Immersive)
Klingspor Museum, Offenbach, Germany (VITA, Requiem, Immersive)
Art- and Museum Library / Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany (VITA, Requiem)
Fondazione MAXXI - Biblioteca MAXXI, Rome, Italy (VITA, Requiem, Immersive)
Instituto Moreira Salles (IMS), Biblioteca de Fotografia, São Paulo, Brazil (VITA, Requiem, Immersive)
Museum of Art & Photography (MAP), Bengaluru, India (VITA, Requiem, Immersive)
Jack Ginsberg Centre for Book Arts, Johannesburg, South Africa (VITA, Requiem, Immersive)
Saxon State and University Library (SLUB), Dresden, Germany (VITA, Requiem)
Salon für Kunstbuch, Vienna, Austria – Permanent Archive of Bernhard Cella (VITA, Requiem)