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 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
by Lorane Hochstätter
This book explores the complexity of the development of a girl's feminine identity through the education and gaze of her mother, the first and most powerful model of femininity. My mother, former model, seemed to emerge from a magazine cover: the embodiment of overwhelming norms of feminine representation. Our image develops in a mirror: she projects herself onto me, remembering what she was and inspecting what she no longer is; I project myself onto her, seeing what I would like to be but what I'am not. These self-portraits twist and disguise my body, caught between emancipation and subordination to imposed codes. This book deals with the love-rejection relationship between a mother and her daughter, who accompany and evolve together in a never-ending quest: the search for a feminine identity.
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.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
MEDIA & INTERACTION DESIGN
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Anouk Schneider Agabekov, Chi-Long Trieu
As part of the magazine course led by Anouk Schneider and Chi-Long Trieu, 2nd-year Visual Communication students had the opportunity to design a magazine during the second semester. Students were encouraged to explore their artistic freedom at all stages of creation, whether it be in terms of format, paper choice, binding, layout, illustrations, text, or typography. In this course, the magazine can take shape through various forms of illustrations, such as photography, reproduction, contextualization, drawing, 3D, etc. The focus is on the artist's vision and the methods used to bring it to life. Students take on multiple roles as editor, curator, and architect, covering responsibilities such as art director, designer, photographer, stylist, illustrator, typographer, editor-in-chief, and editorial assistant. This course highlights contemporary editorial design by exploring the narrative potential of a well-structured content sequence.
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.
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 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.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
MEDIA & INTERACTION DESIGN
PHOTOGRAPHY
with Anouk Schneider Agabekov, Chi-Long Trieu
As part of the publishing course led by Anouk Schneider and Chi-Long Trieu, 2nd 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 aimed at creating an editorial object that harmoniously integrates form and content in the current context of the editorial landscape. Students were encouraged to exploit their artistic freedom at all levels of creation, whether in terms of format, choice of paper, binding, layout, illustrations, text or typography. As part of this course, the artist's book can take shape through various illustration modalities, such as photography, reproduction, contextualization, drawing, 3D, etc. The emphasis is on the author's artistic vision and the means implemented to realize it. Students take on multiple roles as editor, curator and architect, covering the responsibilities of artistic director, designer, photographer, stylist, illustrator, typographer, editor-in-chief, and editorial secretary. This course highlights contemporary editorial design by exploring the narrative potential of a sequence of controlled content.
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 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.