PHOTOGRAPHY
with RVB Books/Matthieu Charon & Rémi Faucheux
Using pre-produced images, the students created one or more book models. How do you transform a series of photographs into a book? The Photographic Editions course introduces students to the selection of images, their order, format, graphics, ink, paper and binding. It addresses the specificities of the book as a medium and as a market.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Thomas Mailaender
In the spring of 2024, Thomas Mailaender and the students of the ECAL Bachelor in Photography entered the ruins of the club with the intention of making it resonate once again. Between archaeology, documentary research, and imaginative speculations, the group of adventurers crafted a surprising exhibition path blending mold and glitter, ashes and glamour. For one night, the Corso was filled with explosive sounds and images in a fiery tribute to the nights of Renens.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Natacha Lesueur
Last minute risk As the students enter their final year of training at the ECAL, and their interests and methods take shape, it's time to take advantage of this last project to question our own rules, achievements and influences, not to be satisfied with them, and to take risks.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Maxime Guyon
"Extraordinary Daily Commodities": Everyday Objects What if the objects around us were not mere tools, but autonomous entities with their own essence? Inspired by Graham Harman's Object-Oriented Ontology (OOO), this semester invited students to explore objects from a fresh perspective. Freed from the shadow of our consciousness, they take a place equal to that of humans, animals, and plants. Guided by Maxime Guyon, second-year photography students were encouraged to rediscover what "banal" truly means and dive into a reflection on the place and sensitivity of objects in the contemporary world.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Philippe Jarrigeon, Philippe Jarrigeon
This year, a unique workshop invited students to explore the relationship between an object and its image. By delving into the material properties, history, symbolism, and multiple representations of an iconic object, they sought to understand the aura that defines it. The subject of this first edition? The blue jean. From a simple utilitarian garment to a global symbol of style, the blue jean transcends generations and cultures. Throughout the semester, students were tasked with creating a photographic project or video that both questions and celebrates this emblematic object.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Tamara Janes
The students task is to create their own story, storyline, narrative or sequences based on the existing given images. Using their personal interests, imagination and ideas they link the images together. They can continue the plot of the images, do in-depth research, write fictional stories or tell stories based on personal experiences. The students had the freedom to photograph, generate or film.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Lorenzo Vitturi
The aim of this workshop is to engage students in a multidisciplinary process that combines photography with sculpture and scenography. To emphasize the importance of the creative process, students are encouraged to use primarily collected and recycled materials, which will need to be transformed and integrated into their visual narrative. The work presented at the end of the workshop will reflect this approach, combining visual results with sculptures and ephemeral installations.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Olivia Schenker
Hot N Cold By making a very short film, students learn fundamental notions in the narrative, visual and conceptual development of video production. The project provides essential technical skills in shooting, lighting, camera movement, sound recording, editing and post-production.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Laurence Bonvin
Liquid Times Produce a project using photography and video on the theme of fluidity, liquid form and water.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Natacha Lesueur
Documentary, the power of make-believe. Based on projects developed around a common theme, the students develop a personal, in-depth project around the theme of pretense. They build a project that plays with the limits of veracity in photography, using it as an artifice of deception.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Charlotte Krieger
The aim of this course is to introduce students to the creation and management of a complex photographic project involving sets, characters and lighting. The theme is free.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Anoush Abrar
Beauty shot The week-long Medium format digital workshop is both an introduction to shooting equipment and dedicated software. Students worked in groups to produce portrait images.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Calypso Mahieu
Waliking in Renens A collaborative project in which students were asked to choose a local shop in Renens and to create a documentary project combining images of still life, architecture and portraits.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Orsola Valenti
Hors-champ “Showing by hiding, revealing by stealing": for a political practice of the audiovisual image. The main aim of the course is to raise awareness of the political dimension of the audiovisual gesture and give students the tools to distinguish the cinematographic image from the media image. Whereas the latter - flattened, emptied and therefore interchangeable - overwhelms its receptor, rendering it powerless, the cinematographic image liberates emotion and critical reflection. In this way, it goes beyond the supposedly faithful representation of reality.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
MEDIA & INTERACTION DESIGN
