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2008 2025
Workshop - Simon Lehner

PHOTOGRAPHY

Workshop - Simon Lehner

with Simon Lehner, Milo Keller, Clément Lambelet

For this workshop, ECAL invited Simon Lehner, a Vienna-based visual artist whose interdisciplinary practice spans photography, 3D rendering, AI-generated imagery, lens-based paintings, and sculptures. Social media algorithms manipulate memory and emotions by trapping users in echo chambers of repetitive imagery and ideas. These visual cycles exploit memory processes, triggering emotional responses—such as fear, envy, or desire—that reinforce behavioral patterns. Corporations leverage photographic images to target insecurities, activating primal instincts to drive consumption and engagement. Before the workshop, students were invited to reflect on their personal echo chambers—encountered on their social media feeds. They were asked to think about the following: •    What trends or niches were suggested to you? •    Which emotions played a role in these trends? •    What emotional responses did they trigger in you? By analyzing these patterns, students gained insight into how photographic images and algorithms influence memory, emotions, and behavior. This critical awareness serveed as a foundation for exploring the broader societal implications of visual media.

We Do The Rest - PERFORMANCE WORKSHOP & EXHIBITION

PHOTOGRAPHY

We Do The Rest - PERFORMANCE WORKSHOP & EXHIBITION

with Augustin Lignier, Milo Keller, Clément Lambelet

From image capture to distribution, "We do the Rest" explores the notions of effort and bodily constraint in contemporary photographic mechanics. Through a series of spectacular and deceptive per-formances, Master Photography students at ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne translate the gestures and the actions of visual fabrication with humor and absurdity. The project, conducted by Augustin Lignier, recalls the radical performances of the 60%, revisited in the digital age, when audiences are mainly virtual, and relationships are reduced to pixels. In search of permanent validation, we evolve in a digital theater governed by cameras, screens, and algorithms. We invite you to dive into these simulations, for real. And it's up to you to press the shutter... "We do the Rest" was created as a workshop during the second semester and was further developed in Italy, where it celebrated its premiere at the Biennale dell'Immagine di Chiasso. The constantly reimagined project was later presented at the Rencontres d'Arles 2024 photography festival, where it found a wide audience. The third and final edition was presented at ECAL in September 2024, closing the circle and illustrating the dynamic development process.

ECAL x AREA OF WORK - CO-EXISTENCE

PHOTOGRAPHY

ECAL x AREA OF WORK - CO-EXISTENCE

with Area Of Work, Milo Keller

ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne has teamed up with Paris-based studio Area of Work at Paris Photo to present CO-EXISTENCE, a monumental immersive installation in the heart of Paris’s 11th arrondissement, from 7 to 9 November 2024. In a large metropolis, a small, seemingly empty apartment reveals discreet traces of human presence. On another scale, a conquering population manifests itself. Wings flap, slime trails, antennae shivers... In the industrial setting of the former Garage République in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, CO-EXISTENCE showcases a living cohabitation through a sequence of artificial images created using Computer Generated Imagery (CGI). These spectacular yet intimate photo-realistic projections highlight the imperceptible, the infra- thin, and the invisible, blurring the scales between micro and macro. Developed during three series of workshops conducted from 2023 to autumn 2024 by Area of Work, CO- EXISTENCE bears witness to the technical and artistic skills that are honed within the ECAL MA Photography. These workshops enabled students to transpose their photographic skills into the virtual space of 3D graphics to understand the temporal, artistic, and commercial issues involved in creating CGI. ‘This collaboration offered ECAL students an introduction to the tools and possibilities of 3D graphics, exploring their integration into the processes of creating photorealistic and hyper-realistic images, while highlighting the importance of the artistic and cinematographic dimensions that are at the heart of our identity.’ – Amine Ghorab & Scott Renau, Area of Work, Paris. Founded in Paris in 2018 by artists and directors Amine Ghorab and Scott Renau, Area of Work is known for its distinctive contemporary visual narratives, blending graphic framing and rigorous photographic direction. Specialising in fashion, luxury, and technology, the creative studio has become a major player in contemporary visual storytelling..

