PHOTOGRAPHY

Léa Isoard – Almost Marble

by Léa Isoard

Almost Marble examines the circulation of contemporary female bodies within a visual and cultural landscape shaped by inherited representations. Using the Caryatids of the Acropolis as a reference, the project explores the persistence of ideals constructed through a masculine gaze, as well as the possibilities for their displacement. Within the Athenian labyrinth, portraits and architectural fragments come together to form a sensitive reading of a stratified city. The photographed figures can be understood as "displaced Caryatids": no longer bodies assigned to support a monument, but living presences that inhabit the city and constitute it from within.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Endurance - 2025

with Laurence Bonvin

Take risks, experiment, and try out new approaches or techniques in relation to a current or past project, or their future graduation project. Encourage them to take a project or idea further by experimenting with methodology, technique, and production methods, rather than relying on familiar processes, solutions, know-how, or tried-and-true formulas.

PHOTOGRAPHY

ECAL x Moncler

with Philippe Jarrigeon

Drawing on Moncler’s Alpine heritage, its timeless style, and its technical mastery, the ECAL Bachelor Photography students developed their own interpretation of the brand’s visual language, blending documentary photography with staged scenes, and merging reality with fiction, under the artistic direction of French photographer Philippe Jarrigeon. As part of Paris Photo 2025, the students’ work was showcased at the Moncler boutique on the Champs-Élysées.

PHOTOGRAPHY

ECAL x Polaroid Foundation

with Douglas Mandry

This workshop brought together ECAL graduate artist Douglas Mandry, the Polaroid Foundation, and around thirty Bachelor Photography students. They had the exceptional opportunity to work with a camera that produces Polaroid films in a 40 × 60 cm format and weighs nearly 200 kg. This experience was made possible thanks to its operators, John Reuter and Harriet Browse, who introduced the students to the use of this unique device and the Polaroid Foundation team. Douglas Mandry provided the project’s artistic direction and supported the students in their experiments carried out directly with and on the films. The final result was presented as a collective exhibition on ECAL’s premises, revealing a particularly rich diversity of approaches and visions.

PHOTOGRAPHY

ECAL × JEAN PAUL GAULTIER: "Le Mâle" - 30th anniversary

with Florence Tétier, Nicolas Coulomb

"Le Mâle" - 30th anniversary In 2025, "Le Mâle" will celebrate its 30th anniversary. With this in mind, students have been working on the brand's fragrance. Reflections on masculinity and different representations of the body in 2025.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Pratique photographique

with Maxime Guyon

OBI: Object Brochure Investigation More than just a store, OBI has become an integral part of local history. This Renens landmark also maintains a close link with ECAL, serving as a landmark and source of inspiration for its students. In fact, there is an architectural filiation between the two: Jean Tschumi's son, Bernard Tschumi, is the architect who designed the ECAL's renovation. This generational dialogue further strengthens OBI's place in students' visual and creative imaginations. OBI embodies the spirit of “Do It Yourself” (DIY), a concept that emerged in 1968 under the impetus of Stewart Brand, founder of the Whole Earth Catalog, an alternative publication born of his exploration under 200 micrograms of LSD. The DIY movement advocated an alternative lifestyle and resistance to hyper-consumption. Today, this philosophy is far removed from that embodied by OBI, considered to be a mass-market store. This paradox will be the focus of this semester's project. Since DIY has been structured around a publication, students will come full circle by producing an OBI-inspired edition of their own.

GRAPHIC DESIGN

PHOTOGRAPHY

Le livre d’artiste - 24/25

with Anouk Schneider Agabekov, Nicolas Polli

As part of the editorial design course led by Anouk Schneider and Nicolas Polli, second-year Visual Communication students had the opportunity to design an artist’s book during the first semester. This book project stands out for its contemporary approach, aiming to create an editorial object that harmoniously integrates form and content within today’s publishing landscape. Students were encouraged to fully embrace their artistic freedom at every stage of the creative process—whether in terms of format, paper choice, binding, layout, illustrations, text, or typography. Within this course, the artist’s book can take shape through various modes of illustration, such as photography, reproduction, contextualization, drawing, 3D, and more. The emphasis is placed on the author’s artistic vision and the means implemented to bring it to life. Students take on multiple roles as editor, curator, and architect, thereby covering the responsibilities of art director, designer, photographer, stylist, illustrator, typographer, editor-in-chief, and copy editor. This course highlights contemporary editorial design by exploring the narrative potential of a carefully constructed content sequence.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Workshop with Thomas Rousset

with Thomas Rousset

The aim of this workshop is to explore the boundary between docu-fiction and magic realism in photography, using the architecture and spaces of the ECAL as a narrative framework. Both approaches are rooted in reality, but differ in the way they inject fiction.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Dissapearing Bodies – 2025

with Laurence Bonvin

Dissapearing Bodies invites you to think around the question of the disappearance of the body in today's world, which is increasingly virtualised and disconnected from physical reality, and in which more and more activities are delegated to machines. The augmented body, virtual reality, 3D, social networks - these are just some of the tools available to us through our new devices, smart phones and others, which are revolutionising our relationship with our bodies. Controlling, optimising and managing our physical activity, our sleep, our diet, our bodies that are slipping away from us.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Summer University Athens

with Nikolas Venturakis

Athens, the cradle of Western civilization and the vibrant capital of Greece, offers a unique blend of ancient history and modernity.Taking advantage of the Summer University program, second-year Bachelor of Photography students had the opportunity to explore this mythical city and collaborate with photographer Nikolas Venturakis. Amidst ancient ruins, lively neighborhoods, and Mediterranean landscapes, the students were able to develop a rich photographic language. This immersion in the heart of the city, where the ancient meets the contemporary, allowed them to deepen their artistic vision while enjoying the local cultural vibrancy. The cobbled streets, bustling markets, and golden hues of the Athenian sunset served as the backdrop for a unique photographic project, capturing the soul and energy of this timeless metropolis.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Workshop with Lorenzo Vitturi

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

Video

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

Staged 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

Workshop Digital Medium Format

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

Applied 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

Video

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.

MEDIA & INTERACTION DESIGN

PHOTOGRAPHY

Redesign 23-24 - S2

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.

GRAPHIC DESIGN

MEDIA & INTERACTION DESIGN

PHOTOGRAPHY

SYNC SCREEN

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

Fine Art 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

Workshop Photographic chamber

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

Analog Medium Format Workshop

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.