statement
The subject of this work is the identity of individuals in context with tourism and its implications.
People "documenting" the setting mostly don't really take part but are mere ghosts in these alien surroundings. The main concern is the own representation in places loaded with meaning and connoted with culture, exotism, romance and leisure (such as monuments, landscapes, landmarks, etc). These sites have been photographed and reproduced innumerable times and therefore are part of our general knowledge and personal photographic albums.
On the one hand does the ongoing reproduction of the very same subjects reinforce images of prefabricated ideas and rarely describes real circumstances. On the other hand the individual experience is literally flattened to an image, since the sole purpose lies in the post-experience of showing and proofing one's presence on-site via pictures. Since several years I am taking pictures of tourists at various frequently visited locations around the world. By cutting out the posing and shooting figures and superposing the sceneries, the individual experiences become disputable. Diversity shrinks into one single image/layer and at the same time every picture of this work could still be defined as a representation of an individual journey.
We are all influenced by pictures of these specific sites and constantly contribute as posers and shooters to its endless reproduction. As beholders we recognize them despite the layering, as a part of our knowledge and identity and hence canít withdraw our participating.
As a teacher in Photography these subject matters are preliminary to actual assignments and relevant for understanding the role of the photographer as well as the beholders. As an artist using photography as a main medium I more often don't run around with a camera, but try do be aware of the moment "listening" visually or just dwell on site. Later on I might return and take a picture or just remember and move on conceptually.
Photography in itself is limited and sometimes doesn't suffice as medium for certain themes or situations. Other media have to be involved to make it complete.
bio
born: 1963, Baden, Switzerland
education
University of the Arts, Zurich, MA in Art Education, 2008
ICP (International Center of Photography) New York City, USA, Certificate Fulltime Student General Studies,1998
F+F, School of Visual Arts, Zurich, Switzerland, Certificate in Fine Arts, 1989
selected awards/honors
First Place in the Nature Category in PWPís International Womenís Juried Exhibition& Honorable Mention in PWPís 36th Anniversary call for entry, 2012
Sony World Photography Award Winner, Landscape Photographer of the Year, 2011
Swiss Photo Awards, Nominee 1st place, category Fine Arts, 2009
selected publications
Arte Laguna Prize, Catalog, Venice, Italy
Sony World Photography Awards, Catalog, London, Verlhac Editions Paris, 2011
Fotosommer Stuttgart, BadenWuttenbergischer Kunstverein, Catalog, Arnoldsche Art Publisher, Germany, 2010
Swiss Photo Award, ewz selection, Zurich, Catalog, Schwabe Verlag, Basel, Switzerland, 2009
selected solo or two-person exhibits
Florence Iff, Hongkong Arts Center HKAC: Art of Swiss Beauty, Hongkong, 2014
selected group shows
Emerging Focus Finalistsí Exhibition, Appart Showroom, Barcelona, Spain & Los Angeles, California, 2014
Renaissance Photography Prize 2012, Mall Galleries, London, England, United Kingdom, 2012
Sony World Photography Festival: Winners Show, Sumerset House, London, New York, Sao Paolo, Shanghai, 2011
Baden-Wuttenbergischer Kunstverein: Fotosommer Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany, 2010
|
