Aline Papenheim
(*1997, Germany; they/them)
(*1997, Germany; they/them)
I am a non-binary photographer, visual artist, writer, and artistic researcher based in The Hague.
Working through a queer and neurodivergent lens, I reflect on how systems of control shape identity, belonging, and perception, and create imagined alternative worlds from within them. My work moves between documentary and fiction and remains conceptual and emotional. It explores the spaces between memory and imagination, the body and the landscape, queerness and ecology — searching for gestures of care and resistance within structures of power. I move between the personal and the political, zooming in to tell intimate stories and zooming out to question the systems that frame them, holding contradictions in between.
Working through a queer and neurodivergent lens, I reflect on how systems of control shape identity, belonging, and perception, and create imagined alternative worlds from within them. My work moves between documentary and fiction and remains conceptual and emotional. It explores the spaces between memory and imagination, the body and the landscape, queerness and ecology — searching for gestures of care and resistance within structures of power. I move between the personal and the political, zooming in to tell intimate stories and zooming out to question the systems that frame them, holding contradictions in between.
I grew up in a rural Christian village in western Germany, a place shaped by post-war labour, hunter traditions, and strict gender roles — a place where I never felt I belonged. I left for cities, only to find that dominant narratives ruled there too, just in different ways.
Through photography, visual art, and writing I found my voice — a space to express what I had been missing within the anthropocentric frameworks of patriarchal and capitalist ideology.
Through photography, visual art, and writing I found my voice — a space to express what I had been missing within the anthropocentric frameworks of patriarchal and capitalist ideology.
I like to unlearn what I was taught, and to teach myself what I want to know.
I like to listen, often more than I talk.
I like to imagine how things could be softer and more accessible.
I like rawness, because it reminds me of nature.
I don’t like binaries, hierarchies, or competition disguised as progress.
I don’t like dominance, violence, or control.
And I don’t like systems that decide who belongs and who does not.
I like to listen, often more than I talk.
I like to imagine how things could be softer and more accessible.
I like rawness, because it reminds me of nature.
I don’t like binaries, hierarchies, or competition disguised as progress.
I don’t like dominance, violence, or control.
And I don’t like systems that decide who belongs and who does not.
Photo by Nikos Kapetanios
Education & Work Experience
Today
Independent Photographer, Visual Artist & Designer
— Aline Pape, NL
Co-Teacher New Photo Economy
with Marga Rotteveel
Royal Academy of Arts, The Hague, NL
2023–2025
Master of Arts in Fine Art and Design
Photography & Society
Royal Academy of Arts, The Hague, Netherlands
with Marga Rotteveel
Royal Academy of Arts, The Hague, NL
2023–2025
Master of Arts in Fine Art and Design
Photography & Society
Royal Academy of Arts, The Hague, Netherlands
2019–2025
Independent Photographer & Visual Designer, GER
Independent Photographer & Visual Designer, GER
2019–2023
Scientific Assistant, Photography Department
FH Aachen University of Applied Science, Germany
2017–2022
Bachelor of Arts
Communicationdesign
FH Aachen University of Applied Science, Germany
graduated with the Badge of Honor of FH Aachen
Scientific Assistant, Photography Department
FH Aachen University of Applied Science, Germany
2017–2022
Bachelor of Arts
Communicationdesign
FH Aachen University of Applied Science, Germany
graduated with the Badge of Honor of FH Aachen
2014–2017
Vocational Diploma & Training as a Design-technical-assistant
Berufskolleg Bergkloster Bestwig, Germany
Vocational Diploma & Training as a Design-technical-assistant
Berufskolleg Bergkloster Bestwig, Germany
Exhibitions
2025
03
push pull shift (g)
Živi Atelje DK, Zagreb, HR
push pull shift (g)
Živi Atelje DK, Zagreb, HR
in collabortation with MA Photography & Society: Alberto Vidal Bernedo, Andrea Stultiens, Anastasia Miseyko, Azin Nafar Haghighi, Eva Chapkin, Fabio Meinardi, Fenna Jensma, Gundega Strauberga, Hana Selena Sokolović, Joanna Demarco, Julie de Ruijter, Khalil Döring, Matteo Montaldo, Mirko Pirisi, Nadia Sheikh, Nikos Kapetanios, Odysseas Tsompanoglou, Raisa Durandi, Sara Ito and Sarah-Rose Antoun.
2024
06
00:05:59 (g)
Paradise, Den Haag, NL
00:05:59 (g)
Paradise, Den Haag, NL
in collabortation with Ambassade Van De Noordzee & Doggerland Foundation and MA Photography & Society: Ana Alves Francisco, Anastasia Miseyko, Andong Zheng, Azin Nafar Haghighi, Fabio Meinardi, Gundega Strauberga, Hana Selena Sokolović, Jeroen Zwaap, Marna Slappendel, Niside Panebianco, and Sarah-Rose Antoun.
03
Fragments in Transit (g)
Beetroot Studio, Thessaloniki, GR
in collabortation with MA Photography & Society: Ana Alves Francisco, Anastasia Miseyko, Andong Zheng, Azin Nafar Haghighi, Fabio Meinardi, Gundega Strauberga, Hana Selena Sokolović, Jeroen Zwaap, Marna Slappendel, Niside Panebianco, and Sarah-Rose Antoun.
