Results and participants
ISSP 2019 FINAL CONFERENCE: "Photography and the World"
19.07.2019 in Zaļenieki, Latvia
The ISSP 2019 Final Conference presented the results of the week-long work of the ISSP participants, containing elements of pop-up exhibitions, discussions, performances, collaborative actions, and other unpredictable components. Each workshop was free to collaboratively decide on the form of their final presentation.
This workshop invited participants to think, discuss and challenge their beliefs on what critical documentary photography is and can be. Can documentary photography can still have an important role in criticizing, revealing and in other ways actively catalyzing change in today’s world? The end result was a pop-up exhibition in which participants shared their ongoing research and project "road-maps" with the audience.
Participants: Alessandra Sharani Zadeh (IT), Alexander Anufriev (RU), Artem Nadyozhin (UA), Daria Minina (RU), David Vaaknin (IL), Francis Belte (LV), Ipek Cinar (TR) - Recipient of Tandem Network Scholarship, Lars Klingenberg (DE), Lesia Poliakova (RU)Lys Arango (ES), Marcel Rickli (CH), Paula Jansone (LV), Petra Kroon (NL).
Making photographs has always been a collaborative act. This workshop was an invitation to experiment with ways of engaging individuals, groups, and communities as active participants in the process of creating work about their lives, experiences, and points of view about the world around them. During the week, participants got to know and worked together with the local inhabitants of Zaļenieki, and the end result was a zine of collaborative work and a village celebration.
Participants: Alison Eden (US), Anita Pouchard Serra (AR), Bartu Kaan Özdişci (TR) - Recipient of Tandem Network Scholarship, Desideria Andreea Petrache (RO/ES), Eli Lea (NO), Joe Magowan (IE/UK), Johanna Rannula (EE), Megan Wilson-De La Mare (UK), Meindert Peirens (BE), Monika Scherer (DE/CH), Tiago Dias dos Santos (PT).
In 1972, the first picture of the whole Earth taken by a human being – called Blue Marble – produced a collective sense of belonging and helped redirecting the public opinion towards political and environmental issues. The title of that photograph was due to the scientific background of the astronauts, who could only compare the heavenly view of our planet from space to a wonderful gemstone.
The workshop explored the possibility of representing the dramatic changes affecting the present and resulting in a collective performative project. It staged an absurd attempt at communicating that can only be witnessed through the technological filters that affect our way of producing and sharing pictures.
Participants: Anna Denisova (RU), Anna Niskanen (FI), Annemarija Gulbe (LV), Annika Lehtinen (FI), Anya Marchenkova (RU), Audrius Kriauciunas (LT/NL), Ioanna Sakellaraki (GR/UK), Iveta Gabaliņa (LV), Laima Buša (LV), Nicolò Lucchi (IT), Selen Solak Sevinc (TR/DE), Tata Gorian (RU).
Where is the border between the personal and the political? In this workshop, participants reflected upon the role of the photographer as an individual, and techniques by which they can share the current global state and use their work to engage others. The results of the week were presented in the pop-up exhibition "This is Important".
Participants: Agnieszka Sejud (PL), Alvin Lau (MY), Augustine Paredes (PH), Caroline Lusseaux (FR), Dania Hany (EG) - Recipient of Tandem Network Scholarship, Ivan Petrokovich (RU), Jessica Wolfelsperger (DE/CH), Keiji Fujimoto (JP) - Recipient of Higashikawa Town of Photography Scholarship, Monique van de Wijdeven (NL), Nastassja Nefjodov (DE/NL), Nathalie Bjorneby (NO).
Structured as a collective experimental laboratory, this workshop took a step away from the traditional understanding of photography as an image production tool to reveal its potential as a relational device. Photography can be an instrument to catalyze situations, transform daily routines, reveal meanings and create new perspectives of the reality around us. The final presentation was structured as a set of collaborative actions inviting the audience to take part.
Participants: Arta Kauliņa (LV), Asya Zhetvina (RU/NL), Evgenia Chernovskaya (RU), Flavia Rossi (IT), Julie Bourges (FR), Kristīne Krauze Slucka (LV), Linda Boļšakova (LV) - Recipient of the VV Foundation Scholarship, Loïc Seguin (FR), Mariel Kouveli (GR/UK), Min Jun Kim (KR/FR), Roman Sokolov (RU/MT), Sammie Masters-Hopkins (UK), Svitlana Levchenko (UA).
In this workshop, participants were encouraged to transcend previous notions of documentary into a new terrain incorporating the humane, personal and collaborative, and exploring ways to move beyond linear storytelling and create a "felt experience" for the audience. The participants also addressed social issues and the ethical considerations of storytelling. The end result was a pop-up exhibition of the participants' ongoing work at the Zaļenieki Culture House.
Participants: André Alves (PT), Andrea Wasaff (FR), Anna-Tia Buss (DE/CH), Constanze Flamme (DE), Diana Takacsova (SK/BE), Ekaterina Balaban (RU), Kai Yokoyama (JP), Linda Muižniece (LV), Monika Orpik (PL/UK), Rehab Eldalil (EG) - Recipient of Tandem Network Scholarship, Sanne Derks (NL), Yağız Yeşilkaya (TR).
