For more content of near’s past, please go to the archive section

Zürich
Kassette, Wolfbachstrasse 9
1 June 2016, from 18.00

Lovers of contemporary photography? Compulsive collector? A passion for beautiful objects? The first limited edition of the series ‘17 shots in a box’ has arrived! The box combines 17 photos in postcard format with current works from the work of near. photographers. Discover this coprodution between near. and Grussformat over a drink, which also offers an opportunity for exchange.

With contributions by Sophie Brasey, Olivier Lovey, Diego Saldiva, Véronique Portal, Laurence Rasti, Sophie Huguenot, Mathieu Bernard-Reymond, Murielle Michetti, Brigitte Lustenberger, Gian Paul Lozza, Léonore Baud, Mathilde Magnée, Dom Smaz, Lucas Olivet, Roberto Greco, Fabian Unternährer et Caroline Aubert-Neulas.

The postcard set ‘17 shots in a box’ #1 is still available.
→ have a look here 

near. meets Locus Solus. In mid-January 2017, a new art place was born in Catherine Monney's private apartment. Between 1987 and 1991 the now gallery owner  held the legendary artist-run space M2, in Vevey with well-known artists from the French-speaking scene such as Alain Huck, Robert Ireland, Jean Crotti and Jean-Luc Manz. Today, Catherine Monney offers her walls to artists who love to read. Each exhibition is thus accompanied by two events related to literature, art or theater.

Since 2018, near. proposes discussions and meetings with famous photographers in collaboration with the Photography School of Vevey. ‘Photographer’s Talk’ was launched in May 2018 with a discussion between Geert Goiris, photographer from Antwerp, Belgium and Raphaël Biollay, curator for Images Festival in Vevey, Switzerland. They both displayed/showcased their work and debated on the role that schools play in photography.

Arles (FR)
Les Rencontres d’Arles
Saturday 7 July 2018, 11.00,
Présence Suisse
at the ‘nonante-neuf’, Croisière

At the invitation of ‘Présence Suisse’, near. showcases its work and the work of its members and launches on this occasion the brand new website. Let’s toast to the new digital age of near.

near. was invited to the 5th edition of the Verzasca Photo Festival. Fortunately, three near.-photographers were selected for the main exhibition this year: Eva Lauterlein, Brigitte Lustenberger and Roshan Adhihetty. We also did portfolio reviews during the fesitval and presented the work of our association.

Curatorial intersections at the shared space between human and AI.
Interactive projection hosted by STADIO, as part of Images Vevey 2018.
Thanks to Gaël Hugo (onemorestud.io) for coding and teaching the AI.

Images by near.
Saturday 15th September 2018
Vernissage 6 pm DJ + drinks + food
STADIO, rue de la Valsainte 11, 1800 Vevey

More information: near.li / stadio.ch / images.ch

Arles (FR)
Les Rencontres d’Arles
2 July until 23 September 2018,
Présence Suisse
at the ‘nonante-neuf’, Croisière

For the whole duration of the festival, near. will be displaying its publications as well as various books of our members. Come and see us!

We are very happy to invite you to the second Photographer's Talk for 2018, with Asger Carlsen (photographer, Denmark) and Danaé Panchaud (curator, Photoforum Pasquart, Bienne, Switzerland)

Thursday 6th of December, 6pm at CEPV, Vevey
Centre d’enseignement professionnel de Vevey, avenue Nestlé 1

Discover their work and their thoughts on photography. We hope to see you there!
Discussion in English, q&a in English and/or French
Followed by an aperitif

→ share the PDF-flyer
asgercarlsen.com
danaepanchaud.net

After a busy year with a lot of changes we are very happy to present many new members on our new website. Welcome !

We are trying to keep up with all the requests and collaborations and we are glad to say that Images Vevey, Arles, Verzasca and the talk at CEPV were great.
But the year is not over and, even if not everything is exactly as planned, as promised we are thinking about the future: ‘Crit Group’, the ‘near. award‘ meetings and more. Stay tuned ! Also, the General Assembly will take place in January; come, so we can meet and share our ideas for future projects.

In the meantime, the next talk with Asger Carlsen and Danaé Panchaud is very soon, (6th of Decemeber in Vevey). Venez écouter et boire un verre avec nous.

à bientôt
near. committee

We are very happy to invite you to the third Photographer’s Talk of near. with Laura Letinsky (photographer, Canada) and Victoria Mühlig (curator, Musée d’art de Pully, Switzerland)
Thursday 14th of February, 6pm at CEPV, Vevey

Discover their work and their thoughts on photography. We hope to see you there!
Discussion in English, q&a in English and/or French
Followed by an aperitif

→ share the PDF-flyer
lauraletinsky.com
 

Great afternoon in Lausanne visiting near. members Delphine Burtin and Thomas Brasey studios, with the CEPV students. Thank you to their teachers Catherine Leutenegger and David Gagnebin de-Bons.

Presenting near. publications and books of near. members at Photobooks Switerland in Biel at Photoforum Pasquart.

Many near. members invited for the round tables and portfolio reviews, check out the program!

www.facebook.com/photobooksswitzerland/
www.photoforumpasquart.ch/en/event/photobooks-switzerland/

We are very happy to announce 17 shots #2, a special-edition postcard set, curated by Céline Eidenbenz, Victoria Mühlig and Anja Radamirovitch in occasion of the Salon Suisse at the Venice Biennale 2019 on the theme «slow».

Presenting images of near. members: Roshan Adhihetty, Sophie Brasey, Anna-Tia Buss, Fred Csupor, Tomasz Fall, Stéphanie Gygax, Yann Haeberlin, Vincent Jendly, Jonas Kambli, Eva Lauterlein, Kostas Maros, Jennifer Niederhauser Schlup, Christian Nilson, Antigoni Papantoni, Igor Ponti, Laurence von der Weid and Tomas Wüthrich.
The selection was made based on the work of all members.

From now on you can order your postcard set. It costs CHF 17 plus postage
(we will send you an invoice with your order). Limited edition!
 

