Bio of the artist

Romy Berger (FR, 1995) lives and works in Brussels (BE). She graduated with a Master in Visual and Spatial Arts in Photography at ENSAV La Cambre(BE). The artist teaches at Contraste, School of Creative Photography in Brussels (BE).

Corporis Antrum, 2021.

Romy Berger’s work takes shape before our eyes through various metaphors of a hybrid universe revolving from anticipation to memory. Skull, silhouette, intestine, cosmos, and initiation ceremonies punctuate an introspective journey in which Romy Berger takes her body as a pillar of exploration. The photographer refers to herself as an archaeologist who scours grounds, "the digital tool enables the memory to be revealed and universal mental images to appear." Video, installation, photography and 3D are different means used to translate a hybrid language. The photograms constructed in the darkness and intimacy of a photo lab are a subtle evocation of fossils, archives of our mental territory

Bio of the artist

Elina Brotherus (FI, 1972) lives and works between Helsinki (FI) and Avalon BIO (FR). The photographer has a long career, and recently had solo exhibitions at Kunst Haus Wien Vienna (AU, 2018), Yumiko Chiba Associates Tokyo (JP, 2019), Fotografie Forum Frankfurt (DE, 2022), Musée de la Roche-sur-Yon (FR, 2022), and Martin Asbæk Gallery Copenhagen (DK, 2022). Thus, she was awarded the Carte blanche PMU (FR, 2017), becoming the first Finnish artist to have a solo show at Centre Pompidou Paris (FR, 2017).

Sebaldina Memento Mori, 2019.

Her work has been alternating between autobiographical and art-historical approaches. For this series, Elina Brotherus was inspired by W. G. Sebald's never- completed novel about Corsica. The artist went to the places the writer depicts: the forest of Aitone and the Bavella massif, the hotel, the beach and the cemetery of Piana, and the sculptural red cliffs. The photographer stages herself in a range of scenery related to death, as a way of remembering her deceased loved ones. By unintended chance, Elina Brotherus’s mother passes away the same year as W. G. Sebald. Thus, she used her mother's watercolour paper to create cyanotypes with leaves she recovered from burial sites. "The series became a tribute not only to the Island of Beauty and to my favourite author, but also to my mother, Ulla Brita Brotherus."

Bio of the artist

Gabriel Dia (SN, 1985) lives and works in Paris (FR). Exiled because of his sexual orientation, he arrived in France in 2003, where he studied engineering and would later follow a photography course at Efet Studio Crea Paris (FR). Gabriel Dia has participated in several group exhibitions, Galerie Le Génie de la Bastille Paris (FR, 2019), Pool Art Fair Guadeloupe (FR, 2019), and Arles Off (FR, 2020). In 2013, he published his first book The Birth of a Virgin.

My Myself and I, 2021.

is a series of metaphorical portraits, in which Gabriel Dia’s figure is both spied upon and concealed. Evanescent, masked, luminescent, upset portraits of the artist’s emotional self. During the second confinement, Gabriel Dia fights against boredom and, questions his individuality through his clothing style. "It seems to me that nowadays fashion is no longer just about clothes, but one of the strongest ways of expressing our personality, which confinement has deprived us of." The artist’s approach brings back the body as the most powerful means of human expression. Between imagination and reality, plastic arts and photography, the artist uses his body to reassert himself.

Bio of the artist

Omar Victor Diop (SN, 1980) is based in Dakar (SN). His first project Fashion 2112, le Futur du Beau, was featured at the Pan African Exhibition of the African Biennale of Photography (ML, 2011). Since then, the artist has held several solo exhibitions in international venues, such as Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie d’Arles (FR, 2012), Maison de l’Afrique de Paris (FR, 2022), Allianza Franceza of Malaga (ES, 2022) and Planches Contact Festival Deauville (FR, 2022).

Allegoria, 2021.

Omar Victor Diop calls for a change of emphasis and critical thinking "about environmental justice, anthropocentrism, and our collective and individual responsibilities in securing more viable, liveable futures." The cultural politics of self-modeling, the recasting of history and the aesthetic style of African and black diasporic identities are at the core of the photographer's work. The artist highlights these premises with ecological awareness, mobilising endangered animals in his imagery and indigenous inscriptions, through traditional African robes and vibrant tones. His artworks are a reflection of the transitory character of humanity on earth.

Bio of the artist

Julia Gat (IL, 1997) lives and works in Marseille (FR). She studied photography at Willem de Kooning, Rotterdam (NL) and the New York School of Visual Arts (US). She has been exhibited at Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam (NL, 2021) and Les Rencontres Internationales de la photographie d'Arles (FR, 2022). The artist has won the Isem Young Photographer Award (FR, 2020), the Steenbergen Stipendium Public Prize (NL, 2021), and the Polyptych Award (FR, 2022). Her first photo book Khamsa, khamsa, khamsa was published in 2022 by Actes Sud.

Khamsa khamsa khamsa, 2012- 2022.

This series is the result of a 20 year-long process, started at the age of 14 and is a visual autobiographical narrative in the form of a family archive. Her mother used to say "the archive keeps that world we lived in as a real place, which otherwise could be easily mistaken for a dream." Khamsa, khamsa, khamsa - meaning 'Five' in Arabic - repeated three times like a protective incantation - refers to the brotherhood of five children, of whom she is the eldest. Julia Gat tells the story of her childhood and adolescence, growing up alongside her two brothers and two sisters. At home, they are taught an alternative educational philosophy, 'Unschooling' as means to experience freedom in their choice of activities and learning. Beyond that, Julia Gat relates her story by gradually defining the faces and bodies of her own as they evolve.

Bio of the artist

Laura Hospes (NL, 1994) is based in Amsterdam (NL). The artist studied photography at the Photoacademy in Amsterdam (NL). She has had international solo and collective exhibitions in places such as Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (NL, 2017), Photoville New York (US, 2017), Bélvedère Heerenveen Museum (NL, 2018), and more recently at Unseen Amsterdam (NL, 2022). She has won awards such as the Emerging Talent Award from LensCulture (US, 2016) and the Belfast PhotoFestival From Northern Ireland (IE, 2017).

Series of conversations, 2018 - ongoing.

Laura Hospes considers her skin as co-author of her work, in a symbiotic movement, the artist's work underlines the physicality, femininity and ephemerality of the body. At times skin and mind are interdependent and at the other disconnected, the photographer approaches this artistic process as a conversation. "As I am focused on my bodily position, I disregard my psychical well being." Having suffered sexual abuse, Laura Hospes seeks coping mechanisms by assigning different roles to her skin. She creates a shield against the outside world by ascribing her body as an independent entity.

No Man’s Land, 2020.

For the filmed performance No Man's Land, Laura Hospes gradually frees her plaster-covered body on both a physical and psychological level. The artist questions the limits of intimacy and the viewer's gaze in the face of this ritualised experience.

Bio of the artist

Barbara Iweins (BE, 1974) is based in Brussels (BE). She started her artistic career in Amsterdam (NL) where she has lived for several years. She graduated from the communication and journalism school, IHECS in Brussels (BE). She has been exhibited as a solo artist at Street Lab Amsterdam (NL, 2010), Atelier Relief Brussels (BE, 2016), Parlement Francophone Bruxellois (BE, 2018), and at Les Rencontres Internationales de la photographie d'Arles (FR, 2022). Barbara Iweins is the author of the Street Style Memory Game published in 2010 and Katalog pubished in 2022.

Katalog, 2022.

A collector since a tender age, Barbara Iweins draws inspiration from literature (Edouard Levé) and contemporary art (Sophie Calle, Christian Boltanski). Collecting, gathering, ordering, classifying and exhibiting objects has always given her considerable pleasure. "I've photographed everything from my daughter's sock with a hole in it to my son's Lego, my vibrator, my anti-anxiety medication, absolutely everything." She seeks an aesthetic emotion in the assembly of elements that, at first sight, may seem out of place or even tasteless. Following Kant, for whom the object exists but becomes acknowledged only when the subject faces it and recognizes it as such. The artist starts a radical confrontation with her possessions. 12,795 photos of 12,795 objects.

Bio of the artist

Yunsoon Jeong (KR, 1969) Yunsoon Yunsoon Jeong (KR, 1969) lives and works in Seoul (KR). The artist graduated from Chung-Ang University Center of Photography (KR). Yunsoon Jeong has been exhibited at Kim Bo Seong Art Center Seoul (KR, 2019), DongGang 19th's International Photo Festival (KR, 2021), Jeonju 15th's International Photo Festival (KR, 2021), and Space 22 (KR, 2023). He has been awarded withthe first FNK Photography award and published his first book NAMIB in 2019.

Me, Challenge, 2021.

After a severe car accident, Yunsoon Jeong's artistic language takes a different path. His despair and painful experience are at the centre of his art process, which he considers even more important than the outcome. "My work is a metaphor for my strong desire to live." The South Korean artist does not simply document the scars of his past, but the determination to overcome his physical suffering and trauma through scenarios in which he stages himself.

Bio of the artist

Mari Katayama (JP, 1987) is based in Gunma (JP). The artist graduated from the Department of Intermedia Art at Tokyo University of the Arts (JP). Recently, she participated in the Venice Biennale (IT, 2019), she exhibited a photographic installation at University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor (US, 2019) and at Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris (FR, 2021).

Possession, 2022 – on going.

Possession is Mari Katayama’s latest series, in which she stages herself, as usual, with objects that she has created and that refer to previous series (Shadow puppet - 2016, Beast - 2016, Thus I exist - 2015). Mari Katayama suffers from a congenital condition; at the age of 9, she had both legs amputated. She has an impactful approach that seeks to find beauty where a priori there is none. The artist prompts the viewer to rethink the norms and standards of beauty. She is keen to work on the framing of her works with various collected artifacts and shells, a process that goes beyond the medium of photography alone. In making objects and self-portraits, tracing her own outline equaled pursuing the appeal that everyone contained. "No matter how much I hated how I was. I may too, have such beauty. I learned that I have within myself the same as you do. I am you."

Bio of the artist

Auriane Kołodziej (FR, 1993) lives and works in Paris (FR). She studied graphic design at ECV Creative School & Community Paris (FR). She also graduated in semiology from the Sorbonne Descartes Paris V University (FR).

Miroir, Miroir, 2020- ongoing.

Auriane Kołodziej approaches self-portraiture in her practice as a way to prove that she exists. This series was born after a dream that deeply marked her. Through the artist’s series and more broadly her art, she anchors and shares her story. "Two years ago, I had a dream. I was standing, fully naked, in an endless bright white room. It was just me, and a tiny mirror." She draws the outline of her artistic language through her anxious and nostalgic personality. For a long time, the artist suffered from anorexia, and she found art, more particularly in the representation of herself in the mirror, a means of healing and accepting her condition.

Bio of the artist

Tarrah Tarrah Krajnak (PE, 1979) lives and works between Eugene and Los Angeles (US). The photographer’s work has been exhibited at Houston Center of Photography (US, 2019), Unseen California (US, 2021), and Art Basel (CH, 2022). She has won the Dorothea Lange-Paul Taylor Prize (US, 2020) and the Jury Prize at Les Rencontres Internationales de la photographie d'Arles (FR, 2021). In 2021, the artist produced The Careful Photograph, a podcast highlighting Black, Indigenous and people of color voices within contemporary photography, stemming from her own long engagement and her quest for identity.

1979 Contact Negatives, 2019.

Tarrah Krajnak was adopted in the Peruvian capital in 1979. The photographer approaches the series as a way of imagining her body returning to Lima. "I am interested in the multi-temporality of the photographic medium, and the potential of the darkroom itself as a site of performance or spectro-poetics." She uses a temporary darkroom, multiple projections and large format cameras and re-photographs to intersect the turbulent history of the city and her own. In a dark and agitated atmosphere, she expresses the marks of traumatic experiences on bodies and the erasure of violent histories in archives.

Bio of the artist

Haohui Liu (CN, 1993) lives and works between London (UK) and Fuzhou (CN). He studied at the London College of Communication (UK). Haohui Liu has been exhibited at Gallery Kult 41 Bonn (DE, 2019), Hoxton Gallery London (UK, 2021), Voormalige Suikerfabriek Groningen (NL, 2021), International body of art London (UK, 2022), and EDA Shenzhen (CN, 2022).

To cut the feet, to fit the shoes, 2021.

The name of this series is a Chinese idiom used to describe the fatality of human condition. The photographer seeks to combat the anxiety of appearance conveyed by the mass media and what he calls the fetishism of merchandise "to let go of harsh self- recrimination and happily accept our own identity and uniqueness, fearlessly, and delightfully." This series takes the form of a book, and introduces more profound ideas concerning self-image, spirituality and cultural theory through the creation of Chinese symbols or use of English words as section headings.

Bio of the artist

Tomasz Tomasz Machciński (PL, 1942 - 2022) was a self-taught photographer and performer. Orphaned at an early age, the artist constructs his identity around an autograph he received from Hollywood actress Joan Tompkins, "With love to Tommy from Mother Joan", whom he then imagined to be his mother. From this confusion, which lasted more than 20 years, a personal mythology was born, a monumental performance that has been uninterrupted since 1966: more than 22,000 fictional self-portraits.

In his work (1966 - 2022)

Tomasz Machciński embodies different characters from history, literature, politics, popular culture and characters he invents, all of which come from different ethnic, sexual or social backgrounds. He has no need for artifice since he uses everything his body gives him: hair growth, loss of teeth, diseases, aging. A singular performer, Tomasz Machciński reinvents his own identity, composes a personal mythology, while exploiting conceptual photography in its theatrical form.

Bio of the artist

Sanja Marušić (NL/HR, 1991) lives and works in Amsterdam (NL). She studied photography at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague (NL). She was exhibited at Paris Photo Fair (FR, 2021), MIA Fair Milan (IT, 2021), and presented a solo exhibition in Los Angeles with Standard Vision (US, 2021). The photographer was nominated for the Paul Huff Award, Foam Amsterdam (NL, 2020), and won the first prize Audience Award at Kunst.nl (NL, 2021).

Eutierria, 2019. Sanja Marušić and her husband are newly married and co-create this series together. Somewhere between profound love and new beginnings, the couple slowly uncovers the new dimension that marriage brings to their relationship. This series is about balancing, oneness, surrendering oneself to one-another and nature, finding calmness, connectedness in the middle of movement.

Before You, 2020. In her practice, Sanja Marušić explores multiple mediums and techniques: photography, painting and collage. Through vivid and playful self-portraits, Sanja Marušić expresses both a body and a person in transition, offering the viewer a closer look to the most meaningful change. The artist portrays herself as a mother to be "my photography and life are no longer about myself alone."

With you part two, 2021. Sanja Marušić's child is one year old and the artist decides to create this series around motherhood. Shortly before starting this project, the photographer is told that her mother is diagnosed with cancer. Feeling vulnerable and insecure, she feels the need to be close to her child. As the weeks go by, her mother's health improves, and her images become more joyful. In this series, the subject of motherhood as a central point takes an unanticipated direction and confers a double meaning to her artwork.

Bio of the artist

Bruno Oliveira (PT, 1993) is based in Luxembourg Ville (LU). The artist studied visual arts at ENSAV La Cambre in Brussels (BE). He has participated in several collective exhibitions in Belgium and Luxembourg, notably at Plateau de Rham Luxembourg (LU, 2020), Centrale for Contemporary Art Brussels (BE, 2021), and Musée de la Photographie Charleroi (BE, 2021).

Sanfins, 2019-2020.

Bruno Oliveira, due to an administrative error, is the only person on earth whose birthplace is a village named Sanfins, located only a few steps from the hospital he was originally born in. In this video, the photographer- videographer depicts the village, mainly composed of the members of his family. Sanfins is an ode to the notion of community. In a concern of remembrance, the artist intends to revive Sanfins forever through the delicacy of the sounds, conversations and gestures of everyday life. "The name of the village reminds me of 'sans fin' in French, which means 'endless'."

Bio of the artist

Paola Paredes (EC, 1986) lives and works in London (UK). The artist studied photography at Middlesex University, London (UK) as well as photojournalism and documentary photography at the London College of Communication (UK). The photographer has been exhibited at places ranging from FotoLoft Gallery Moscow (RU, 2015), Hillyer Art Space Washington (US, 2016), Portrait Salon London (UK, 2016), and Latin American Photo Festival (US, 2022). She is the second Prize Winner of a scholarship from the London Art Gemini Prize (UK, 2015).

Until you change, 2017.