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Charlotte Krieger, Jean-Vincent Simonet, Florian Pittet (Sigmasix), Vincent Jacquier, Julien Gurtner, Matthieu Minguet, Cédric Duchêne, EPFL+ECAL Lab, Giacomo Bastianelli
For a week, the first-year visual communications students worked on an installation consisting of 15 screens, accompanied by a 360° sound system developed by EPFL+ECAL Lab. This chandelier, five metres in diameter and suspended from a height of three metres, served as a support for their experiments. Using music specially composed and spatialised for the occasion, the students explored the dynamics of sound both visually and in movement.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Nicolas Poillot
The "Commission & Photography" course aims to conceptualize and produce visual content for an editorial series, emphasizing applied photography and collaboration with an Art Director. It allows students to explore various photographic territories such as editorial, documentary, fashion, still life, and fiction. Objectives include understanding editorial commissions, conceptualizing and presenting ideas, as well as effectively collaborating with an Art Director. Students are required to produce a series of images while adhering to the given theme and constraints, while also developing preliminary research, a structured methodology, series architecture, and finding solutions to creative problems encountered. The theme involves each student selecting and photographing three personal objects that are particularly meaningful to them.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Laurence Bonvin
Endurance In this course, the objectives are to allow students to experiment with new approaches or techniques regarding past, ongoing, or diploma projects. They also have the opportunity to revisit and refine subjects that have not met their satisfaction in terms of concept, form, technique, or execution. This experience aims to expand ideas, refine techniques, continue unfinished work while improving it, or build a more comprehensive body of images. Endurance lies at the heart of this process, whether it's persevering in completing a project, revisiting an idea until it's exhausted, or overcoming obstacles such as lack of time, self-confidence, or courage. This semester thus offers students the opportunity to confront their limits, surpass them, and achieve their best in their endeavors.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Natacha Lesueur
Seduce, they said Based on projects developed around the theme of seduction, students develop a personal, in-depth project over the whole semester.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Matthieu Gafsou
The workshop week 4x5 is both an introduction to the 4x5 technical camera and a way to kickstart a photographic project. Students experience the process of analog shooting, from development to large format printing. This intense week is highly technical, but also focused on developing a photographic language, allowing for a better understanding of the fundamental workings of photography.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Natacha Lesueur
Seduce, they said Based on projects developed around the theme of seduction, students develop a personal, in-depth project over the whole semester.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Orsola Valenti
Image, sound and politics: how to raise the image The main aim of the course is to stimulate reflection on the audiovisual gesture. By confronting students with the complexity of audiovisual creation and its compositional dimension (image and sound, space and time, frame and rhythm, body and set), they are encouraged to grasp its richness and potential.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Charlotte Krieger
The aim of this course is to introduce students to the creation and management of a complex photographic project involving sets, characters and lighting. The theme is free.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Olivia Schenker
During one semester, the students made a very short film on the theme of Simulations. They acquired fundamental notions in the narrative, visual, and conceptual development of a video production.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Matthieu Gafsou
The workshop week 4x5 is both an introduction to the 4x5 technical camera and a way to kickstart a photographic project. Students experience the process of analog shooting, from development to large format printing. This intense week is highly technical, but also focused on developing a photographic language, allowing for a better understanding of the fundamental workings of photography.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Jean-Vincent Simonet
During one week, the students developed techniques that transform perception and the relationship with the corpus of images: erasure, displacement, loss of the sensation of reality.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Taiyo Onorato
This workshop focused on staged photography, particularly emphasizing staged portraits. The concentration was on the two essential elements of the portrait: working with the object and manipulating its background. Staged portraits set themselves apart from mere snapshots by actively creating an image, steering clear of reality. Tools like light, background, and pose were employed to craft a deliberate narrative. Individuals were staged, altered in specific ways, adorned with outfits and masks. The workshop delved into the interest in masks as tools for transformation and representation. Throughout the workshop, masks were produced using available means, and they became the central objects of staging. Students photographed and filmed them, capturing the essence of transformation. The second element of the workshop, which focused on the background, pop-up techniques were experimented with. The backdrop, a dynamic part of the narrative, was manipulated using cleverly designed sets and unexpected spatial techniques. The focus was not just on capturing moments but on crafting them, bringing forth stories that transcended the boundaries of reality. The workshop provided a platform for unleashing creativity and experimentation.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Geray Mena
The workshop focused on the dissolution of genres within photography: documentary, fashion, still life and portraiture. Students built bridges between commercial and artistic practice.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Elizaveta Porodina
For this workshop, Elizaveta Porodina asked the students to explore the theme "AFTERHUMAN". This theme opens up perspectives for capturing futuristic landscapes, representing the potential fusion of technology and humanity. Think about visually depicting the coexistence of artificial intelligence, cybernetics or biotechnology with natural elements. Experiment with innovative techniques to convey a sense of evolution or transcendence. This exploration invites photographers to creatively interpret and visually narrate a future beyond conventional human experience.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
MEDIA & INTERACTION DESIGN
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Vincent Jacquier, Angelo Benedetto, Ali-Eddine Abdelkhalek, Jean-Vincent Simonet, Clément Rouzaud
In collaboration with the HYPEROUEST music festival, ECAL students were given the opportunity to design a visual installation in the room adjacent to the festival's ephemeral club, located on the Veillon wasteland in Crissier. For this project, 1st-year students worked in groups, mixing Bachelors in Graphic Design, Media & Interaction Design and Photography. Their main objective was to create powerful and creative visual sequences around the central theme of "HYPER". At the same time, second-year students in the Graphic Design option enriched this project by developing the exhibition's visual identity. These interdisciplinary collaborations stimulated exchanges and encouraged visual cohesion, connecting the different ideas and reinforcing the "laboratory" and experimental aspect of the project.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Matthieu Gafsou
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.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Laurence Bonvin
For two semesters, second-year students developped projects related to the thematic Reclaiming Water. They were invited to question and procuce images in relation to the countless political, social, economic, human and environmental issues linked to water. Who owns it? Is it a common good or a marketable resource? How can we visually address these issues?
PHOTOGRAPHY
with RVB Books/Matthieu Charon & Rémi Faucheux
Using pre-produced images, the students created one or more book models. How do you transform a series of photographs into a book? The Photographic Editions course introduces students to the selection of images, their order, format, graphics, ink, paper and binding. It addresses the specificities of the book as a medium and as a market.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Laurence Bonvin
During the first semester of the third year, this course enables students to take up a project they have already started, which could be continued in the second semester for the diploma. Students are encouraged to take risks in form, technique, production or subject matter.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Nicolas Poillot
By conceptualizing and producing the visual content for a magazine, themed - RESISTANCE - the students approached the notion of applied photography in a practical, creative and professional way in close collaboration with an Art Director.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Natacha Lesueur
Over the course of a semester, the students develop a project that examines the challenges of auteur photography and develops their personal expression. The project may be continued as a diploma project in the second semester.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Maxime Guyon
"Sculpture" is an intentionally broad theme to give this semester project in order to stimulate experimentation and freedom of realization. Sculpture is an artistic medium that allows for the realization of volume forms forms in volume thanks to innumerable techniques that have been used since the Paleolithic era to our contemporary society. This is an ambitious project where each student will have to complete a series of images highlighting their creations through advanced techniques of composition and light in the studio. Creating a sculpture is for some artists, for others it is a spontaneous way to elaborate a body of spontaneous way to develop a body of work.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Anoush Abrar
For this week's "sitter" theme, first-year photography students were asked to imagine a medium-format analog portrait. The term "sitter" was historically used in photography to designate the person posing for a portrait. This use dates back to the early days of photography, when long exposure times were necessary and subjects had to remain motionless for extended periods. The term reflected the idea that the person had to sit or hold a pose for the duration of the exposure. Now, as photography technology has evolved and exposure times have become shorter, the term "model" or "subject" has become more commonly used, reflecting a wider range of poses and activities beyond simply sitting.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Natacha Lesueur
Based on projects developed around the theme "Trompe L'oeil and Simulacra", the students developed a personal and in-depth work over an entire semester.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Alba Zari
This workshop offers participants a unique opportunity to delve into narratives through the lens of imagery and memory. Initially, they will engage with an archive of images, selecting a story from the past to dissect visually. This analytical phase sets the stage for a more personal exploration as participants transition to the next stage, where they will replace a character in the archive with themselves through self-portraiture. Central to the workshop is an interrogation of the medium of photography and the concept of the archive. Through guided discussions, participants will come to understand photography not just as a means of capturing moments but also as a form of witness to history. They will explore their roles as both collectors and editors of images, reflecting on the nuances of image production and consumption. Utilizing personal archives as a springboard for creativity and reflection, participants will gain insight into the complexities of visual storytelling. By examining images analytically and conceptually, they will develop a deeper understanding of their role in shaping narratives. Ultimately, the workshop aims to empower participants to create their own stories, fostering a deeper connection to both the past and their own identities through the powerful tool of photography.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Stéfanie Moshammer
« For this workshop there are no rules but I want you to tell me a story. I prefer to see a few images with a good concept, rather than too many images without any idea. » S.M With this invitation, the students worked on the territory of the city of Renens in search of places, people and traces of a history that is not simply a series of beautiful images.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Paolo Wood
It has been established that photography is a language. With all its limitations and peculiarities, but a language anyway. Photography is often a relatively poor language that constantly repeats the same nouns and verbs. In the documentary tradition, the range of subjects treated is quite limited and recurrent, and for this reason, in order to make photographs, one must learn and master this language: its vocabulary, its grammar and its history.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Mårten Lange
Failure is necessary and is part of the artistic development that is articulated by risk taking, luck, ambition, fear and freedom. The aim of the workshop was to successfully photograph, edit and sequence a series of images on the topic of failure. The final results are presented in various forms: editions, simple prints or more complex hangings and videos.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Jaya Pelupessy
At a time when the distribution of images is lightning-fast and virtually infinite, and the distinction between the original and the copy often seems irrelevant, what is left? In this workshop the students were asked to partake in an experiment dissecting and illuminating various aspects of the image and reinterpreting its meaning. Using different reproduction techniques and methods of appropriation, students reflected on the origin and status of the image.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Matthieu Gafsou
The mere mention of the term animal already raises questions; the most general of all is the following: do we, as humans, belong to this kingdom, or have we become totally alien to it ? The aim here is not to answer such a question, but to understand that the divide between humans and non-humans is extremely strong in our society - the only one in human history that has forged such a boundary. Yet the animal is everywhere in our daily lives. There is the animal we eat, or refuse to eat, the one we domesticate, the one that lives in our - its? - environment, the one we hunt, the one we cage in zoos, the one we study, the one we protect, etc... There is now talk of the sixth mass extinction of biodiversity. This context, which is ours today, complicates our relationship with living beings and with animals in particular. We are forced to rethink our relationship with others and become aware that life is a complex network in which we do not have all the space. Moreover, recent scientific research has exploded the Cartesian theory of the animal-machine and demonstrated that we are not the only ones to have developed an interiority. During this year-long project, students were asked to produce a series that addresses one or more of the themes associated with the animal world, in the form of their choice but using reality as raw material.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Laurence Bonvin
How can we move from the two-dimensionality of the image to the multi-dimensionality of the experience ? How can we introduce notions of space, volume, tactility and sensuality into images and the way they are presented ? If images can allow us to create new links with the world, how can we possibly move away from an essentially technically based vision, a perspectivist and anthropocentric vision ? How can we imagine and represent what a representation detached from our human point of view would be ? In our culture a separation has been established between culture and nature. This dichotomy has determined the way we see, understand and represent the world around us. How can we create images of the living, of "nature" that go beyond this distinction and this point of view ? Images that contribute to recreating a link with what is nonhuman: the plant, the mineral, the animal, the cosmic. What does an animal, a plant, an object, a tree, the earth feel and perceive ?
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Milo Keller
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Natacha Lesueur
Reference to the masters of the past (even if irreverent) is a recurrent com- posant of modern and contemporary artistic approaches. (Postmodernism; Situationism, Appropriationism) Quotation, homage, parody, remake, pastiche, remix, détournement, recycling, mashup, appropriation, re-enactment, simulationism, found footage, sample, palimpsest - appropriations are numerous and touch all fields.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Anouk Kruithof
"Earth is already crying" workshop d'une semaine avec l'artiste Anouk Kruithof.
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Clément Lambelet
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Benoît Jeannet