The internationally acclaimed portrait photographer Michael Dannenmann has been the chairman of the jury of the Felix Schoeller Photo Award since the competition began. The jury decides on the quality of the entries without any influence of the company whatsoever. This independence convinces renowned jury members to provide us with their expertise and critical judgment. This brings together experts from a wide range of fields, such as exhibitions, research and teaching, specialist publications and photojournalism. In the selection process, the jury does not know the names or origins of the entrants.

Jury 2023

Michael Dannenmann

Chairman of the jury

Photo Tatjana Blechert

Michael Dannenmann is a photographer and internationally one of the most important representatives of contemporary portrait photography. He is co-founder of the German Peace Prize for Photography and the Felix Schoeller Photo Award. After studying painting at the Kunstakademie Stuttgart and photography at the Hochschule Dortmund, he began to use conceptual photography in his portrait work. Today, he still primarily focuses on people, often from the field of art, music, dance, etc., whom he portrays in their personal environment or in the studio. Themes such as transformation and role reversal repeatedly play an important role in his work. In addition to his jury management, Dannenmann travels worldwide to stage people for his highly acclaimed portraits. His artwork has been featured in international magazines, book projects, and also in numerous exhibitions and collections. Outside of his photographic work, Michael Dannenmann conducts workshops and curates exhibitions. He is a member of the DGPh.


Cathérine Hug

Photo Caroline Minjolle

Cathérine Hug graduated in art history, computer science and journalism. From 2008 to 2013 she was curator at the Kunsthalle Wien, where she was responsible for many exhibitions, including the thematic presentations 1989: End of History or Beginning of the Future? (2009) and Salon der Angst (2013). Since 2013, Hug has been a curator at the Kunsthaus Zürich, where she is responsible for the following exhibitions: Europe: The Future of History (2015) co-curated with Robert Menasse; Francis Picabia: A Retrospective (2016) with Anne Umland, in collaboration with MoMA, New York; Oskar Kokoschka: A Retrospective (2018/19) with Heike Eipeldauer in collaboration with the Leopold Museum Vienna; Schall und Rauch: The Wild 20s (2020/21) in collaboration with the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao; Gerhard Richter. Landscape (2020/21) with Hubertus Butin and Lisa Ortner-Kreil in collaboration with the Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien; Earth Beats: Naturbild im Wandel (2021) co-curated with Sandra Gianfreda; and most recently Take Care: Art and Medicine (2022). In 2019 as well as 2020, Hug was named by Women in Business magazine included in its list of Switzerland's Top 100 Women in Business, Science, Culture, Media, Digital and Startups.


Nils-Arne Kässens

Photo Angela von Brill

Nils-Arne Kässens is the Director of the Museum Quarter Osnabrück, the complex comprising the Felix-Nussbaum-Haus, the Museum of Cultural History, the Villa Schlikker, and the Akzisehaus. In the course of his career, Kässens realized numerous national and international art projects, for example, for the Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Exhibition Hall of the Fridericianum Museum, the Museion Bolzano, or sculpture x/USA. As a guest lecturer, Nils-Arne Kässens lectured at universities including the University of Kassel, the Leuphana University in Lüneburg, Windsor University in Canada, or at Wayne-State-University in the USA.


Simone Klein

Photo Laurence Mary

Simone Klein is Art Advisor as well as independent and publicly appointed and sworn expert for photography in Cologne. After studying art history, Roman and German language and literature in Bonn and at the Sorbonne in Paris, she became assistant at the Galerie Kicken in Cologne. Then head of the photography department at Kunsthaus Lempertz Cologne, then director of the photography department at Sotheby's Europe with auctions in Paris, London and New York. Most recently she was international director of the Print sales department at the Agency Magnum Photos in Paris. Member of the curatorial committee of Photo London as well as the nominating jury of the Prix Pictet, chairwoman of the advisory board of the SK Stiftung Kultur - Die Photographische Sammlung Köln, member of the advisory board of the Photoszene Köln and member of the executive board of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie (DGPh). She also lectures on art and photography market at the Danube University in Krems and at the Sciences Po Lille.


Hannah Schuh

Photo Arne Mayntz

Hannah Schuh lives in Hamburg and works as Visual Director at ART - Das Kunstmagazin. After studying photography at the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague, she began her training as a picture editor at DIE ZEIT. She worked as a freelance photographer and picture editor at ZEIT and Tempus Corporate before joining ART in 2013 where she can combine her passions for photography, art and journalism.




For the German Peace Prize for Photography
The jury of the German Peace Prize for Photography consists of the jury members of the Felix Schoeller Photo Award and one additional person from the field of peace research.

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schneckener

Photo KHK,GCR21.

Ulrich Schneckener has been Professor of International Relations & Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Osnabrück since 2009. He studied political science at the Universities of Mainz, Leipzig and Berlin as well as at the London School of Economics, he received his PhD from the University of Bremen in 2000 and worked at the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik in Berlin from 2002 to 2009. Since 2016, he has been chairman of the board of the German Foundation for Peace Research (DSF). He has been researching international security and peace policy as well as the management of civil wars and political violence for over 20 years. His most important German-language publications include "Auswege aus dem Bürgerkrieg" (Edition Suhrkamp, 2002), "Transnationaler Terrorismus" (Edition Suhrkamp, 2006), "Fragile Staatlichkeit" (editor, Nomos 2006), and "Der lange Schatten der Miliz" (co-author, Campus 2016).

Jury 2021

Michel Dannenmann Portrait photographer (DGPh), Düsseldorf
Simone Klein Magnum Photos, Paris
Nils-Arne Kässens the Director of the Museumsquartier Osnabrück
Clara Maria Sels Gallerist, Düsseldorf

Additionally for the German Peace Prize for Photography:
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schneckener Professor of International Relations & Peace

Jury 2019

Michel Dannenmann Portrait Photographer (DGPh), Dusseldorf
Clare Freestone Curator National Portrait Gallery, London
Gérard A. Goodrow Curator and Author, Cologne
Clara Maria Sels Gallerist, Dusseldorf
Julia Sörgel Leitung Chief Photo Editor ICON / Welt am Sonntag, Berlin
Andrea Vollmer-Hess Chief Photo Editor VOGUE Germany, Munich

Jury 2017

Michael Dannenmann Portrait photographer (DGPh), Düsseldorf
Gérard A. Goodrow Curator and author, Cologne
Simone Klein Magnum Photos, Paris
Clara Maria Sels Gallerist, Düsseldorf
Julia Sörgel Photo Editor-in-Chief at ICON / Welt am Sonntag, Berlin

Jury 2015

Michael Dannenmann Portrait photographer (DGPh), Düsseldorf
Ellen Dietrich Picture Editor, DIE ZEIT, Hamburg
Thomas Gerwers Editor-in-Chief and co-publisher of PROFIFOTO, Juechen
Gérard A. Goodrow Curator and author, Cologne
Norbert Waning Curator, Stuttgart

Jury 2013

Michael Dannenmann portrait photographer (DGPh), Düsseldorf
Ellen Dietrich Picture Editor, DIE ZEIT, Hamburg
Thomas Gerwers Editor-in-Chief and co-publisher of PROFIFOTO, Juechen
Werner Lippert art critic and exhibition organizer, Düsseldorf
Prof. Jörg Winde Vice Dean of the Faculty of Design and Photography at Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts