Michael Wagener lives and works in Cologne as a photographer and art teacher. After studying applied art at the University of Siegen, he consolidated his skills in commercial photography by assisting Simon Puschmann in Cologne. A position as scientific officer at University of Siegen was followed by lectureships in the field of art and media education with a focus on photography at the universities in Oldenburg, Flensburg, Siegen and Cologne.

In 2008 Michael Wagener was appointed as a member of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie (DGPh). Since 2012 he publishes photographic essays and articles in MicMag, a French cultural magazine. In 2013 he joined the jury of DGPh for the first DGPh-Bildungspreis (Education Award) for Photography. In 2017 he organized a pilot project for the mediation of the SDGs of the UN in the medium of photography in cooperation with CANON. His photographic work has been presented in numerous exhibitions in Germany as well as abroad (e.g. Photoszene Köln, Cologne, 2018/2016; Staatspreis manufactum, Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Dortmund, 2017; Blank Wall Gallery, Athens, 2017; IHK Düsseldorf, Dusseldorf, 2017).
Michael Wagener’s broad interest in art, culture and people is reflected in the wide spectrum of his photographic works, which include portraits, travel and landscape photography as well as social reports. As a freelance photographer, he enjoys the privilege of choosing his motifs by interest and curiosity. In his current works he increasingly deals with the aesthetics of dance, for example in a shoot with the professional dancer Josefine Patzelt.