Florian Hilt – BSoD

PHOTOGRAPHY

Florian Hilt – BSoD

by Florian Hilt

BSoD (Blue Screen of Death) is a series of stagnant views of a workstation emerging from the duality between fascination and fear of office spaces. Between boredom and anxiety, the desire for fantasy is transformed into a metaphorical quest for a moment's rest during a noisy, repetitive day. Time rushes by outside and stagnates inside, the mind wandering, piercing the corporate identity. Intrusive thoughts invade the workspace in the event of burnout. Attention is lost in a fantastic monotony. Press the alarm button, break the glass and let your senses drift away before returning to the chore. Silence and noise dissociate, reflecting the paradox of digital work where artist and tool must remain invisible to claim perfection.

Riccardo Fasana – Cozy Threshold

PHOTOGRAPHY

Riccardo Fasana – Cozy Threshold

by Riccardo Fasana

Cozy Threshold is a collection of digital photo collages which takes into exam spaces of transience within the domestic environment. In order to question the gaze which usually inhabits these interior spaces in the course of one’s everyday routine, the images included in the project present visible distortions which reveal the collage technique employed in their creation. As the layered nature of these digital reconstruction of actual spaces gradually unfolds in front of the viewer’s eyes, the gap between what is being observed and what might have been initially recognized becomes clearer. Through this work, viewers are therefore invited to reflect on the space in which these images exist by engaging in a detailed observation of the stage of everyday life.

Bor Cvetko – TRIBE’S STARLINK HOOKUP RESULTS IN PORN ADDICTION!!!

PHOTOGRAPHY

Bor Cvetko – TRIBE’S STARLINK HOOKUP RESULTS IN PORN ADDICTION!!!

by Bor Cvetko

The project explores existential dread from passive digital media spectatorship. We’re bombarded with distressing news, funny videos, happy moments, images of death, and posts by friends and celebrities. This endless stream causes disconnection, numbness, and exhaustion. A recurring element in my project is the white plastic chair, symbolising relaxation. These chairs now represent lost support and balance. I include archaeological elements to reflect on the decaying present and uncertain future. Pictures are mounted on metal plates, forming a grid of 24 squares. These industrial products, meant to support weight, now support assembled and torn photo transfers. The project uses the same title as a TMZ article describing the impact of the Internet on an isolated Amazonian tribe.

Sunny Attias – Rotten Reverie

PHOTOGRAPHY

Sunny Attias – Rotten Reverie

by Sunny Attias

Rotten Reverie is a series that wrestles with the seemingly random appearance of images and subjects in social media recommended content feeds through the use of personalised algorithms. As someone who often engages with recommended content and finds it both fascinating and sometimes worryingly accurate, I chose to closely analyse the recurring visual patterns and clusters of subjects, forms, and imagery that appear in my recommended content feed. These images serve as testimonies to a certain pattern of content, ephemeral in nature, that once floated in an ocean of visual recommendations. This project attempts to apply a human approach to a machinic logic, specifically addressing a phenomenon that appears to understand some of our thought processes better than we do.

Fabienne Watzke – Lately I’ve been dreaming in pink and blue

PHOTOGRAPHY

Fabienne Watzke – Lately I’ve been dreaming in pink and blue

by Fabienne Watzke

As a child, people assumed I liked pink and not blue. In today's imagination, pink is feminine, but it was once a masculine color. Lately I've been dreaming in pink and blue shows how our stereotypical thought patterns and visual representations of gender push women into predefined roles and project certain expectations onto them that manifest inequality. In my work, I take these traditional gender norms and challenge and break them by appropriating something extremely masculine like the knight ‘s armor and deconstructing it with different gender symbols and codes. The knights armor symbolizes the patriarchy in which we live. It is a shell designed for a specific type of body. Through symbolic bridges I highlight how deep rooted the modern "knight" mentality is still existing today.

Amélie Tricaud – Elle rêvait des loups

PHOTOGRAPHY

Amélie Tricaud – Elle rêvait des loups

by Amélie Tricaud

This work illustrates an attraction to the masculine, a deep desire to be embodied in a different body, assumed to be my opposite. This obsession, built through the accumulation of male images, shows what I covet, what I wish to carry within myself, without being able to access it. Throughout the 250 pages of the book, I question my gaze and my notion of beauty by idealizing these bodies, objectifying them, or reducing them to abstraction, attempting to subvert gendered and stereotypical ideals of femininity and masculinity. It is a reflection on the idea of the muse, reversing the power dynamics between the female muse and the male artist, and a mirror on the vast existing corpus representing female figures, on how their bodies are always depicted, scrutinized, fragmented, and contorted.

