Steve Sabella

Steve Sabella
Photograph of Steve Sabella in a darkroom
Born (1975-05-19) 19 May 1975
Jerusalem
Alma materJerusalem School of Photography (Musrara); State University of New York; University of Westminster; Sotheby’s Institute of Art
Known forPhotography; collage; visual arts; installation; writing; lecturing; postcolonial themes
Notable workSettlement: Six Israelis & One Palestinian; 38 Days of Re-Collection; The Great March of Return; The Parachute Paradox; The Artist’s Curse
AwardsEllen-Auerbach-Stipendium for Photography (Akademie der Künste, 2008); Nautilus Book Award (2016); Eric Hoffer Award (2017)
Websitestevesabella.space

Steve Sabella (Arabic: ستيف سابيلا) (born 19 May 1975 in Jerusalem) is a Berlin-based artist who works primarily with photography, collage, and installation. He is the author of the memoir The Parachute Paradox: Decolonizing the Imagination first published by Kerber Verlag in 2016.

His work has been discussed in relation to the genealogy and archaeology of the image, and to themes of identity and exile, including the “colonization of the imagination”.

Sabella was among the artists commissioned for Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art inaugural exhibition Told/Untold/Retold (2010–11). Sabella has shown his work internationally at institutions and exhibitions including, the British Museum, the 1st Biennial of Arab Photography (Maison Européenne de la Photographie and the Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris), Les Rencontres d'Arles, Foto Fest Houston, Arab World Institute, and the International Center for Photography Scavi Scaligeri (Verona), which presented a retrospective of his work in 2014. In 2008, he received the Ellen-Auerbach-Fellowship for Photography from the Akademie der Künste (Berlin); recipients are selected by nomination and jury. In 2014, Hatje Cantz and the Akademie der Künste (Berlin) published his monograph Steve Sabella – Photography 1997–2014, which includes texts by Hubertus von Amelunxen and Kamal Boullata.