Sergei Stroitelev is an investigative documentary photographer and visual artist with a professional background in international human rights law, who studied at the Galperin Faculty of Photojournalism in St. Petersburg and the Danish School of Media and Journalism (DMJX), and currently lives and works as a political migrant in Berlin. He is an artist who always raises a question about social stigmatization, marginalized identities, and the fractures of political or bodily crises, based on collaborative portraiture and visual reportage.

His latest practice, “Behind The Surface Of Addiction” (2025 – ongoing), is a profound visual inquiry into the lives of female drug users navigating Berlin's major hotspots, Leopoldplatz and Kottbusser Tor. From his recent methodology—collaborating directly with his subjects to compose still-lifes of their personal belongings, paired with transcribed personal testimonies—the artist tries to bring the hidden inner worlds and daily battles of women facing homelessness and crack cocaine addiction back to our reality. The societal stigmatization and daily biases surrounding addiction are continuously confronted with nuanced narratives of personal memory, habits, and family bonds. He describes his work as a means to step beyond traditional reportage, using a slow, trust-building process that acts as a mutual space for reflection and visibility. His work is rooted in his past experience as a human rights lawyer and an extensive track record documenting HIV awareness, refugee crises, and persecuted queer communities, merging strict journalistic devotion within the form of an empathetic, boundary-pushing visual commentary.

Stroitelev’s distinguished career is marked by an array of premier international accolades, including the Kolga Tbilisi Photo Award, Pictures of the Year International (POYi) honors, and the Luis Valtueña Humanitarian Photography Award. His photographic series and visual monographs have been published and exhibited globally, featuring collaborations with major outlets such as VICE and De Volkskrant, alongside NGOs like Doctors of the World and the Red Cross.

Education & Training

Since 2016

Curator and Educator in documentary and art photography (e.g., Fotografika Academy St. Petersburg, Uglich International Photofestival)

Since 2015

Freelance Documentary Photographer and Photojournalist (Collaborations with VICE, De Volkskrant, Meduza, Novaya Gazeta)

2022

Advanced Photo Program, Danish School of Media and Journalism (DMJX), Aarhus, Denmark

2017

Contract Photographer (Migration Department), Doctors of the World NGO, Reggio Calabria, Italy

2015–2016

"Beyond Photojournalism" Masterclass, International Summer School of Photography (ISSP), Riga, Latvia

2014

Contract Photographer (HIV & Drug Addiction Department), Red Cross, Kathmandu, Nepal

2012–2014

Studies in Photojournalism, Press Photographers Faculty named after Yu.A. Galperin, St. Petersburg, Russia

2008–2012

Practicing Human Rights Lawyer (Filing applications to the ECHR on behalf of persecuted Chechen gay men)

2007–2011

LLM in International Human Rights Law (University of Bristol) & Graduate Diploma in Law / LPC (BPP Law School, London), UK

Exhibition & Projects (Selection)

2026

NordArt, Carlshütte

Stroke Art Fair, Munich

HUSH HUSH, RETRAMP Gallery, Berlin

2025

Moor Rhapsody, Sound installation at the German Pavilion, EXPO Osaka, Japan (With MONAS Collective)

Weserhalle, Group exhibition, Berlin, Germany

Work Entanglements, Inter Arts Center, Malmö, Sweden

Galerie Schwarz, Greifswald, Germany

Studio Unbekannt, Berlin, Germany

Galerie Neukölln, Berlin, Germany

2024

HANDWERK, Galerie Bernau, Germany (Solo exhibition)

EIN:FLUSS:RAUM:MOOR, multimedia installation, Caspar David Friedrich Anniversary, Greifswald, Germany (With MONAS Collective)

2023

One movement at a Time, ilali Studio, Berlin, Germany (Solo exhibition)

COLLECTIVENESS IN SPACE, Adlerhalle, Berlin, Germany

COMMON:GROUND, ilali studio, Berlin, Germany

IM/MOBILE STATE (PACT Atelier No 66), Zeche Zollverein, Essen, Germany