Worlds Apart brings Laurin Strele’s documentary photographs into Sagmeister Bregenz, where the exhibition remains on view through 5 September 2026.
Laurin Strele·
Worlds Apart, an exhibition of documentary photographs by Austrian photographer and photojournalist Laurin Strele, is on view at Sagmeister Bregenz from 16 July to 5 September 2026.
Initiated by Clemens and Caroline Sagmeister, the exhibition is presented during the Bregenz Festival summer at Sagmeister – Der Mann in Bregenz. Across the store, large-format prints made in conflict-affected regions and remote communities turn attention to people whose lives are often reduced to headlines. The work moves between public events and private moments, looking at dignity, resilience and the persistence of ordinary life.
Installation view of Worlds Apart at Sagmeister Bregenz.
Photographs in Space
Staged by Simone Angerer, the installation places the work above rails and display tables rather than inside a conventional gallery. The setting is unusual, but the scale of the prints retains their directness. Faces, gestures and traces of place become visible at a physical distance that a screen cannot reproduce.
The exhibition title refers to distance, yet the sequence is built around connection. A portrait made in Afghanistan stands near photographs from Ethiopia. Elsewhere, scenes shaped by conflict and displacement appear beside images of community and family life. Together, the photographs resist the idea that a country or a person can be described by a single event.
A portrait made in Afghanistan in 2023, presented as a large-format print.Documentary photographs made in Ethiopia in 2023 within the exhibition.
The Opening Conversation
Worlds Apart opened on 16 July with a public conversation between Clemens Sagmeister and Laurin Strele, held among the photographs. The evening allowed the work to be seen collectively and discussed with guests rather than encountered as a series of isolated images.
For me, that exchange is part of the work. A documentary photograph does not end when it is made. It changes through editing, printing and context, and again when someone stands before it with their own experience.
Clemens Sagmeister and Laurin Strele during the opening conversation.Guests during the opening of Worlds Apart in July 2026.Laurin Strele during the opening conversation at Sagmeister Bregenz.
Inside the Exhibition
The installation extended throughout the store. Select any image to view the complete photograph and move through the gallery.
The Worlds Apart window at Sagmeister Men in Bregenz.Documentary photography installed throughout the Sagmeister Men store.A photograph from Jordan installed within the architecture of Sagmeister Men. Photograph by Manuel Paul.Three photographs from Mongolia form a sequence near the store entrance.Stilt walkers in Ethiopia, photographed in 2023 and exhibited in Bregenz.A photograph from Bangladesh, 2024, presented as part of Worlds Apart.Visitors during the opening of Worlds Apart on 16 July 2026. Photograph by Manuel Paul.Conversations around the work during the opening night. Photograph by Manuel Paul.Clemens Sagmeister, co-initiator of Worlds Apart, at the opening. Photograph by Manuel Paul.Caroline Sagmeister, co-initiator of Worlds Apart, at the opening. Photograph by Manuel Paul.The exhibition identity marking the show's run from 16 July to 5 September 2026.
