Tina Sturzenegger

Artist Statement: The Paradox of Consumption

We are the paradox of our time: we chain-smoke while hoping to achieve the coveted "Healthy Lifestyle" with a few smoothies. We long for immediate, absolute control over our physical appearance—to blow-dry the fat off our bodies as if it were butter melting in the blazing sun. At the same time, we succumb to the lure of "cheap thrills," consuming high-calorie guilty pleasures as if there were no tomorrow. The longing for happiness leads us to cleanse rock crystals under running water and gaze up at the stars.

Conceptual Approach

The visual exploration of these contradictory desires—the striving for purity versus the lustful embrace of the guilty pleasure—is the starting point for my staged compositions. Carefully arranged promises, glossy productions, and perfectly composed stimuli form the visual raw material.

I deliberately exaggerate these image worlds, which generate desires and suggest ideals, to make their construction and thus their manipulative nature visible.

In my conceptual photographic practice, I investigate how food shapes our ideas of identity, body, and happiness. Food functions as a cultural marker—a symbol of belonging, control, or longed-for beauty. I am intereste...

FMoPA - Florida Museum of Photographic Arts 2025
2nd Place Winner Conceptual

photo Schweiz 2025
Wild Card Winner

reFocus Awards World Photo Annual 2024
Bronze Winner
Conceptual Professional

FFL Fotofestival Lenzburg 2024
Select image, good luck, for the theme of "synthesis"

MIA Photo Fair - Milano IT 2024
Irinox - save the food
Series: There must be light burning brighter somewhere + Room Service

Tokyo International Foto Awards 2023
Silver Winner
Categories: Portfolio - Food
Series: Room Service

reFocus Awards World Photo Annual 2023
Winner
Categories: Still Life
Series: room service

ACUMEN ART MAGAZINE N°37 2023
by Galerie Joseph Paris
L'apothéose de la photographie culinair
story about my photography

IPFO - International Photo Festival Olten 2023
Exhibition Photoville4600
4 images from my food still life series "room Service"

Tokyo International Foto Awards 2022
Silver Winner
Categories: Portfolio - Food
Series: There must be light burning brighter somewhere

PX3 - Prix de la Photographie Paris 2022
Silver Winner Advertising - Food
Series: There must be light burning brighter somewhere

ipa - international photography awards 2022
Official selection & Jury Top 5 Selection
Categories: Advertising, Food & Be...