/ 2026 / Fine Art / Abstract

• Prize
  Honorable Mention
• Photographer
  Ronald Stoecker, Germany
• Date of Photograph
  2022-2023
• Studio
  Skd-Graphics
• Website
  https://ronald-stoecker-photography.com/
• Instagram
  https://www.instagram.com/rost_art_1405/

Today all is smart. Deep within systems and every function lies a core that endows "life": a Smart Core. It appears indispensable, significant, endlessly agile, and inexorably modern. But what defines such a core, how might we imagine its “life,” its vitality, its joy and its sorrow? Can a smart entity feel, recognize me, or even recognize itself? Yet I relish imagining, in my own fantasy, a simmering beneath the surface, a cool contemplation, a troubled stance, even bright joy and profound melancholy within that core. I see forms and functions, I sense movement and insight.

Ronald Stoecker

born 1954 in Essen, initially studied and graduated as PhD in Biology and Chemistry, after retirement lives and works now as freelance artist in Essen, Germany using digital and analogue photography as well as scanning- and print techniques and mixed media formats, between 2015-2021 studied photography and media art at freie Akademie der bildenden Künste in Essen (fadbk, HBK) in photography and media – graduated as master student in 2021

Awards 2026 Longlisted for Publication (Book) – Begegnungen im Fokus, Goldene Segel Art Prize 2026, Bad Zwischenahn
2026 First Price and Exhibition Winner, Abstract Art Photography Competition, Artist Space Gallery
2026 Exhibition “Faces”, The Final Notice, Exhibition Winner, Artists Space Gallery, NY
2026 Merit Award, Portrait Contest 2026, GCG , Houston, Texas US
2025 Selected Photography Art Award 2026, LensCulture, Amsterdam, NL
2025 Selected 3rd Winner, Abstract Art Competition, Grey Cube Gallery, Houston, Texas, US
2025 Merit Award, Still Life Contest, Grey Cube Gallery, Houston, Texas, US