2023
09
Nouvelles Masculinités (g)
Galerie M, Paris, FR
Nouvelles Masculinités (g)
Galerie M, Paris, FR
with Ava Bob, Auréline Roy, Alexandre Dinaut, Ame Blary, Anaïs Alaoui, Karine Coutet, Philippe Mirabeau and Sasha Mongin
08–09
Allianzen – Aachen Fotofestival 2023 (g)
Raststätte, Aachen, GER
Allianzen – Aachen Fotofestival 2023 (g)
Raststätte, Aachen, GER
with Iris Hilgers, curated by Nina Mika-Helfmeier
07–08
Up And Coming – Förderpreis für junge Buchgestaltung 2023 (g)
in collabortation with Gravur Verlag
einBuch.haus, Berlin, GER
Up And Coming – Förderpreis für junge Buchgestaltung 2023 (g)
in collabortation with Gravur Verlag
einBuch.haus, Berlin, GER
with Schima Köchermann, Clara Happ, Franziska Junge, Marcel Raabe, Daniel Zakharov, Anna Herms, Matthias Hübner, Sarah Hübscher, and Christopher Kreutchen.
06
Modern Gender Exhibition and Book Tour (s)
in collabortation with Gravur Verlag
&wieder, Cologne, GER
Modern Gender Exhibition and Book Tour (s)
in collabortation with Gravur Verlag
&wieder, Cologne, GER
06
Modern Gender Exhibition and Book Tour (s)
in collabortation with Gravur Verlag
Studio Hausen, Hamburg, GER
Modern Gender Exhibition and Book Tour (s)
in collabortation with Gravur Verlag
Studio Hausen, Hamburg, GER
06
Modern Gender Exhibition and Book Tour (s)
in collabortation with Gravur Verlag
GE59, Berlin, GER
Modern Gender Exhibition and Book Tour (s)
in collabortation with Gravur Verlag
GE59, Berlin, GER
05
Modern Gender (s)
Galerie M, Paris, FR
Modern Gender (s)
Galerie M, Paris, FR
2022
12
Fun in the Sun (g)
Schnörres, Cologne, GER
with Jakub Koncir, Kalouna Toulakoun, Mo Schmittem, Leo Drenker, Lisa Pröbsting, Chiara Baluch, Alexander Seichter, Henk Aaron Szanto, Leonie Braun, Niels Freidel, Ute Behrend, Pusher Tony, Thekla Ehling, Pol et Simon, Serena Dallabetta, Philipp Treudt, Wolfgang Zurborn, Saskia Kinast and Antonia Gruber
2021
09
Aachener Kunstroute (g)
BOA – Bunker of Art, Aachen, GER
09
Poebel (g)
BOA – Bunker of Art, Aachen, GER
2020
09
Aachener Kunstroute (g)
BOA – Bunker of Art, Aachen, GER
07
Urbane Nachwelt (s)
Glashalle Aachen, GER
06
Positur#1 (g)
Stadtteilzentrum Nordstadt, Hannover, GER
Positur#1 (g)
Stadtteilzentrum Nordstadt, Hannover, GER
with Charmaine de Heij, Sebastian Neubauer, Helge H. Paulsen and Jean D. Sikiaridis
curated by Helge H. Paulsen
curated by Helge H. Paulsen
2019
05
Streaming Pictures (g)
MAKK, Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Köln, GER
Innitiatives
2025–today
SOFA TALKS
2019–2025
The Circle Works
Aachen, GER
2020
BOA-Bunker of Art
a temporary space for contemporary art, design and culture
Aachen, GER
2025–today
SOFA TALKS
a member-hosted platform for emerging and established creatives to connect, share insights, and reflect on how to navigate and reimagine today’s creative economy. Initiated by Aline Papenheim and Gundega Strauberga, NL
2019–2025
The Circle Works
Aachen, GER
2020
BOA-Bunker of Art
a temporary space for contemporary art, design and culture
Aachen, GER
Scholarships
2021–2025
Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes
GER
2022
Ministerium für Kultur und Wissenschaft, NRW,
GER
Ministerium für Kultur und Wissenschaft, NRW,
GER
Awards
2023
Shortlisted by Förderpreis für junge Buchgestaltung
Berlin, GER
Shortlisted by Förderpreis für junge Buchgestaltung
Berlin, GER
2022
Nominee German Design Award 2023 – Newcomer
GER
Nominee German Design Award 2023 – Newcomer
GER
Events
2025
09
Workshop: Collective Feedback for Visual Work in Progress
Wanderstories, Fotodok
Utrecht
Workshop: Collective Feedback for Visual Work in Progress
Wanderstories, Fotodok
Utrecht
04
Symposium: The Activated Image
Fotomuseum Den Haag
Invited as a visual respondend for Daria Tuminas
organized by the Networked Audience research group
Symposium: The Activated Image
Fotomuseum Den Haag
Invited as a visual respondend for Daria Tuminas
organized by the Networked Audience research group
along with: Andrea Stultiens, Azin Nafarhaghighi, Daria Tuminas, Donald Weber, Julie de Ruijter,
Matteo Montaldo, Nurul Huda Rashid, Patricia Kühfuss, Randa Mirza, Sarah-Rose Antoun, Will Boase.
Matteo Montaldo, Nurul Huda Rashid, Patricia Kühfuss, Randa Mirza, Sarah-Rose Antoun, Will Boase.
04
Workshop: Collective Feedback for Visual Work in Progress
FH Aachen, BA Communicationdesign
Photography Department with Lorenz Gaiser
Workshop: Collective Feedback for Visual Work in Progress
FH Aachen, BA Communicationdesign
Photography Department with Lorenz Gaiser
Contests
2025
Bellcollective x Fotomeyer: Inner Visions
Bellcollective x Fotomeyer: Inner Visions