Biography

Heinz Stephan Tesarek, born in Vienna in 1976, is a photojournalist and documentary photographer.

He reported on the wars in disintegrating Yugoslavia, on the “war against terror” in Afghanistan and on Islamist terror in the Caucasus and Europe. From 2001 until 2005 he lived in Moscow reporting on Russia and eastern European countries. After returning to Vienna, he began working on the copiously illustrated book, Zwischenzeit – The First Decade.

In 2015/2016 Tesarek documented the refugee crisis in Europe, the recruiting activities of the Koran dissemination campaign LIES! (READ!) closely associated with the IS as well as the attack on the music festival Ansbach Open. In 2018 he published the cycle of photographs, Addendum – Living and Dying in Times of Refugee Crisis and War in Syria, an extension of the Zwischenzeit series.

Since 1992 Tesarek has been reporting on social and political topics in more than 50 countries. His photographs have appeared in News, Der Spiegel, Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin, Forbes Magazine and The New York Times. He has been awarded several prizes, including the Pictures of the Year International (POYi) Award of Excellence and the Objektiv photographic award for Austrian press photo of the year in 2011 and 2013. In 2012 he was nominated for the CNN Journalist Award (DE/AT/CH).

Awards

Pictures of the Year International (POYi) 2010 – Award of Excellence
New York Photo Awards 2011 – Honorable Mention
Austrian Press Photo Award Objektiv 2011 – Press Photo of the Year
Austrian Press Photo Award Objektiv 2011 – Best Picture (Chronicle)
Austrian Press Photo Award Objektiv 2011 – Best Photo Reportage
Nikolai Safonov Prize 2011 – Honorary Prize
CNN Journalist Award 2012 – Nominee
Austrian Press Photo Award Objektiv 2012 – Nominee (Art & Culture)
VIPA 2012 for Documentary Photography – Finalist
Austrian Press Photo Award Objektiv 2013 – Press Photo of the Year
Austrian Press Photo Award Objektiv 2013 – Best Photo Reportage
German Photobook Award 2014 – Nominee (Zwischenzeit)
Austrian Press Photo Award Objektiv 2015 – Nominee (Economy)
Austrian Press Photo Award Objektiv 2016 – Best Picture (Economy)
Austrian Press Photo Award Objektiv 2019 – Best Photo Reportage
Austrian Press Photo Award Objektiv 2019 – Best Picture (Art & Culture)

Editorial Clients

Der Spiegel, Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin, Merian, brand eins, Manager Magazin, FAZ, The New York Times, Forbes (US), Businessweek (US), People (US), Newsweek (PL), The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Sunday Times, News, The Red Bulletin, Seitenblicke Magazin, La Repubblica, Internazionale, NZZ, Le Point and others.

Corporate Clients

World Economic Forum, WWF, Shell, Honda, IBM, Oracle, Infineon Technologies, Samsung Electronics, T-Mobile, Siemens, Lucent Technologies, Pharmig, AstraZeneca, PharMa International, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute, St. Anna Children’s Cancer Research Institute, Mastercard, Accenture, McKinsey & Company, PricewaterhouseCoopers, The Economist Group, Bechtel, Porr, H&M, REWE, Red Bull, DB Schenker, Gebrüder Weiss, Welser Profile, RuRu, Casinos Austria, Swiss Life, Uniqa, Raiffeisen Capital Management, Mastercard and others.

Single Exhibitions

Zwischenzeit / Dom Kultury, Pushino, Russia, 2012
Zwischenzeit / Gallery West 46, Vienna, Austria, 2013
Zwischenzeit – Quo vadis Europa? / Sala 1, Rome, Italy, 2016
Zwischenzeit: Addendum – Living and Dying in Times of Refugee Crisis and War in Syria / Gallery Lumina, Vienna, Austria, 2018