Sebastian Forkarth – Best Portfolio

Sebastian Forkarth came in first at the Best Portfolio Awards! On December 5, the winners of the Portfolio Review were announced at the Haus der Photographie in Hamburg's Deichtorhallen. Since then, Forkarth is the proud owner of a Leica X Vario donated by Leica Camera AG. Will he be using it in the near future in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq? We spoke with him about expectations and current projects.

What expectations did you have from the Portfolio Review?

It seemed to me that the portfolio review was a good opportunity to show my work to a diverse range of people, and also to have individual talks with experts from very different areas of photography.

Which of your pictures did you present – and which didn't you show?

I presented a cross section of my own personal projects, taken over the last four years in Palestine, Northern Iraq, the Netherlands and India, among other places. I didn't show any older works as they tend to differ in style and imagery.

What was the silliest bit of advice you ever heard?

Be an accountant. They'll always be needed.

What are you plans for the future?

I want to continue keeping a good balance between personal projects and commissioned work, and, whenever possible, to combine the two. In particular, I'd like to continue and refine my current project in Northern Iraq.