If you are in Venice, come to the opening May 11th from 5pm
Salon Suisse Pro Helvetia, Accademia di belle arti,
Ex ospedale degli incurabili, Dorsoduro 423, Venezia

More

near. member Léa Girardin has invited us to a guided tour of the exhibition at Photo Basel. Thursday June 13th 2019 at 6:30 pm. All members are welcome, its free, but only 30 places are available — please apply (sending us an email) before May 20th.  If you can’t come that day but want to visit on an other day we can get you a 50% discount, also you need to apply before May 20th.

Thursday, July 4 2019, 19:30-21:30
Espace nonante-neuf, Croisière, Arles

—

At the invitation of ‘Présence Suisse’, near. swiss association for contemporary photography will launch the near. prize during the 2019 edition of the Rencontres d’Arles.

With the idea of developing additional support for the association’s photographers, near. launches the near. Prize, an annual award aimed at providing a financial incentive to encourage production and foster new ideas. Each year, a specific theme will be chosen by the committee and all near. members will be invited and encouraged to participate and share their views on the subject.

Join us at espace nonante-neuf for a festive evening in collaboration with YET magazine and ECAL.

How do photos in a publication or exhibition tell a story? If you ask yourself this question in the midst of your current photographic work, then join the crit group of near.

In a small group - accompanied by curator Sascha Renner - you present your «work in progress». Inputs and discussion then follow in the plenary session. The goal: With the feedback from the round, you can sharpen and advance your photo series in terms of storytelling.

Sascha Renner: Deputy Director, Curator at Fotostiftung Schweiz. Director of COALMINE Forum for Documentary Photography in Winterthur.
fotostiftung.ch / coalmine.ch

Location: Zürich
Date: Wednesday 04 September, 2019
Time: 9:00 to 13:00
Costs: near-members CHF 25 /
non-members CHF 50
Number of participants: max. 5 persons
(near-members have priority)
Language: depending on participants
Registration: by 18 August to info@near.li

We will be in Sonogno for the festival.
Friday Sept. 6 at 1:30 pm near. talk with members Isabelle Blanc, Thomas Brasey and Yann Laubscher.
Saturday Sept 7 (morning) portfolio reviews.
See you in Ticino!
www.verzascafoto.com

Open call*
Deadline October 1, 2019

With the idea of developing additional support for the association’s photographers, near. launches the near. prize, an annual award aimed at providing a financial incentive to encourage production and foster new ideas. Each year, a specific theme is chosen by the committee. This year’s theme is under the notion of “balance”.
Participation in the near. prize is reserved exclusively for photographers who are members of the association. All near. photographers are therefore invited to apply.
The jury for the near. prize consists of three members of the near. family chosen each year by the committee. The composition of the jury this year is: Lydia Dorner, Curator Assistant at the Musée de l’Elysée, Nathalie Herschdorfer, Director of the Museum of Fine Arts Le Locle and Salvatore Vitale, Editor in Chief of YET magazine.

The winner of the near. prize 2019 will be awarded 1000 CHF in cash to support his/her work, the publication of the awarded project in the next issue of YET magazine and a free one-year near. membership.

Application form here

* the near. prize is reserved exclusively for the members of the association.
Next deadline to become a near. member is September 1, 2019

Save the date!
Talk with Elisa Rusca and near. members Aline d’Auria, Gian Paolo Minelli, Igor Ponti and Salvatore Vitale at Biennale dell’immagine Chiasso
in collaboration with Cons Arc / Galleria
 

Tuesday October 29.2019
6:30 pm (followed by aperitivo)
at Cons Arc / Galleria
Via Gruetli 1
6830 Chiasso
(talk in italian)

www.consarc.ch
www.biennaleimmagine.ch
 

The winner of the first edition of the near. prize is Malgorzata Stankiewicz. Congratulations!
 

The near. prize is an annual award aimed at providing a financial incentive to encourage production and foster new ideas. This year, the winner will be awarded by 1000 CHF in cash to support his/her work, a publication of the awarded project in the next issue of YET magazine and a free one-year near. membership.

The jury of the prize, composed of Lydia Dorner, Curator Assistant at the Musée de l’Elysée, Nathalie Herschdorfer, Director of the Museum of Fine Arts Le Locle and Salvatore Vitale, Editor-in-chief of YET magazine, went through the applications and selected a winner after a discussion that took place on Monday, November 11.

Here are the words of the jury:
“This work has an eye-catching aesthetic. The artist has developed an interesting process in both landscape photography and image making. Landscapes, and in parallel image making, show that balance - the topic of the competition - is very fragile and can be transformed (destroyed) quickly. There is an analogy between the destruction of the image and the destruction of the landscape. Working in the darkroom and making large-scale prints with physical and chemical manipulations, Malgorzata created a visually strong series on climate change as stated in the captions of the works. The jury chose this artist because her series is quite unique - both experimental and environmentally engaged”.

www.near.li/malgorzata-stankiewicz
www.yet-magazine.com
www.malgorzatastankiewicz.com

Image: Untitled (2017 Was California’s Largest And Most Destructive Fire Season on Record),  from the series ‘Lassen’ © Malgorzata Stankiewicz

AI is near. x LabElysée
An exploration of the possible future of curation Curatorial intersections at the shared space between human and AI.
Presentation at What's Next in Aarau of our new project in collaboration with LabElysée planned for 2020.

From January 29 to May 3, 2020 at the Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne.
Opening 28 January 2020 from 6pm

A project developed by near., the LabElysée and Gaël Hugo (one more studio).

What happens when the Musée de l'Elysée meets near. in order to question Swiss photography through the prism of machine learning?

Initiated in 2018 under the name «AI is near», the project allowed visitors to discover the work of the association's photographers through a choice of keywords detected by algorithms. In this second chapter entitled «Artificial Intersections», the Musée de l'Elysée and the association near. are joining forces to offer a new corpus of several thousand images from the Musée de l'Elysée's collection of Swiss photographs and the photographs of near's members. As in the first issue, the computer analyses the content of the images in order to index, compare and sort this new database by keywords.

Invited to select a keyword or submit an image from their smartphone, visitors participate in the curatorial process between human and machine. The result, which is then displayed live on the screens, gives a glimpse of the potential of the learning machine as a curator. Why not ask the machine to organise a landscape or portrait exhibition? Can we compete with a machine capable of (re)knowing in detail the images of a corpus as vast as that of one of the most important museums entirely devoted to photography? Throughout the three months of the exhibition, the intersections generated by this interactive experience are recorded in order to keep a trace of them and thus map the exploration of the database.

