Kai Löffelbein is a documentary photographer whose work interrogates the intersections of political power, economic structures, and historical memory. With a background in political science from Berlin and studies in photography at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Hannover (BA), he merges analytical depth with visual storytelling to expose the hidden forces shaping contemporary society.

His projects trace the material and ideological residues of global capitalism and postcolonial histories. In Ctrl-X. A Topography of E-Waste (Steidl, 2018), he maps the afterlives of discarded technology, revealing networks of labor, consumption, and environmental degradation that bind the Global North and South. Common Dreams (Kehrer Verlag, 2023) examines China’s rapid transformation, situating economic expansion within a continuum of historical ruptures and reinventions.

With ECHO ECHO, Löffelbein turns his gaze to Germany’s colonial past, unearthing its silent imprints in contemporary landscapes, museum collections, and collective memory. His work does not merely document but questions how historical narratives are constructed, obscured, and contested in the present.

Through a synthesis of research and visual inquiry, Löffelbein challenges the ways in which history materializes in space, labor, and identity. His photography invites viewers to engage critically with the ghosts of the past that continue to shape our world.