Tanguy Morvan – We All Walk On Empty Staircases

PHOTOGRAPHY

Tanguy Morvan – We All Walk On Empty Staircases

by Tanguy Morvan

We All Walk On Empty Staircases reflects the deep scars of the artist's childhood traumas. Growing up in a violent and tormented environment left permanent marks on his mind. At the age of seven, he found refuge in the game World of Warcraft, where he immersed himself for sixteen years, creating an idealized version of himself. In recent years, his grandfather introduced him to the Masonic world, which deepened his fascination with rituals. For the past six months, he has been transforming his body through tattooing, a process that has allowed him to regain control over both his mind and body while staying connected to past memories. His project invites reflection on the impact of domestic violence and the healing power of rituals.

Isabella Madrid – Buena, Bonita, y Barata

PHOTOGRAPHY

Isabella Madrid – Buena, Bonita, y Barata

by Isabella Madrid

As a Latin American woman, I have grown up with very specific expectations of the kind of woman I should be. In my project, I am reversing the codes that have been forced onto me and immersing myself in the different symbols of how Colombian women exist and have been represented through photographic self portraits. I am taking these symbols and subverting them, enacting them, letting them hold a weight on me, holding my own weight on them, playing with them, letting them define me and simultaneously redefining their power and meaning. I am showcasing not only the everlasting colonial violence Colombian female bodies have always been subjected to but simultaneously reappropriating the narrative around them, playing the muse, model, photographer, stylist, makeup artist, and art director.

Tianyu Wang – Hiding and Seeking

PHOTOGRAPHY

Tianyu Wang – Hiding and Seeking

by Tianyu Wang

I focused on the invisible violence and oppression against women within the family environment. I deconstruct the postures women should take in their daily life to resist patriarchal culture. From personal experiences, I reconsider the scenes of family violence, the immediate feelings, the "body memory". I create scenes that blend reality and imagination, symbolically representing the self that is imprisoned, oppressed, and resisting within the family environment. My work responds to the everyday, breaking traditional discipline imposed on women within the family, and deconstructing the facade of daily life. This fundamentally critiques and resists the power dynamics of the traditional binary gender structure represented by "home", as well as the discipline and oppression of individuals.

Nina Pacherová – We Won't Tell Daddy!

PHOTOGRAPHY

Nina Pacherová – We Won't Tell Daddy!

by Nina Pacherová

We Won't Tell Daddy! takes a speculative look at the impact of sharenting - the phenomenon whereby parents excessively share their children's lives on social networks. In the form of a video installation, it explores the future consequences of the digital footprint that parents create for their children. It focuses on the TikTok #bathroomchallenge, where children are recorded cursing, and unaware of the future implications, their video is shared online. The project uses AI and deepfake technology to protect children's identities by replacing their faces with that of the author and highlights the abuse of content. At the same time, it encourages us to redefine the role of technology in our lives by using deepfake as a protective tool.

self-Initiated Project - Spring 2024 - MAP1

PHOTOGRAPHY

self-Initiated Project - Spring 2024 - MAP1

with Bruno Ceschel

This module assists the students to develop into a finalized work a project that further expands their interests and research. The module gives the opportunity to take some of the ideas, skills and themes explores in the first semester and make into a brand new work that can take any possible form: a book, an installation, an online project, a performance.

Applied Photography - Spring 2024

PHOTOGRAPHY

Applied Photography - Spring 2024

with David Luraschi

This course focused on location photography. Students were asked to step outside the studio into the real world and amplify what they discover. Each student did develop one or several bodies of work around the theme of water. The water was their studio. Taking account of what has been done in different mediums in the past (cinema, literature, theater, fashion) - students were encouraged to build a visual dynamic with a strong point of view. A big part of the course was motivated by the idea of finding elements (people, places, things) and turning them into a story. A central emphasis was on collaborating with people: models, actors, dancers, strangers and building their story with them. Casting and creating a growing dialog with their models, finding a common interest and expanding a playful territory to photograph was a recurring exercise.

Materialized Photography - Spring 2024

PHOTOGRAPHY

Materialized Photography - Spring 2024

with Victoria Pidust

This course led by Victoria Pidust explored the creation and invention of visual languages for lens-based photographic objects and focused on the transformation of images into materialised forms. Students explored the practices of contemporary artists such as Katja Novitskova, Thomas Ruff, Seth Price and others and learnt how technologies such as CGI and photogrammetry have influenced artistic expression. The students explored the interplay between digital and physical spaces and developed unique approaches to creating photographic objects. The course focused on understanding historical and contemporary trends, analysing artists' case studies and creating materialised works, including single images, 3D objects, installations and immersive media such as AR and VR. Through research and practice, students conceptualised and materialised projects and presented their work as physical installations or objects. They developed the ability to articulate the meaning behind their creations, critique and collaborate with colleagues to expand their artistic practice.

