Irene and Günter

• Prize
  Bronze in Fine Art/People, Silver in Portraiture/Other
• Photographer
  Mirja Maria Thiel, Germany
• Date of Photograph
  07.06.2017
• Socials
• Website
  https://www.mirjamariathiel.com/

Sexuality and eroticism can last until very old age but are seldom openly shown or talked about in the media - and are therefore underrepresented in the consciousness of society. I got to know Irene (80) and Günter (79) for my series All This Love.

They are art enthusiasts and painters themselves who have a very loving connection to their own bodies and each other: "God has given us the gift of sexuality."

• Biography
  Mirja Maria Thiel, born in Hamburg in 1971, is a journalistic documentary photographer with a background in literature (1999, Master of Arts). From 2014 until 2019 she studied "Photojournalism and Documentary Photography" in Hanover. Mirja’s documentary narratives develope around memory and identity while exploring different aspects and personal stories of Alzheimer’s disease, and underrepresented issues of high age like the life-affirming power of sexuality and eroticism. She lives with her husband and their three children close to Bremen, Germany.
• Awards
  2020 Critical Mass (Photolucida, USA) Top 50 Photographer 2020 Winner (single) Portrait Of Humanity BJP/1854 2020 Shortlist Wellcome Photography Award (Mental Health/series 2020 Finalist Portraits - Hellerau Photography Award 2019 "Remarkable Artwork" (storyboard) Siena International Photo Awards 2019 Nominee Felix Schoeller Photo Award: (Best Work by an Emerging Photographer) 2019 Finalist Hahnemühle’s International Student Photo Competition 2019 Bronze Moscow International Foto Awards: Editorial-Photo Essay 2018 Silver Tokyo International Foto Awards: Portfolio-Personal 2018 Finalist: Student Award (World Report Award) 2018 Honorable Mention: IPA International Photography Award