sergheiduve

Serghei Duve

Animal World, Ongoing Project, 2022

Project Title, Year

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Hello, im Serghei. This is my portfolio. Have a look around :)

светлая память / Bright Memory

At my mother’s birthday celebration in Tiraspol, my father dances joyfully with her in his arms.
In Germany, I have never seen my parents dance.

“светлая память – Bright Memory” is a photographic exploration of a place that has been familiar to me since childhood.
My grandmother and other family members live in Transnistria, which my parents and I regularly visit.
The work depicts the current state of this politically complex region, shaped by melancholy, societal division, and the constant proximity to Russia.
Migration also plays a role: my parents moved away from Chișinău with my sister and me.
Many others are leaving Transnistria in search of a new life in Europe or Russia.

In English, светлая память translates to Bright Memory.
The expression is used when a loved one passes away.
It carries all the beautiful memories that the deceased leaves behind, embedded in this condolence.

2023 and ongoing

Roulettenburg

“I staked another hundred gulden upon the red, and won; two hundred upon the red, and won;
four hundred upon the black, and won; eight hundred upon manque, and won.
Thus, with the addition of the remainder of my original capital,
I found myself possessed, within five minutes, of seventeen hundred gulden.
Ah, at such moments one forgets both oneself and one’s former failures!
This I had gained by risking my very life. I had dared so to risk, and behold, again I was a member of mankind!”
- Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Gambler

In his novel The Gambler, Dostoyevsky writes about Roulettenburg, a fictional spa town shaped by roulette,
longing, and the hope of sudden transformation.

“Roulettenburg” is a photographic exploration of gambling in Germany and the attraction it creates.
The work moves between casinos, gambling halls, advertising, and private stories.
It looks at places where gambling appears public, legal, and carefully staged, while its consequences often remain
hidden for a long time.

An accompanying text by Antonia Bretschkow was written from conversations with the protagonists of the project,
as well as with researchers and members of a gambling self-help group.

2026 and ongoing

In Flagranti

In the winter of 2023 2024, an arsonist set fire to several gazebos in Wolfsburg.
As photographic detectives, we set out in search of the perpetrator and the genre of true crime.
2024 and ongoing / with Lennart Holste

Hellelfenbein

Traditional cab drivers like Uwe Jessen are experiencing a decline in spontaneous journeys as customers
increasingly turn to fixed-price services such as Uber, Bolt and Free Now.
The once cherished freedom of the profession is giving way to the pressure
of competition and long waiting times. The cab industry in Berlin between tradition and the
challenges of modern mobility services.

2023

Industriestadt

Wolfsburg is not an organically grown city – it was planned
and built as a company town for the Volkswagen factory.
To this day, the place stands as a symbol of the deep interconnection between industry and everyday life.

2024 and ongoing

Films I make for fun

Biography:

I was born in 1999 in Chișinău, Republic of Moldova, and in 2000, my parents moved to Germany with me and my older sister. Since 2020, I have been studying Visual Journalism and Documentary Photography at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Hanover and at the KASK School of arts in Gent. My photographic work focuses on social documentary themes, often with a personal connection.
Awards:

Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award 2025
VGH Förderpreis 2025
3. Place Nikon Fotobus Grant 2024
Shortlist World Documentary Award 2024
Longlist Ian Parry Grant 2024

Exhibitions:

Wiesbadener Fototage 2025
Ernst-Leitz-Museum, Wetzlar 2025
Hoepfner-Stiftung, Kalsruhe 2025
“Vom Gewinnen und Verlieren”, Hannover 2023
Identity, Courage, Love - Outdoor Exhibition, Hannover 2023
Off-Festival Perpignan 2022
Screenings with the Fotobus Society in Paris, Arles, Perpignan 2022-2025

Contact:

Serghei Duve
sergheiduve@outlook.de
+4917621013565
Wunstorfer Strasse 21
30453 Hannover

E-Mail

Instagram

Impressum