Materialized Photography - Automn 2024

PHOTOGRAPHY

Materialized Photography - Automn 2024

with Alix Marie

This course led by Alix Marie explored the creation and invention of visual languages for lens-based photographic objects and focused on the transformation of images into materialised forms. Students explored the practices of contemporary artists such as Katja Novitskova, Thomas Ruff, Seth Price and others and learnt how technologies such as CGI and photogrammetry have influenced artistic expression. The students explored the interplay between digital and physical spaces and developed unique approaches to creating photographic objects. The course focused on understanding historical and contemporary trends, analysing artists' case studies and creating materialised works, including single images, 3D objects, installations and immersive media such as AR and VR. Through research and practice, students conceptualised and materialised projects and presented their work as physical installations or objects. They developed the ability to articulate the meaning behind their creations, critique and collaborate with colleagues to expand their artistic practice.

Automated Photography at Foto/Industria

PHOTOGRAPHY

Automated Photography at Foto/Industria

with Milo Keller, Marco De Mutiis

The MAST Foundation is presenting the seventh edition of Foto/Industria, the world's first biennial event devoted to photography of industry and work, at a number of historic venues in Bologna and at MAST. The 12 exhibitions in Foto/Industria 2023 represent a chronology of points of view on the theme of PLAY, from the end of the 19th century to the present day. They offer an opportunity to observe and delve into the research of a selection of international artists. The ECAL is presenting an exhibition of its research project Automated Photography. An increasing number of images are produced autonomously by machines for machines with a gradual exclusion of any human intervention. Automated Photography is a research project developed by the Master Photography that addresses this situation by examining the technologies of image production and distribution such as: machine learning, CGI, photogrammetry.

Workshop - Charlie Engman

PHOTOGRAPHY

Workshop - Charlie Engman

with Charlie Engman, Milo Keller, Clément Lambelet

"Treatment, Synthesis, and Art Direction" Charlie Engman is an artist, photographer, writer, and art director based in Brooklyn, New York.He works across a range of media and disciplines from gen-AI art, photography, video, and fashion, and balances artistic, commercial, and pedagogical practices. He is the art director of the sustainable fashion brand, Collina Strada, where he is responsible for print design, branding, and runway show design. This workshop will investigate the ways in which media, aesthetics, and culture are interwoven and overlapping and are driven in large part by the accessibility of popular technology. It will also investigate the ways in which creativity is a collaborative and iterative process that bleeds across genre and category. There will be a key focus on the intersection of photography, AI tools, and videogaming / user-driven media.In this workshop, participants are expected to explore and challenge the ways they integrate and synthesize both professional and vernacular registers and new and traditional techniques. This will also serve as an introduction to developing art direction and making “ treatments ” for commissioned projects, and practical experience concepting and executing assignments that can bridge between a distinctive artistic practice and preexisting modes of making and sharing.

Self-Initiated Project - Fall 2023 - MAP2

PHOTOGRAPHY

Self-Initiated Project - Fall 2023 - MAP2

with Elisa Medde

This module assists the students to develop a long term project - touching upon all stages from the idea to the final presentation. Students will have the opportunity to take some of the ideas and project from the previous semesters, in order to explore them further, or engage in brand new ones. The outcome of the project could take any form - from book to performance, from physical exhibition to digital presentations. A strong emphasis will be on the research/concept and the impact, experience of the outcome.

Applied Photography - Fall 2023

PHOTOGRAPHY

Applied Photography - Fall 2023

with Charles Negre

STILL LIFE PAPER - This course focuses on the ability to answer a commission within its own artistic practice and leading the students through a better understanding of studio photography, challenges of constructed images and their processes. This applied photography course has an emphasis on still life photography, our aim is to sharpen the students sensitivity to photographing and interpreting objects. For this semester, the group of students will develop their own printed magazine focusing on the practice of still life.

Photobook - Fall 2023

PHOTOGRAPHY

Photobook - Fall 2023

with Bruno Ceschel

The module introduces students to the history of photobooks and artists’ books prompting them to study different strategies and approaches to contemporary book-making. That will lead to students individually working on a publication that will be presented at evaluations in January 2023. Students will have the opportunity to create a new body of work in relation to the book form, learning about editing, sequencing and designing.