We are very pleased to invite you to our next talk with Elina Brotherus (photographer, Finland) and Marie DuPasquier (curator Display, Berlin).

Wednesday 12 Feb. 2020
6:30 pm, aula CEPV, Vevey
Centre d’enseignement professionnel de Vevey avenue Nestlé 1

Talk in french q&a in english and/or french.

www.elinabrotherus.com
www.display-berlin.com

‘Why Not’, 2018, from the series Meaningless Work, © Elina Brotherus
Marie DuPasquier at Display (courtesy BerlinArtInstitute)
Portrait Elina Brotherus © Paavo Lehtonen, 2018

Open call*

Deadline 
October 1, 2020

With the idea of developing additional support for the association’s photographers, near. launches the second edition of the near. prize, an annual award aimed at providing a financial incentive to encourage production and foster new ideas. Each year, a specific theme is chosen by the committee. This year’s theme is «encounters».

The composition of the jury this year is: Isabelle Gattiker, Director of the FIFDH, Nicolas Savary, Photographer/Head of Higher Education at Centre d’enseignement professionnel de Vevey (CEPV) and Nadine Wietlisbach, Director of Fotomuseum Winterthur.

The winner of the near. prize 2020 will be awarded 1000 CHF in cash to support his/her work, the publication of the awarded project in the next issue of La Couleur des jours and a free one-year near. membership.

→ application form here 

* the near. prize is reserved exclusively for the members of the association. 
Next deadline to become a near. member is September 1, 2020.
→ near. membership application

Want to tell a story editing your body of work? May it be for an exhibition or a book, or just to make the next step in your ongoing project. If you find yourself in the middle of a photographic project and would like some feedback, join the next near. crit group. In a small group - accompanied by editor/curator Melody Gygax - you present your «work in progress». With the feedback from each photographer and from our invited guest, you can sharpen and advance the process of the photo series you are working on.

Melody Gygax is the Swiss agent of MAGNUM PHOTOS. Photography has been at the centre of her life for over twenty years, first as a picture editor for various media for many years and most recently as head of photography at the Basler Zeitung. As a photo editor/curator she now works with brands, advertising agencies, corporate publishers, photo galleries, cultural institutions and photographers, showing them how to take their visual storytelling to the next level. Melody is a regular jury member for photography competitions, is active as a qualified juror, teaches photography in the areas of conception, editing & storytelling, photo editing and is a long-standing expert on various portfolio reviews and holds seminars at the most important photography festivals in Switzerland. www.melodygygax.com / creative.magnumphotos.com

Location: Zürich, Brauerstrasse 58, 8004 Zürich Date: Tuesday 03 November, 2020 After the success of last year we decided to propose two sessions the same day:
Slot 1: 9:00 to 13:00
Slot 2: 14:00 to 18:00

Costs: near. members 25.– / non-members 50.– Number of participants: max. 4 persons per group (near. members have priority) Language: english or german (depending on participants) Registrations are only open from: 24 September 8am ending 27 Sept 8pm (first come first served) Write an email indicating which slot you want to take part in, to ann@near.li
We will get in touch with you as soon as the registrations close, you will be given the list of participants as well as additional information for the payement.
PS: Meeting point for Slot 1 is at 8:30 at Café Miro, Brauerstrasse 58 (K4), ZH Lunch is not included but an informal quick lunch could be improvised in the neighbourhood, as well as a drink at the end of the day.

(portrait Melody Gygax © Lucas Ziegler)

near.prize 2020 winner Nicolas Delaroche

We are happy to finally reveal the winner of the second edition of the near. prize. Congratulations Nicolas Delaroche!  The near.prize is an annual award aimed at providing a financial incentive to encourage production and foster new ideas. This year, the winner will be awarded by 1000 CHF in cash to support his/her work, a publication of the awarded project in the next issue of La Couleur des jours and a free one-year near. membership. The jury of the prize, composed by Isabelle Gattiker, Director of the FIFDH, Nicolas Savary, Photographer/Head of Higher Education at Centre d’enseignement professionnel de Vevey (CEPV) and Nadine Wietlisbach, Director of Fotomuseum Winterthur, went through all the applications and selected a winner after a discussion that took place end of October.  Nicolas Delaroche with TROPOGRAPHIE, 2015-2020 Here are the words of the jury: The Jury has decided to award the near. prize 2020  to ‘Tropographie’, a singular and precise work, but also extremely fresh, joyful and punchy. By playing on irony, collage, impeccable graphics and the superimposition of layers, this work cleverly proposes a triple game of encounters: that between Nicolas Delaroche and Gabrielle Boder, a game of echoes between different exhibition venues, but also an explicit encounter with the person observing the image, invited to give his or her own interpretation of a double language. It is also a beautiful proposal for reflection on the medium of photography and the way it is exhibited.

Special mention
Anne Gabriel-Jürgens with ZOE ‘viel Glück zum Muttertag’, 2009-2020

For the second edition of the near. prize, the Jury has decided to award a special mention to the work Zoe. They were deeply touched by this long-lasting work, which documents a complex encounter that is not at all like a fairy tale: the one between a mother-in-law and her daughter-in-law. Anne Gabriel-Jurgens questions with great intelligence and an extremely fine and mastered aesthetic the passage from childhood to adolescence, but also raises the question of appropriation, and the families we choose for ourselves. The result is a deeply enchanting and very personal work.

https://nicolasdelaroche.com/#tropographies-2015-20
http://gabriel-juergens.net/project/zoe
http://www.lacouleurdesjours.ch/

Biel/Bienne Festival of Photography – Guided tour
Saturday 8th May, 11am to 1pm (German/French) — Departure from Photoforum Pasquart.
Exhibitions tour with the festival’s photographers, Sarah Girard, director and Maude Oswald, art historian near. family member
The festival’s exhibitions include works from near. members Aline d’Auria, Catherine Leutenegger and Malgorzata Stankiewicz

www.bielerfototage.ch

near. was at the ECAL Talent Days on 28th June. This program created in 2020 by ECAL/Ecole cantonale d'art de Lausanne aims to connect its recent graduates with institutions and professionals to enable synergies for theirs starting careers. near. met the 2021 graduates and presented the association and our activities to this young audience.

