Woman Portrait Gallery #4 — May 2026
Tony Federico
“Waiting”
The reason to present a photo by Tony Federico as the first contribution to this year's Woman Portrait Gallery has to do with an urgent situation.
Both Tony Federico and his daughter Altea Federico have been part of our group show before — Tony with his backstage Polaroids from Milan's fashion world, Altea with photographs from Berlin's club culture. Their work appeared side by side: a father and daughter working in the same medium and style: Polaroid shots, behind-the-scenes.
Today, the situation is very different. Altea has been in prison in Thailand for more than four months. Tony left Berlin and traveled there to be close to her. Without knowing the legal circumstances of the case, what I see is a young woman facing an extremely difficult situation and a father who has dropped everything to be by her side.
When Tony sent me a photograph he had made in Thailand, at first I wasn't sure who I was looking at. The short hair, black-and-white, a partially hidden face. The woman in the photograph is not Altea, yet the image seems to carry the weight of everything Tony is experiencing. There is none of the glamour of his Milan Polaroids and none of the energy from Altea's nightlife photos. Instead, the picture feels dark and uncertain. But even in the middle of a crisis, Tony's drive to take photos remains. This will not solve his problems, but hopefully it helps to process what feels overwhelming. By presenting his work „Waiting" at Kaffeemitte, we want to signal to Tony and Altea that they are not forgotten. We hope they'll be back in Berlin soon!
If you would like to support Tony and Altea, you can contribute to the campaign: Emergency Help for Altea
Both Tony Federico and his daughter Altea Federico have been part of our group show before — Tony with his backstage Polaroids from Milan's fashion world, Altea with photographs from Berlin's club culture. Their work appeared side by side: a father and daughter working in the same medium and style: Polaroid shots, behind-the-scenes.
Today, the situation is very different. Altea has been in prison in Thailand for more than four months. Tony left Berlin and traveled there to be close to her. Without knowing the legal circumstances of the case, what I see is a young woman facing an extremely difficult situation and a father who has dropped everything to be by her side.
When Tony sent me a photograph he had made in Thailand, at first I wasn't sure who I was looking at. The short hair, black-and-white, a partially hidden face. The woman in the photograph is not Altea, yet the image seems to carry the weight of everything Tony is experiencing. There is none of the glamour of his Milan Polaroids and none of the energy from Altea's nightlife photos. Instead, the picture feels dark and uncertain. But even in the middle of a crisis, Tony's drive to take photos remains. This will not solve his problems, but hopefully it helps to process what feels overwhelming. By presenting his work „Waiting" at Kaffeemitte, we want to signal to Tony and Altea that they are not forgotten. We hope they'll be back in Berlin soon!
If you would like to support Tony and Altea, you can contribute to the campaign: Emergency Help for Altea