Self-Initiated Project - Fall 2023 - MAP1

PHOTOGRAPHY

Self-Initiated Project - Fall 2023 - MAP1

with Milo Keller

The course is a platform for the development of personal projects that arise from the desire and curiosity of each student. The basic concept of the work must be relevant to the field of contemporary photographic images. Each project can take a different form depending on the specificities, contents and inclinations of each participant. From books to multimedia installations, from performance to CGI, group discussions will articulate a plural vision of photography’s applications today.

MAP Books 2023

PHOTOGRAPHY

MAP Books 2023

with Bruno Ceschel

These publications are special editions produced within the framework of the Master in Photography at ECAL in 2023 for Bruno Ceschell's Photobook class. This curated selection was later showcased at Offprint during Paris Photo, providing a prestigious platform to exhibit and share the emerging talent in the field of photography.

Aniket Godbole – A Place I Call Home

PHOTOGRAPHY

Aniket Godbole – A Place I Call Home

by Aniket Godbole

Growing up as an immigrant, my notion of “otherness” was profoundly connected with my idea of self – never fully Nigerian in Nigeria or Indian in India. This series explores my understanding of home as a third culture child, collating a narrative of my life that revisits memories of my youth through reimagined constructions of my everyday life. Settling in a new city never felt strange but with time a feeling of uncertainty lingered when I considered what I could actually call home. Featuring layered journal entries and subtracted and multiplied images from my archives, these collages tell a delicate story of a life in transit. I link up with a past that I have never fully experienced. Traditions, thoughts and realities guide a reflection on my childhood and how I experienced growing up in a strange new world that I now call home.

Benjamin Freedman – Positive Illusions

PHOTOGRAPHY

Benjamin Freedman – Positive Illusions

by Benjamin Freedman

Positive Illusions is a photobook that depicts a series of childhood memories constructed using CGI. The resulting uncanny still lives, imagined from the perspective of a child, evoke a strange family presence in photo-realistic environments. Inspired by the nature of memory and simulation, I have based my scenes on what I could remember and used a phenomenological approach to fill in the blanks. Revisiting the past using CGI technology to re-stage events creates a unique flattening of the past and present – a process of pseudo visual archaeology. Some images in the series are repeated but with slight alterations, revealing the surrealist process of fabricating them and underscoring the phenomenon of distortion that is inherent to memory.

Fumi Omori – Girl Talk

PHOTOGRAPHY

Fumi Omori – Girl Talk

by Fumi Omori

Girl Talk is an immersive virtual reality installation that explores the concept of multicultural identities and the idea of home. The project presents a curated collection of self-portraits featuring cyber avatars from Japanese, Korean and Korean-American backgrounds. Through my exploration of diversity, I have come to realise that embracing different cultural expressions is not merely a question of adaptation; it is a nuanced and intricate process of discovering the intrinsic values within each culture. With Girl Talk, I aim to share my own experiences and convey the journey of navigating between feelings of confusion and the power of inclusivity, while simultaneously grappling with the challenges of trilingual identities in this interconnected world.

Luísa Tormenta – Supra-Memento

PHOTOGRAPHY

Luísa Tormenta – Supra-Memento

by Luísa Tormenta

Supra-Memento speculates on the preservation of human life within digital spaces and how bodies can morph into dematerialised reflections, thereby resisting the inevitable decay that faces our tangible realities. The work takes the form of a video installation, creating a meditative environment that physically engages the viewers. Using photogrammetry scans, I have preserved my body and those of loved ones, immortalising the ephemerality of human memories and relationships into a liminal space. Steeped in Vanitas symbolism, the sacredness of these bodies intertwines with the insignificance of decaying organic matter. While this photo-technique conveys an illusion of volume, it also exposes the fragmentation of the data, revealing how these too are temporal shells, vulnerable to disintegration.

Mattia Dagani Rio – METAMORPHOSIS

PHOTOGRAPHY

Mattia Dagani Rio – METAMORPHOSIS

by Mattia Dagani Rio

METAMORPHOSIS is a photobook that delves into the complex tapestry of bodybuilding, examining its inherent interplay with torture, hedonism and eroticism. Bodybuilders subject themselves to gruelling training regimens, pushing their bodies to the absolute limits in the pursuit of self-expression. Using a combination of CGI with traditional methods of photography, this project explores moments of agony, highlighting the struggle and dedication required to reshape the body into an extraordinary form. However, it also shows how this practice is a deeply personal journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance which consists of introspective moments, vulnerability and a profound intimacy with themselves, where viewers witness a process of transformation that extends far beyond the physical body.