www.ecal.ch

© ECAL/Baptiste Lecanu

For the third edition of the Crit Group near. is proposing two experts simultaneously: Andrea Gohl, Artist, photographer, teacher and Head of Studies (MA Contemporary Arts Practice, HKB) and Maren Polte, lecturer and Head of Studies (BA and MA Art Education HKB).
You will be discussing your work to an interesting double vision from the theoretical and practical approach to contemporary photography.

near. Crit Groups aim to present and discuss your “work in progress”. In a small group - accompanied by the experts and by your peers - you present, exchange, discuss over all projects during a whole day. With the feedback from each photographer and from our invited guests, you can sharpen and advance the process of the photo series you are working on.

Location: HKB Hochschule der Künste Bern, Fellerstrasse 11, 3027 Bern
Date: Thursday 30th September, 2021
Time: 9am to 17:30 (approx 1 hour lunch break)
Number of participants: max. 7 persons
Language: German

The whole group participates to the whole day of discussions, each participant has 45min-one hour at disposal for presentation and feedbacks of his/her project.

Costs: near. members 25.–
Non-members 50.–
Application: write an email to info@near.li

We will get in touch with you as soon as the registrations close, you will be given the list of participants as well as additional information for the payement.

Invited experts

Andrea Gohl ist Künstlerin und Fotografin. In ihrer künstlerischen Arbeiten beschäftigt Sie sich oft mit individuellen Beziehungen zu Orten, Räumen, Stadt. Sie interessiert sich für die Schnittstelle zwischen persönlicher Erkundung und der Erforschung von bestehenden Bedeutungen von Orten in einem bestimmten Kontext. Andrea Gohl arbeitet mit Fotografie, Video und Texten. Darüber hinaus interessiert Sie sich, was was fotografische Bilder sein können, für sich stehend. Ein Bild kann zu einem autonomen Ausgangspunkt werden, Farbe und haptische Qualitäten können gleichermaßen zur endgültigen Bedeutung beitragen. Nicht zuletzt verwendet Andrea Gohl verschiedene Arten der Dokumentation oder des Kommentars – über Fotografie, Video, Audio, Text -, um unterschiedliche Bedeutungsebenen und das erzählerische Potenzial zu erkunden. Andrea Gohl ist seit 2017 Studiengagnsleiterin Ma Contemporary Arts Practice HKB Bern. Davor war Sie von 2008 bis 2017, Studiengansleiterin und Dozentin für Fotografie an der F+F Schule für Kunst und Design, Zürich. Sie studierte im Beriech Fine Arts an der Goldsmiths University of London und der School of Visual Arts, New York City.

Maren Polte leitet die Studiengänge BA Vermittlung in Kunst und Design und MA Art Education an der Hochschule der Künste in Bern, Schweiz. Sie lehrt und arbeitet zu Wissensproduktion, Fotografie und zeitgenössischer Kunst. Ihre Dissertation erschien unter dem Titel Klasse Bilder. Die Fotografieästhetik der „Becher-Schule“2012 in der Reihe der Humboldt-Schriften zur Kunst und Bildgeschichte, Gebrüder Mann Vlg. und 2017 unter dem Titel A Class of Their Own. The Düsseldorf School of Photography in der Lieven Gevaert Series, Leuven University Press.

Open call*

Deadline October 1, 2021
 

This year, near. launches the third edition of the near. prize, an annual award aimed at providing a financial incentive to encourage production and foster new ideas. Each year, a specific theme is chosen by the committee. This year’s theme is «unspoken».
The composition of the jury this year is: Danaé Panchaud, Director of the Photoforum Pasquart and future director of Centre de la photographie Genève – Erik Vroons, Editor-at-large for GUP, the international platform for creative contemporary photography, and as Chief editor for the print edition of GUP Magazine – and the committee of near. counting as one vote.

The winner of the near. prize 2021 will be awarded by a feature in GUP Magazine, 1000.– CHF in cash to support his/her work and a free one-year near. membership.

→ application form here
(deadline October 1, 2021)
 

* the near. prize is reserved exclusively for the members of the association.
Next deadline to become a near. member is September 1, 2021.
→ near. membership application

near. prize 2021

Winner of near. prize 2021 is Rebecca Bowring, congratulations !
We are thrilled to finally reveal the winner of the third edition of the near. prize: Rebecca Bowring for her project Knowing Thunder Gives Away What Lightning Tries to Hide, 2020

Here are the words of the jury : 
«Rebecca Bowring’s work addresses a topic which is almost impossible to convey with photography: her own experience of domestic violence. Rather than restaging past episodes of which no image exists, she uses photography in a subtle but powerful way to examine the feeling of isolation brought by violence, and to revisit how making images provided her with a temporary escape. Knowing what the photographs are referring to invites us to a somber but deeply engaging understanding of them, where every small detail can become a metaphor for violence and destruction, which furthermore hints at how widespread this form of violence is, and all too often concealed and unspoken. The tension lies within the images but also on the surfaces where the artist has placed them.»

Special mention
The jury decided to give a special mention to Tim Rod for his project Don’t forget the Knifish

«Tim Rod’s project is layered and complex. He uses photography in multiple ways, as a tool to make sense of, appropriate and ultimately write his personal history. The images are not only documents, but also a process and the research itself. The photographer successfully establishes connections and parallels between the different episodes and protagonists of his family history, while at the same time highlighting the many gaps that cannot be fully closed. In his playful approach to trace back his own history - or lack of it - he manages to incorporate a therapeutic method to overcome the void. Every image is a surprise yet it is linked to the whole project by an internal logic. Tim’s experimentation with post-production techniques gives the body of work a very delicate touch.»

near. prize
The near. prize is an annual award aimed at providing a financial incentive to encourage production and foster new ideas. Each year, a specific theme is chosen by the association’s committee. This year’s theme was «unspoken». The winner of the near. prize 2021 was awarded by a feature in GUP Magazine, 1000CHF in cash to support his/her work and a free one-year near. membership.
The composition of the third edition's jury was: Danaé Panchaud, Director of the Photoforum Pasquart and future director of Centre de la photographie Genève, Erik Vroons, Chief editor of GUP magazine, and the committee of near. counting as one vote.


