Jessica Backhaus – Shadows might Dance

Frankfurt am Main, 30 January 2026 – Form, colour, and light constitute the defining elements in the visual cosmos of internationally acclaimed photographer Jessica Backhaus. With Jessica Backhaus. Shadows might Dance, the Fotografie Forum Frankfurt presents for the first time a comprehensive show bringing together works and books from 25 years of her artistic practice.

“Jesus and the Cherries,” her early story-telling style photo-essay will be on view, as well as Backhaus’s gradual shift toward abstraction as seen in “Cut Outs” to her newest series “Papyrus”, which is in Frankfurt having its initial showing. This captivating selection of works traces the riveting and diverse breadth of the artist’s oeuvre. Bringing together the eight series on view and a selection of her publications, this show offers a distinctive perspective on Backhaus’ artistic development.  

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Jessica Backhaus’ explorations, collages, and carefully constructed still lifes open a multi-layered visual world – one that unfolds in the fertile space between photography, painting, and object-based art. It is the small things and details which draw the artist’s attention and provide access to something unresolved: unfolding into a quiet intensity, evoking associations and memories. She develops her ideas through intuitive experimentation, as she pursues emotional themes such as vitality, absence and remembrance. Imbued with a heightened sensitivity of materiality and hues, her works reveal lyrical and vibrant atmospheres: Colours, shapes and even shadows become the players – as the exhibition  title suggests.
Born in 1970 in Cuxhaven, Backhaus has often drawn inspiration from 20th-century abstract artists such as Josef Albers and Sonia Delaunay. At an early stage, it was her friendship with the author and photographer Gisèle Freund that gave Backhaus perspectives of what photography could become for her.  
Of the eight series on display, “Jesus and the Cherries” (2001–2005) shows early documentary work by Jessica Backhaus. In intimate photographs, she portrays everyday life in a Polish village and addresses social and cultural changes between tradition and change.

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