Moritz Jekat – Wetlands of Pharmacology

PHOTOGRAPHY

Moritz Jekat – Wetlands of Pharmacology

by Moritz Jekat

Exterior virtual organs that enter our bodies and transform our brains surround us. These pharmaca multiply in wetlands between online and real life. In a desire for healing and reconnecting, a group of humanoid aliens inhabit this space and come together in a caring pile of thoughts, emotions and dreams. They share with you, thanks to subconscious writing and wetland tools. A waterbed in space invites you to relax. In the concept of adoption of pharmacology, in contrast to adaptation to the super-fast, consumption-based virtual spheres that are transforming social habits, Wetlands of Pharmacology experiments with a slow coming together and exchange of emotional and physical knowledge of five artists in a computer game engine.

Amandine Kuhlmann – Cash Me Online

PHOTOGRAPHY

Amandine Kuhlmann – Cash Me Online

by Amandine Kuhlmann

Cash Me Online is a video project where I stage myself, combining performance with found footage. With the goal of achieving viral fame, I embrace delusion and despair in this exploration, which delves into the impact of cameras in the era of social media. Through a hyper-feminine digital alter ego based on my own algorithm, I perform in virtual and physical realms, fulfilling desires and aspirations. The project questions self-representation and the female gaze in the presence of empowered women on screen. The project examines tensions between toxic feminine tropes and how women reclaim them for empowerment. Found footage combined with a deepfake of my own face serves as a visual album, revealing content diversity and standardisation, introducing ambiguity in notions of dysmorphia.

Mykolas Valantinas – Lullaby’s Fault

PHOTOGRAPHY

Mykolas Valantinas – Lullaby’s Fault

by Mykolas Valantinas

Lullaby’s Fault is a surreal docufictional short film that tells the story of twin brothers with wild and ferocious imaginations, the consequences of which lead them towards violence and ultimately, tragedy. Alternating between first person POV and a more stylised third person perspective, the film has a destabilising effect where the supposed validity of one comes into conflict with the surreal nature of the other. The narrative follows a metamorphic fairy-tale template where the protagonists undergo internal and/or external transformations. The naive, overwhelming nature of fantasy as a dangerous and explosive energy is expressed through two complementary perspectives: the eyes of a child and his older, lunatic self.

Gabriela Marciniak – Early Retirement

PHOTOGRAPHY

Gabriela Marciniak – Early Retirement

by Gabriela Marciniak

“When you’re young and slow down, you’re lazy, but when you’re retired and you slow down, you’re happy to slow down”. As soon as we enter the word of adulthood, we realise that our everyday lives revolve around completing one task after another, checking off items from our to-do lists. Days pass in this manner, with the constant pressure of doing and working more. Driven by research, the artist explored early retirement in health resorts, places where we can relinquish control and devote our time to treatment, healing, pleasure and the process itself. There is no rush, no time. Video performance as a form of expression juxtaposes the body with architecture, creating a retirement wonderland. A one-channel movie, video performance, 4k, 16:9 frame

Yuji Wang – 1.0.0.1 Days

PHOTOGRAPHY

Yuji Wang – 1.0.0.1 Days

by Yuji Wang

1.0.0.1 Days is a CG animation that revolves around the realm of data manipulation, delving into the inexorable rise of artificial intelligence in the era of big data. The video aims to speculate on the consequences of humanity’s increasing reliance on and trust in artificial intelligence, pondering the possibility of data manipulation and subsequent transformation into mere marionettes of information and electronic captives. From reality to virtual reality, is it possible to establish data as a new form of religion? As the narrative unfolds, a cyborg butterfly draws nearer to the humans confined to a glasshouse, with its tenderness, its curiosity, its ambition…

Gina Bolle – Instanz

PHOTOGRAPHY

Gina Bolle – Instanz

by Gina Bolle

Instanz is an interactive installation consisting of a steel cell with a five-channel video, three infrared cameras and two surveillance cameras. Within a dark and insulated space, viewers are confronted with live feeds, humiliating or disturbing found footage and sound. Reflecting on Foucault’s “apparatus” theory, Instanz refers to a system that exerts power and control over society. It indicates how a camera can serve as a tool to harm its subjects. Similar to the panopticon, viewers have no control over whether they are being observed. By linking live streams with found footage, the work exposes the possibility of exploitation in the realm of photography and demonstrates the inherent power imbalances in visual consumption through a deprived experience.