Photo credit:
© Rebecca Bowring, Knowing Thunder Gives Away What Lightning Tries to Hide, 2020
© Tim Rod, Don’t forget the Knifish

Photography lovers, we are looking for you!

We are in search of motivated individuals to join the committee of near. swiss association for contemporary photography, a team of professionals committed to photography and culture, in order to help develop its vision and activities program.

Join us and contribute to the promotion of contemporary photography!

near. was founded in Lausanne in 2009 and its principal aim is to promote the work of Swiss and Swiss-based photographers for established talent as well as young artists. Among other things near. organises exhibitions, screenings, interviews, conferences and gatherings between professionals. 

The association counts more than 120 photographers members from all over the country and has organized numerous projects in collaboration with major cultural institutions in the French, German and Italian regions of Switzerland. near. also counts numerous near. family members, including institutions involved in the exhibition of photography, curators, art historians, critics, teachers, publishers and photographers. 

Interested? Write to info@near.li including a short paragraph about yourself and your motivation.

Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any question about how the association works. Feel free to reach out and we’ll be please to give you more information!

We are looking forward to hearing from you in the very near. future !

Ann, Julie, Laurence, Samuel, Victoria and Zoé

Opening on June 11, 2022 from 9am
Val de Bagnes, Wallis

An exhibition created in collaboration with and produced by the PALP Festival.

Ten photographers from near. have been invited to meet ten inhabitants of the Val de Bagnes in order to draw one of their secrets into images. From the language of trees to the virtues of medicinal plants, the mysteries of cup-and-ring stones and the magic of the alembic, a wide range of subjects awaits you along a 25 km path, to be explored by bike or on foot.

With Cynthia Mai Ammann, Graziella Antonini, Tomasz Fall, Yann Haeberlin, Yann Laubscher, Arthur Lehmann, Laurence Rasti, Virginie Rebetez, Alfio Tommasini and Laurence von der Weid.

More information on : https://palpfestival.ch/en/evenements/secrets-of-the-val-de-bagnes/

Photo credit:
© PALP Festival
© Laurence Rasti
© Yann Laubscher

It’s back!

We are pleased to announce the near. prize 2022 call for entries*.
The winner will have the opportunity to exhibit their work at Galerie Strates in Lausanne and win a prize of 1000 CHF.
The composition of the jury this year is: Anna Konstantinova, curator and specialised in contemporary photography — the committee of Galerie and the near. committee.
The open call closes September 1st, the winner will be announced in October. This year there is no theme for the prize. Please read the guidelines on the application form for further details.

We are looking forward to receive your application!
→ apply now (deadline September 4th, 2022)

(* the near. prize is reserved exclusively for the members of the association)

For the fourth edition of the Crit Group, near. is pleased to offer, in collaboration with and during Fotofestival Lenzburg, an unique opportunity to exchange about your most current photographic work with Elisa Medde — Editor-in-chief at FOAM magazine, photography editor, curator and writer.
 
near. Crit Groups aim at presenting your «work in progress» within a small group – accompanied by an expert -  in an open and considerate manner. Each participant will open the discussion by presenting his/her work (1 project) and introduce topics he/she might want to discuss. All participants are then invited to participate in the discussion led by Elisa Medde. Based on the positive feedback received from previous Crit Groups, we believe this process will help you to make progress in your photo series you are currently working on.
 
Moreover, all near members - participating to the crit group or not -  are invited to discover the 5th edition of Fotofestival Lenzburg, meet experts and celebrate at the vernissage in Stapferhaus (registration required).

Location: Stapferhaus, Bahnhofstrasse 49, 5600 Lenzburg
Date: Saturday 27th August, 2022
Time: 9am to 12:00
Number of participants for the crit group: max. 4 persons
Language: English
 

The whole group participates to the whole day of discussions, each participant has 45min-one hour at disposal for presentation and feedbacks of his/her project.

Costs: near. members 25.–
Non-members 50.–
Application: write an email to
damien@near.li


Registration procedure:
Due to limited seats, we will pick randomly 4 members amongst whose who replied during a two week registration period. Priority being given  to members who didn’t participate in the last 2 crit group. If not enough participants, we will open the applications to non-members 50.–

We will get in touch with you as soon as the registrations close, you will be given the list of participants as well as additional information for the payement.
 

Invited expert — Elisa Medde is a photography editor, curator and writer. With a background in History of Art, Iconology and Photographic Studies, she worked for various cultural institutions, publishing houses and non-profit organisations as project and research co-ordinator as well as independent curator and editor. Her academic research reflects on the relations between image and power, particularly in the context of contemporary photography. She served as juror for many prizes, including the Luma Rencontres Book Award, Copenhagen Photo Festival, Premio Celeste and Lens Culture. She has been nominator for the Mack First Book Award, Prix Elysée, MAST Foundation for Photography Grant and Leica Oskar Barnack award amongst others. In 2012 she joined Foam Magazine, first as Managing Editor and then as Editor in Chief. She is responsible for creating, researching and curating the themes of each issue, as well as all aspects of production until press. Under her guidance, Foam Magazine has been awarded two Lucie Award for Best Photography Magazine of the Year - one in 2017 and one in 2019.

Saturday 10. September 2022,
13:30-15:00

We are glad to invite you to a private guided tour of the next Festival Images Vevey exhibitions followed by an aperitif with the curatorial team of the festival. It will take place on Saturday 10 September from 13:30-15:00. On this day the festival is also hosting the « Booklette - Swiss phonebooks & cheese » from 14:00-19:00 with book signings at 17:00. It’s a great opportunity to check the exhibitions, meet the team of the festival and connect with photographers.

Location: meeting point at Salle Del Castillo, Place du Marché 1, 1800 Vevey

Date: Saturday 10th September 2022
Time: tour from 13:30 - 15:00 followed by an aperitif
Number of participants: max 20 people

Please register at info@near.li until 6 September and specify if you’d rather have the tour in French or English.

