Photographic Essays – 2023

In the second year, the course Photographic Essays course enables students to exercise a documentary photographic practice –one based on a relationship with reality, with something anchored in the here and now.

This year, students worked on a theme related to ecology in the broadest sense: a very specific, concrete starting point (a permaculture garden, Extinction Rebellion activists, documentation of polluted sites, encounters with people working with more-than-human animals), a broader, multiple or personal approach.

Studio project (2023) with Matthieu Gafsou

Assistants: Angèle Marignac-Serra
Students: 2 BAPH, Léa Bevilacqua, Johanna Bommer, Gilian Cardaci, Hector Codazzi, Carla Corminboeuf, Matilde Croxatto, Jennica Folkesson, Lorane Hochstätter, Sarah Marachly, Barnabé Masson, Yves Möhrle, Léo Paschoud, Cyriane Rawyler, Seraphine Sallin-Mason, Noé Vercaemst, Antoine Woeffray
Know-how: Documentary

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BA FILM STUDIES

Documentary film workshop with Verena Paravel - 2026

with Verena Paravel

The 2026 documentary film workshop for 2nd year students was lead by french director and visual anthropologist Verena Paravel.

BA FILM STUDIES

Documentary Film Workshop with Marie-Eve Hildbrand - 2026

with Marie-Eve Hildbrand

The 2026 documentary film workshop for 1st year students was lead by swiss director Marie-Eve Hildbrand.

BA GRAPHIC DESIGN

Lidia Molina González – Toilet Break Magazine

by Lidia Molina González

It all started with taking a break. A pause. A moment alone in a shared space: quiet, ordinary, a little strange. Toilets might not be the first place you’d look for big ideas, but that’s why we chose them. Toilet Break uses this overlooked space to explore how we live together, take space, and connect. This first issue is about in-betweens: between public and private, inside and outside. It gathers voices from Switzerland, Belgium, Japan, across generations and practices. A place where ideas circulate freely, where serious things can be said with a wink. A collective and personal space to test new editorial forms, listen more carefully, and believe in detours as a way forward. To take, quite literally, a moment to reflect and sit with things.

BA PHOTOGRAPHY

Workshop with Rineke Dijkstra

with Rineke Dijkstra

What is good portrait? What technique do you choose? What kind of light do you use? Daylight or flash? What location or backdrop do you choose for? How do you choose your subject? How do you approach someone you don’t know? In this workshop, the students have explored what makes a good portrait and which tools you can use to create one.

BA PHOTOGRAPHY

Last Minute Risk

with Natacha Lesueur

“What is clearly conceived can be clearly expressed, and the words to say it come easily.” Nicholas Boileau, *L’art poétique*. As students embark on their final year of study at ECAL, with their interests and methods taking shape, this final project offers an opportunity to challenge their own rules, established practices and influences, to refuse to settle for the status quo and to take risks.

Related courses

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BA PHOTOGRAPHY

Projects related to Documentary See more projects

Documentary film workshop with Verena Paravel - 2026

Documentary Film Workshop with Marie-Eve Hildbrand - 2026

Lidia Molina González – Toilet Break Magazine

Workshop with Rineke Dijkstra

Last Minute Risk

Related courses See all courses

Projects related to Documentary

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Related courses

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