Yumo Wu – The Room and the Photographs

PHOTOGRAPHY

Yumo Wu – The Room and the Photographs

by Yumo Wu

The Room and the Photographs investigates the intertwined relationship between perception, space and photography. Initially, observers were placed inside a room to witness the raw essence of photography in the camera obscura. The digital evolution has reshaped the ontology of the medium and provided an entirely metamorphosed experience – observing photography with a detachment from reality. As in painting, I assemble a meticulous collection of physical photographs and computer-generated imagery. These domestic spaces lose their inherent perspective. They are familiar yet strange, fractured yet imbalanced. My photographic constructions, part memories, part materiality, attempt to reveal the complexity of perception in the realm of photography.

Carla Rossi – Bellissima

PHOTOGRAPHY

Carla Rossi – Bellissima

by Carla Rossi

Bellissima follows the story of Rebecca, whom the photographer met on the stages of a popular Italian beauty pageant. ‘‘I was looking for a young girl who wasn’t necessarily a professional model, but who hoped to become one”. The project reflects on the photographic medium as a dream factory. The photographer shifts perspectives to highlight the construction of images and the model. The symbiosis between model, photographer and viewer reveals how images influence the dreams and aspirations of young girls. The work aims to criticise photography as a stage for the representation of beauty and to challenge the idea of the latter as a cult achieved through the attention of the camera. Would beauty still have meaning if no one could look at it?

Redesign

MEDIA & INTERACTION DESIGN

PHOTOGRAPHY

Redesign

with Giliane Cachin

As part of the course given by Giliane Cachin, 1st year students are required to produce an edition by examining the different axes that make it up. The course offers a study of various grid systems and the fundamentals of micro-typography. During the semester, students will look for the best way to structure and arrange the content they have chosen (or which has been assigned to them, depending on the semester's data). Some essential rules to know in terms of printing and bindings will be reviewed at the end of the semester, in order to bring the conceptualized object to life.

Frontiere di Sabbia - DRONE WORKSHOP

PHOTOGRAPHY

Frontiere di Sabbia - DRONE WORKSHOP

with Milo Keller, Clément Lambelet

"Frontiere di Sabbia" is an exhibition of the students of the Master of Photography at ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne, in collaboration with the Biennale dell’Immagine di Chiasso.The collection of projects you will see has been created with drones: aircraft originally developed for warfare that have been transformed into civilian and popular forms. In just a few years, these devices have undergone a dizzying technological evolution and achieved considerable commercial success. Used for a variety of purposes - recreational and professional, political and subversive - these “unmanned aerial vehi- cles” can be easily purchased and controlled remotely, like in a video game. The opportunities offered by civilian drones combine with multiple negative con- sequences: the confusion between reality and simu- lation, privacy violations, and the use for illegal and violent actions. From a photographic perspective, drones offer infinite viewpoints for exceptional, vertical, and total vision. Equipped with all-round sensors, they fly autonomou- sly on programmed routes and are able to monitor the territory and its inhabitants. The “Frontiere di Sabbia” exhibition, presented in the Ex Saceba building, a ce- ment factory located a few kilometers from the bor- der, recalls the past of these places where materials were produced to build houses, bridges, and highways, but also walls and barriers. By diverting from prede- termined and automated paths, a new generation of image creators questions us about our perception of our limits: human, political, and technological.

Applied Photography - Spring 2023

PHOTOGRAPHY

Applied Photography - Spring 2023

with Cactus Digitale

The Applied Photography course will look into the concept of photorealism in all its means. Cactus Magazine has always worked on new visual languages through all sorts of techniques; classic photography, graphic design, video, CGI, VR, Sound design. The only feature that has always guided this research was to seek for a photorealistic result that could ensure a sophisticated and luxurious feeling to the final outcome. In the past 4 years Cactus Magazine has been exploring the CGI technique and always tried to emulate the classic photographic style applied in the 3D realm. This had been done by the means of lights, textures, modeling and also camera techniques. After doing a lot of CGI work we got interested in merging the IRL world in a seamless way with the CGI world. Using XR techniques or VFX. But always looking to have a perfect photorealistic result. With the emergence of Ai powered software for image generating, creating HD images of almost everything seems to be everyone’s finger tip. Nowadays people consume more CGI imagery than IRL imagery, just think of Instagram filters.