29.09.2022 - 6:00pm

We are happy to invite you to our next round table discussion showing work in progress organized in collaboration with the Pool Collective.
Conversation with Melody Gygax the Cultural Representative of MAGNUM PHOTOS, Anna Konstantinova the curator of Work in Progress Ver.2 as well as near members Claudia Schildknecht and Anna-Tia Buss.

The event will take place at OnCurating, within the exhibition of the Pool Collective, a group show where three of our members are showing their projects.

Join us for the apéro at the end of the talk, an informal way to talk to the artists and discover the exhibition!

Thursday 29.10.2022
6:00 pm ( followed by an apéro)
at OnCurating
Ausstellungsstrasse 16
8005 Zürich

Saturday October 1st  2022
crit group #5 Fotofestival Lenzburg
with the Hartmann projects / CANCELED

For this edition of the Crit Group, near. is pleased to offer, in collaboration with and during Fotofestival Lenzburg, a unique opportunity to exchange about your most current photographic work with Angelika and Markus Hartmann and - Founders of the Hartmann projects publishing house.
near. Crit Groups aim at presenting your «work in progress» within a small group – accompanied by an expert -  in an open and considerate manner. Each participant will open the discussion by presenting his/her work (1 project) and introduce topics he/she might want to discuss. All participants are then invited to participate in the discussion led by Angelika and Markus Hartmann. Based on the positive feedback received from previous Crit Groups, we believe this process will help you to make progress in your photo series you are currently working on.
 
During the afternoon, you will also have the opportunity to visit Fotofestival Lenzburg.

near. prize 2022 winner

Winner of the near.prize 2022 is Marie-Pierre Cravedi
We are thrilled to finally announce the winner of the 4th edition of the prize.
Marie-Pierre Cravedi for the project What did they think when it got dark?

Here are the words of the jury:

“The work of Marie-Pierre Cravedi is an exploration of loss and personal grief, and it touched us in a very deep, almost inexplicable way. Choosing an extremely difficult intimate subject - her own miscarriages - to work with, Cravedi depicts her own struggles in a subtle and intuitive, yet very powerful way. Her process becomes her own therapy, her care for photographic accidents creates a way to talk about this topic openly with the viewer, and her approach to the medium displays an attempt to build a different kind of relationship with her own self. This series is a mesmerising body of work, which manages to express both the fragility and the strength of the author in a photographic way, becoming in some sort a visual poetry with its own language, metaphors, and symbolism.”

Special mention

The jury decided to give a special mention to Kostas Maros for the project Human Nature.

Here are the words of the jury:

“ The series Human Nature by Kostas Maros attracts with its uncanny quality – the images look almost staged and unreal, and the photographer plays really well with our expectations: should we be looking at the situations unfolding on the images? At the landscape? At the humans? Nature plays both a role of a protagonist and a subject, becoming a spectacle for both humans in the photographs and the viewers. The author’s sense of humour and undoubted photographic skill turns this selection of mundane scenes into a statement about the state of the world, revealing the human's relationship with nature from an observer’s distance, which almost gives us as the viewers an opportunity to inhabit each image, to research it and to reevaluate our own stance in the matter. Maros presents a very strong photographic survey of the human condition.”

near.prize

The near.prize is an annual award aimed at providing a financial incentive to encourage production and foster new ideas. The winner of the near prize 2022 was awarded with an exhibition at Strates Gallerie Lausanne, 1000 CHF in cash to support his/her work and a free one-year near. membership.
The composition of the forths edition’s jury was: Anna Konstantinova, curator and specialised in contemporary photography - the committee of Galerie and the near. committee.

Photo credit:
Marie-Pierre Cravedi,  What did they think when it got dark?
Kostas Maros, Human Nature

Tuesday November 1st 2022
crit group #6 in Biel/Bienne with Nicolas Polli

In this crit the main focus will be to approach the photographic projects from and editorial point of view.
From discussing photographic series in a broad way, talking about editing images for a book, editorial concepts and insights into the publishing approach. Nicolas Polli is Publisher, Designer and Photographer.

Location: Atelier Robert Bienne
Adress: Paul Robert-Weg 11, 2502 Biel
Date: Tuesday 1. November 2022
Time: 10:30 am to 16:45
Approx 1 hour lunch break
(As we are kindly invited at Atelier Robert we will all have a simple vegetarian lunch together)

Number of participants: max. 7 persons
Language: english
 

The whole group participates to the whole day of discussions, each participant has 45min-one hour at disposal for presentation and feedbacks of his/her project.

Costs: near. members 25.–
(lunch and coffee included)
 

Applications:
We will do a “random pick” of all applications and have a waiting list.
If not enough participants we will open the applications to non-members for 50.–
Priority to members who didn’t participate in the last 2 crit groups in Lenzburg).

Registrations are only open from now to 11. Oct. 2022 at 5pm.
Application: Write an email to ann@near.li

In order to meet one last time before the end of the year, near invites you to a private guided tour of the exhibition of the photographer and near. member Matthieu Gafsou “Le voile du réel”. The exhibition will be commented by the artist and Victoria Mühlig, the curator of the exhibition and near. committee member.

After the visit, near invites you to share an aperitif at the Museum of Art in Pully until 8:30 pm.
Please RSVP at info@near.li



Matthieu Gafsou, Feu I, de la série “Vivants”, 2019 © Matthieu Gafsou / courtoisie de l’artiste et de la Galerie C
Matthieu Gafsou, Fils I, de la série “Vivants'”, 2019 © Matthieu Gafsou / courtoisie de l’artiste et de la Galerie C

As an echo to Auguste Veillon’s show Voyages au fil de l’eau, the second floor of the Museum presents an exhibition devoted to two main themes in the work of the swiss painter, the Lake Léman and the Orient, through works by contemporary artists.
 
150 years after Veillon’s journey to the MENA region, the British-Tunisian artist Rayane Jemaa and the Swiss artist Céline Burnand offer very different testimonies from the idealized Orient depicted by Veillon, between a representation of the Orient through video games and the intimacy of a daily life in Cairo.
 
