Ralf Obergfell is a German-born (Freiburg, Black Forest) photographer, based in Berlin. The subjects of his works revolve around youth, queer identity and the processes of change and transformation. Portraits are the focus of his work. Ralf sometimes also works as a commissioned photographer and photojournalist in portrait and social documentary photography. He has published and exhibited internationally and his works are held in public and private collections in Japan and the UK. Ralf lived in London between 1991 and 2010, where he graduated at London College of Communication (University of the Arts) in 1999. In 2003 he became a founding member of Photodebut (2003-2010), a collective of young emerging UK-based photographers. Other key founding members included Alys Tomlinson, Richard Mosse and Michelle Sank. His acclaimed debut solo exhibition Last Stop Routemasters was shown at London Transport Museum (2008). The accompanying book (Breedon Books Publishing, 2008) was shortlisted for the London Photography And/Or Book Prize and archived by the British Library in the name of National Heritage. Images were featured in the book publication Cult Masterpieces (Tectum, 2008). A creative force in East London's underground art and nightlife scene, Ralf co-founded the legendary avant-garde club night GutterSlut (2007-2014). He documented the era in his and Tony Hornecker's acclaimed multimedia exhibition Beautiful Freaks. Their works were also included in the Gender & Performance exhibition at the Royal College of Art (2010). A survivor of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, Ralf travelled widely throughout Southeast Asia while documenting everyday life in the region for his project Urak Lawoi (People of the Sea)(2004-2017). Images from this series appeared in the UNESCO publication The Urak Lawoi of the Adang Archipelago (2007). In 2020 his work was featured in Benjamin Wolbergs' critically acclaimed New Queer Photography - Focus on the Margins (Kettler). The book received a Silver Award during the German PhotoBook Awards (2021-22) in the category conceptual-artistic photobook and will be exhibited at f³ – freiraum für fotografie in Berlin (24.06-21.08.22). Ralf's photographs and writings have appeared in numerous international media, including Art Review, BBC, The Face, The Guardian, i-D, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Time Out and Vogue. Outside of his professional practice, Ralf is an activist for Survival International, the global movement for tribal peoples' rights.