Materialized Photography - Spring 2023

PHOTOGRAPHY

Materialized Photography - Spring 2023

with Rachel de Joode

This course, taught by Rachel de Joode explores sculptural photography. Through a combination of material experimentation, research, and collaboration, students explore the visual and physical dimensions of photography, sculpture, and installation. The course focuses on ways of seeing and thinking differently about materials, surroundings, and oneself. The curriculum includes a mix of reading and discussion as well as focused individual critique, all taught through the lens of the instructor’s practice.

self-Initiated Project - Spring 2023 - MAP1

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self-Initiated Project - Spring 2023 - MAP1

with Bruno Ceschel

This module assists the students to develop into a finalized work a project that further expands their interests and research. The module gives the opportunity to take some of the ideas, skills and themes explores in the first semester and make into a brand new work that can take any possible form: a book, an installation, an online project, a performance.

Automated Photography at the Maison Franco-Japonsaie

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Automated Photography at the Maison Franco-Japonsaie

with Milo Keller, Clément Lambelet

From February 3 to 19, 2023, on the occasion of Yebisu International Festival for Art and Alternative Visions in Tokyo, ECAL is exporting the exhibition resulting from the Automated Photography research project, which explores the aesthetic and conceptual potential of automated photography.

WORKSHOP - CGI WITH AREA OF WORK

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WORKSHOP - CGI WITH AREA OF WORK

with Area Of Work

This workshop is an introduction to 3D creation software that allows you to create images with photographic qualities that are not photographs.

Self-Initiated Project - Fall 2022 - MAP2

PHOTOGRAPHY

Self-Initiated Project - Fall 2022 - MAP2

by Gina Bolle, Mattia Dagani Rio, Benjamin Freedman, Aniket Godbole, Moritz Jekat, Amandine Kuhlmann, Gabriela Marciniak, Fumi Omori, Carla Rossi, Luísa Tormenta, Mykolas Valantinas, Yuji Wang, Yumo Wu

The second-year students worked on projects that they themselves had initiated, under the direction of Elisa Medde.

Photobook - Fall 2022

PHOTOGRAPHY

Photobook - Fall 2022

with Bruno Ceschel

The photobook module introduces students to the history of photobooks and artists’ books and leads them to consider different strategies and approaches to contemporary book-making. In the first term students individually conceptualised a publication that have been designed, printed and distributed.

ON 2040 - MASTER PHOTOGRAPHY

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ON 2040 - MASTER PHOTOGRAPHY

with Maxime Guyon

Following a collaboration with the Swiss avant-garde brand On, ECAL is proud to present the interdisciplinary work carried out jointly by the 2nd year students of the Product Design, Photography and Type Design Masters.

ECAL in Seoul : exhibition Automated Photography

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ECAL in Seoul : exhibition Automated Photography

with Milo Keller

Following the success of the exhibition resulting from the Automated Photography research project at Paris Photo in 2021 and then at the Galerie l'elac in 2022, the ECAL is exporting this project to Plateform-L in Seoul from 17 September to 8 October 2022, through an immersive audiovisual exhibition.

Emma Bedos – Linger

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Emma Bedos – Linger

by Emma Bedos

How can we continue to exist in the places we have left, through the memories of those who remain? In this project, I wanted to grasp the feeling of distance and the way technology tries to compensate for it. I asked my relatives on my home island to capture images of shared memories. Transcribed in photogrammetry to materialise them, the combination of communication and memory work creates a new shared environment. The result highlights the omnipresence of the void. The installation materialises this remote contact, as the negative of itself, via cuts in fluttering and elusive silk. The imagination completes the memory and projects fantasised images of a distant ideal, where presence/absence resonates and lingers.

Yang Su – Cloud and Beyond the Infinite

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Yang Su – Cloud and Beyond the Infinite

by Yang Su

Clouds and Beyond the Infinite is a video installation with real-time simulation. Thanks to enhanced rendering engines and higher definition visual representations, the era of the metaverse, an immersive digital virtual environment, is fast emerging. Yet behind the dazzling and realistic visuals of the metaverse lie continuously expanding data centres, more GPU processing and power consumption, and the ensuing heat and carbon emissions. As the metaverse becomes better and more liveable, our physical environment is gradually deteriorating. The artist chose the “Cloud” element to depict an immersive virtual world, showing the flow of an infinity of clouds in various contexts.

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