As for the Lake Léman, it offers new perspectives to contemporary artists: mystical and free landscapes-face by the French artist Vidya Gastaldon, it is also the witness of the long-distance relationship of the two women artists who form the Lebanese-Moroccan collective Jeanne et Moreau. Finally, the members of near. swiss association for contemporary photography present the privileged views of photographers for whom the region has no secrets.

Vernissage 9th March, 2023 at 6pm – Join us

near. members participating:

Sarah Carp
Thalles Piaget
Tiziana Amico
Tomasz Fall
Yann Amstutz
Yann Laubscher
Mathilda Olmi
Matthieu Croizier
Mauren Brodbeck
Nicolas Delaroche
Nicolas Haeni
Rebecca Bowring
Julien Heimann
Luca Ellena
Marco Frauchiger et Rebecca Michelet
Margaux Corda
Marie-Pierre Cravedi
Martial Mingam
Emilien Itim
Florian Luthi
Graziella Antonini
Guillaume Collignon
Arthur Lehmann
Isabelle Blanc
Jennifer Niederhauser Schlup et Léonore Baud
Anna-Tia Buss
Anne-Sophie Aeby
Damien Sivier
Delphine Schacher
Eden Levi Am
Samuel Matzig
Stephen Kelly
Aline d’Auria
Samuel Matzig
Antigoni Papantoni
Léonard Rossi
Aline Bovard Rudaz
Emilio Nasser
Aline Henchoz
 
 

near. is pleased to invite you to its latest event format : near. morning coffee. Join us on Wednesday, March 22, at 8am (yes you did read am) at Ordinary Man Coffee in Lausanne for an early morning photography talk with near. member Matthieu Croizier. Start your day the inspiring way alongside fresh coffee and croissants ! Free admission.

Program
8:00 am: start of the event, coffee and croissants
8:15 am: photographer’s talk by near. member Matthieu Croizier
8:30 am: more coffee and croissants
9:00 am: end of the event

Location
Ordinary Man Coffee
Rue du Petit Chêne 28, CH-1003 Lausanne

Save the date!
We are very happy to invite you to the first Photographer’s Talk for 2023, with Laia Abril (research-based artist, Spain) and Arianna Guidi (independant curator, near. committee member, Italy)
 
Thursday March 30, 7pm at CEPV, Vevey
Centre d’enseignement professionnel de Vevey, avenue Nestlé 1

Discover their work and their thoughts on photography. We hope to see you there!
Discussion in English, q&a in English
Followed by an aperitif

→ laiaabril.com
Credit: Mahala Nuuk (2019)

near prize winner Marie-Pierre Cravedi is showing her work À quoi ont-ils pensé quand tout est devenu noir?
is an exploration of loss and personal grief around her five miscarriages at close intervals.

Join us for the vernissage on Thursday, June 8th 18:00
Galerie Startes Lausanne
 

After five miscarriages at close intervals, I use photography as a cathartic gesture to avoid sinking. This work was not born from a desire but from a vital need. The approach is completely different from the projects I have done until now; it is more intuitive, and reptilian. The result is not decisive, it is the gesture that matters. Pinhole cameras made from everyday objects, long exposure times, the transformation and imprinting of organic matter, are all explored. I question my relationship to materiality, I explore possible accidents, and I look for them. Through a more artisanal photographic practice, I renew with the loss of control experienced during these miscarriages.

Guided Tour by Artistic Director Alessa Widmer

June 16. 2023 — 6pm
Meeting point at Volkshaus

Welcome by the Director Sven Eisenhut
Guided tour of the fair (approx. 1 hour)
by Alessa Widmer Artistic Director
 

Free for everyone
 

We will visit a selection of booths, talk about the works exhibited involving the gallerists and present artists – making it a dialogue-based guided tour.

Followed by an Apéro offered by near.
 

In addition:
All participating members will get a VIP pass for the fair. With the VIP pass, you can also visit the exhibition “Roger Ballen. Call of the Void” at the Tinguely Museum for free (15 minute walk).
 

Register by Sunday June 11 sebding an email to Kostas Maros
kostasmaros@gmail.com

Specially for near. and pool collective – Anna Konstantinova (project manager, Art Vontobel) will show us around the collection and the current exhibition “Beyond Photography".
Zurich, Gotthardstrasse 43,
Entrance reception

 

“Beyond Photography” presents five collection artists—Akosua Viktoria Adu-Sanyah, Alan Butler, Maya Rochat, Emmanuel Van der Auwera and Salvatore Vitale—brought together by their shared use of photography as part of an interdisciplinary practice. While Art Vontobel is dedicated to contemporary photographic and image-based art, many of the artists within the collection use photography as part of a multimedia practice that extends beyond the frame. In highlighting artists who challenge the conventional norms of the medium, “Beyond Photography” addresses how photography expands beyond the medium through formats, such as video, which naturally intersect, influence, and complement it.
 

The Art Vontobel collection on a whole gathers works from international artists created from the year 2000 onwards. The focus of the content is on the presentation of humanity and our actions in the present. The collection features over 300 works by upcoming and established photographers and presents a variety of artistic approaches, topics and presentation formats.

RSVP: art@vontobel.com

We are thrilled to announce the opening of the call for entries for the near. prize 2023!
 

The winner of the near. prize 2023 will have the opportunity to showcase their work at Les Journées photographiques de Bienne/Die Bieler Fototage 2024, as well as being awarded 1000 CHF and a free one-year near. membership.
 
This year’s jury panel comprises esteemed individuals in the art world: Joanna Kamm, Director of Liste Art Fair Basel ; Sarah Girard, Director of the Biel/Bienne Festival of Photography ; and the committee of near. counting as one vote.
 
The call for entries is open from July 31 to September 10, 2023. The winner will be revealed this fall, with their exhibition prominently featured in the 2024 edition of Les Journées photographiques de Bienne/Die Bieler Fototage.

There is no specific theme for this year’s prize, so please refer to the application form guidelines for comprehensive details.
 
We eagerly await the submission of your application!
 
→ Apply now (deadline: Sunday September 10, 2023)
(*Please note that the near. prize is exclusively reserved for members of the association.)