Paola Paredes blends traditional documentary photography with staged imagery, her work focuses on issues facing the LGBT community in Ecuador. There are so called 'cure' centres to treat men and women for homosexuality. Paola Paredes undertook a documentary research by collecting testimonials and conducting a 6-month interview with a woman who had experienced a stay in one of the above mentioned institutions. "The strict ban on using a camera inside these places made it impossible to tell this story using traditional documentation practices. These images allow us to see what was never meant to be seen." Putting herself at the forefront of imagery, her work represents a personal and intimate challenge to social prejudices. The artist invites a renewed discourse on the interactions between sexuality, family and personal freedom in contemporary society.

Bio of the artist

Louka Perderizet (FR,1999) is based in Brussels (BE). He graduated in photography from the 75- ESA school, Brussels (BE) and is currently pursuing a degree in visual arts at the Ecole de Recherche Graphique in Brussels (BE). The artist is a transgender-activist who has always used photography to question identities, bodies and sexuality and LGBTQIA+ pride.

Garçon assigné fille à la naissance, 2018.

In the summer of 2018, Louka Perderizet began this series chronicling his life story: "I was assigned a girl, but that's not who I am, I'm a boy." His project consists of self-portraits that revolve around physical changes, photos of his relatives and artifacts. Through his art, he takes a stand on his mental and physical suffering, on his interrogation and on the path that leads to fulfillment.

Bio of the artist

Kourtney Roy (CA, 1981) lives and works in Paris (FR). The artist studied photography at The Emily Carr University, Vancouver (CA). The photographer has exhibited at the Planches Contact Festival Deauville (FR, 2012), Le Bal Paris (FR, 2014), Portraits Festival Vichy (FR, 2015), and has had a solo show at Paris Photo (FR, 2018). Kourtney Roy’s work has been published in several books, Ils pensent déjà que je suis folle in 2014, Northern Noir in 2016 and California in 2016.

The Tourist, 2019 - 2020.

Kourtney Roy’s individual colour language, filmic approach, is an atmosphere of fun and debauchery and is what characterise this series and more extensively her work. The artist transports the viewer from reality to fiction, leaving them in a tangible state of confusion. Kourtney Roy with a lot of humour depicts a reality in which, "most people enjoy the anticipation and recollection of a holiday more than the actual experience" - Del Barrett. What appears to be glamorous and aesthetically pleasing shots are rather a rendering of the reality of most people on a summer break. One-night stands, holiday romances, ice cream that melts on our counterfeit jewellery or boredom that makes us behave peculiarly. On the road to the unspoken, Kourtney Roy triggers the limits of societal norms and raises questions about its relevance.

Bio of the artist

C. Rose Smith (US, 1995) lives and works in Boston (US). The photographer’s work has been featured in group exhibitions at Museum of Contemporary Art Georgia Atlanta (US, 2017), Scad Museum of Art Savannah (US, 2020), Fotofest Biennial Houston (US, 2022), and Blue Star Contemporary San Antonio (US, 2022). The artist is an MFA candidate at the Rochester Institute of Technology (US, 2022), where she engages photographic histories in her practice. C. Rose Smith’s recent achievements include the Finalist for the Aperture Magazine Portfolio Review Prize (US, 2021) and was on the Inaugural Silver List for Emerging Photographers (US, 2022).

Scenes of Self: Redressing Patriarchy, 2019-2022.

C.Rose Smith questions the relationship between the white cotton dress shirt and classicism, elitism and labour. The photographic medium with the Afro-surrealist approach allows the artist to interrogate a series of radicalised and gendered societal norms. She criticizes, interprets and reinvents a diversity of experiences of her ancestors and their subjugators. "When composing my self-portraits, I also call upon historical proclamations like Ain’t I a Woman and I Am a Man that speak to the lack of empathy and humanity rooted in anti-Blackness." Scene of Self: Redressing Patriarchy offers a deeper insight into the semiotics of fashion's role in capitalism to expose particular and anomalous systems of patriarchy, past and present.

Bio of the artist

Annegret Soltau (DE, 1946) is based in Darmstadt (DE). The artist studied painting and graphic art at the University of Fine Arts in Hamburg (DE). Annegret Soltau is an accomplished photographer with more than 45 years of national and international career and remains an active artist. The photographer has exhibited in the recent years at Maurer Zilioli Gallery Munich (DE, 2020), Kornfeld Gallery Berlin (DE, 2020), Colnaghi Foundation London (UK, 2020), Musée Les Abattoirs Toulouse (FR, 2021), and Kunstverein Buchholz (DE, 2022). For more than 20 years, Annegret Soltau taught at various universities in Germany and Austria. She was awarded the Marielies Hess Art Prize (DE, 2011) and the Johann-Heinrich-Merck Honorary Mention (DE, 2016).

Father Search, 2003-2007.

Annegret Soltau’s life phases and experiences mirror her art, where expressing truth and imperfections is the path to self-acceptance. The photographer was born illegitimately, following her mother's affair with an officer at the end of the Second World War. Due to the war context, Annegret Soltau’s mother loses track of her child's birth father. In this series, the artist shares her longstanding quest to find her biological father. "The unresolved story of my fate as a result of the Second World War is literally written on the face of my self-portraits." Beyond the artist’s search for her identity, Annegret Soltau denounces a broken generation, to whom the war has left marks and a certain emptiness to carry out throughout life.

Bio of the artist

The Dazzled Project is a French collective composed by Hélène Bellenger (FR, 1989), Valentin Russo (1996), and Margot Millet (1995). The three artists are graduates from Arles's National School of Photography (FR). Their installation questions the way in which new technologies and social networks modify our relationship to the face, to the self-portrait and to the representation of the self in a digital era.

Dazzled Project 002, 2022.

Hélène Bellenger, Margot Millet and Valentin Russo have initiated a collection of selfies. Gleaned meticulously from the internet and social networks, the selfies with flash in the mirror show a part of the face and make it disappear at the same time. Gathered in the manner of a constellation of flashes or stars, these images drown the individualities of these self-portraits in the pattern of these portraits found by millions on social networks. "The face is a privileged medium for understanding the sensitivity of an era and the way in which it mirrors itself, in particular through portraits, which were for a long time reserved to aristocracy."

Bio of the artist

Karolina Wojtas (CZ, 1996) lives and works in Lodz (PL). She studied at the Film School Lodz (PL) and Institute of Creative Photography, Opava (CZ). The Czech photographer has shown her work at Gallery of Polish Institute Vienna (AT, 2017), Polish Circles of Art during the China Festival Beijing (CN, 2017), the Unigeo Festival, Horni Becva Opava (CZ, 2018), and in Amsterdam where she won the ING Unseen Talent Award (NL, 2019). She is a two-time scholarship-winner from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage (CZ, 2018).

We can't live- without each other
, 2019 - on going.

Karolina Wojtas invites the viewer to explore the depths of her disrupted humour, the depiction of a kitsch-centric performance putting the discomfort of the 'hideous' aside. She was an only child until she was 13 years old. One day, a baby stepped into her life and a war began. The artist claims that the war is still on, leaving it unclear whether she means it literally or sarcastically. In the very end, why does it matter? Karolina Wojtas and her brother decided to document some of their battles and tricks, to teach siblings from all around the world "how to fight!" "Dear siblings-proprietor. Stay strong and do not stop struggling for your position. Show those mean creatures, who are also from the body and blood of your parents, that the worst nightmares they have, are just a fairytale in comparison of what you are capable of..."

Bio of the artist

Dawn Woolley (UK, 1980) is based in Leeds (UK). She studied photography and fine art at the Royal College of Art in London (UK). The photographer has exhibited at Ruskin Gallery Cambridge (UK, 2017), Ffotogallery Cardiff (UK, 2018), Blyth Gallery London (UK, 2018), Blenheim Walk Gallery Leeds (UK, 2019), Perth Centre for Photography (AU, 2021), and Bildkultur Gallery Stuttgart (DE, 2022). Thus, Dawn Woolley is the author of the book, Consuming the Body: Capitalism, Social Media and Commodification published in 2022.

The Substitutes, 2007 – 2020.

In this series, Dawn Woolley's work blurs the line between self-portraiture and still life, producing inanimate bodies and seemingly animated objects. The artist creates photo self-portraits to consider her own experiences as an object of the male gaze. "I examine representations of gender in adverts, magazines, tv programmes and on social media in order to appropriate their visual language and expose the stereotypes they reproduce."