September 16, from 11am to 12pm
Join us in Lausanne on Saturday, September 16 at 11am for Photobooks & Women, a panel discussion organized by near. as part of the photobook fair Booklette!

With photographers Laurence Rasti, Zoé Aubry and Roxana Savin Moderated by Julie Dayer.

The discussion will focus on the artists' relationship to photobooks, as well as on recent projects that in turn question the notion of femininity, denounce systemic violence against women and deconstruct socio-cultural ideas linked to the domestic realm.

Conversation in French and English
At Photo Elysée (L'Atelier)
Free admission, no registration

On September 15 and 16, 2023,
Images Vevey and Photo Elysée organize Booklette, a photobook fair bringing together Swiss and international publishers.

The equation is simple and convivial: Books + Raclette = Booklette.

→ Discover full program and attending publishers

near. Crit Groups aim to present and discuss your “work in progress”. In a small group – accompanied by an expert and by your peers – you present, exchange, discuss your projects during a whole day. With the feedback from each photographer and from our invited guest, you can sharpen and advance the process of the photo series you are working on.

In this crit the main focus will be to approach the photographic projects from a curatorial point of view.
Nadine Wietlisbach is interested in conceptual and politically engaging work. She’s experienced in creating an atmosphere within exhibition spaces, online or with a publication format.

Location: Winterthur
Adress: OfficeLab, Bahnhofpl. 8, 8400 Winterthur
Date: Thursday 28. September 2023

9:00 to 13:00
Number of participants: 4 persons
Language: english

The group participates to the discussions, each participant has 45min-one hour at disposal for presentation and feedbacks of his/her project.

Costs: near. members 25.–
(Coffee included)

Applications:
We will do a “random pick” of all applications.
For Nadine Wietlisbach it is important, to have a diverse group attending.

Near. members have priority, and we will have a waiting list.
Priority to members who didn’t participate in the last 2 crit groups (Nicolas Polli and Elisa Medde)
Applications for non-members is 50.–

Registrations are only open from now to 31. August 2023 at 5pm.
Application: Write an email to ann@near.li

We will get in touch with you as soon as the registrations close, you will be given the list of participants as well as additional information for the payment.

Invited expert — Nadine Wietlisbach
Nadine Wietlisbach devises exhibitions, publications and other discursive formats in the fields of contemporary photography and art. She is Director of Fotomuseum Winterthur since J2018. From 2015 till 2017 she was the Director of Photoforum Pasquart Biel/Bienne, following her post as a curator at the Nidwaldner Museum in Stans. She founded the independent art space sic! Raum für Kunst in Lucerne in 2007. Curatorial fellowship at MoCP in Chicago (2017), work for the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia in South Africa and Mozambique (2007/2008). Winner of the Swiss Art Award 2015.

Image credit: Anne Morgenstern

We are thrilled to announce the winner of the near. prize 2023: Pedro Rodrigues for his project “Movement in the alpine Landscape”! The project will be presented during the next edition of the Biel/Bienne Festival of Photography, 3-26.May 2024, congratulations Pedro!

Composed of Lars Willumeit, Curator and future Director of Fotostiftung Schweiz, and Sarah Girard, Director of Bieler Fototage, alongside two representatives of near. committee, the jury has been impressed by Pedro Rodrigues’ exploration of landscape representation.

By adopting an approach that is at once contemporary, plural and playful, the winner has succeeded in anchoring a classic subject of Swiss photography in today's context. With his original blend of different media, Pedro Rodrigues has created an accomplished project that boldly questions our relationship with our environment and the Alps, while inviting viewers to reflect on the complexity of the landscape that surrounds us.

The performative and theatrical aspect of the work, the mastery of scale and the references made to contemporary art were praised by the jury, who underlined the relevance of the winner's approach in the current artistic context. His work demonstrates that the classic photographic theme of the landscape is still undeniably relevant today, and is constantly being renewed.

Thanks to all the members who submitted their works to the prize! See you next year!

Images © Pedro Rodrigues

Created on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of near swiss association for contemporary photography, the “near photographic collection” aims to materialize in a tangible collection the association's contribution to the Swiss contemporary photography scene since its inception. Its objective is to acquire, one key image for each of the hundred members the association had at its 10-year mark. Furthermore, it is intended to be preserved by a Swiss public institution or museum to endure over time, be showcased by both the association and the institution, serve as the subject of exhibitions and loans, and be accompanied by scholarly documentation.

To ensure the feasibility and sustainability of the collection, near allocates at least a tenth of its annual budget for the acquisition of new images. Fundraising efforts complement and expedite the pace of acquisitions.

To date the near. photographic collection includes images of:

Dominique Taufen, Sandrine Lagnaz, Anne-Sophie Aeby, Yann Amstutz, Graziella Antonini, Mathieu Bernard-Reymond,
Rebecca Bowring, Thomas Brasey, Sophie Brasey, Delphine Burtin, Aline d’Auria, Nicolas Delaroche, Daniela Droz, David Gagnebin-de-Bon, Matthieu Gafsou, Julien Heimann, Aline Henchoz, Vincent Jendly, Catherine Leutenegger, Brigitte Lustenberger, Olivier Lovey, Murielle Michetti, Jennifer Niederhauser Schlup, Antigoni Papantoni, Virginie Rebetez, Damien Sivier, Delphine Schacher.

And many more in the coming times…

near. Crit Groups aim to present and discuss your “work in progress”. In a small group – accompanied by an expert and by your peers – you present, exchange, discuss your projects during a whole day. With the feedback from each photographer and from our invited guest, you can sharpen and advance the process of the photo series you are working on.

Location: Biel
Adress: Photoforum Pasquart, Seevorstadt 71–2502 Biel / Bienne
Date: Wednesday 13. March 2024
13:00 to 17:00
Participants: 4 persons / english
The group participates to the discussions, each participant has 45min-one hour at disposal for presentation and feedbacks of his/her project.

Costs: near. members 25.– (Coffee included)

Applications:
We will do a “random pick” of all applications.
Near. members have priority, and we will have a waiting list. Priority to members who didn’t participate in the last 2 crit groups (Nicolas Polli & Nadine Wietlisbach) Applications for non-members is 50.–

Registrations are only open from now to 18. Febuary 2024 at 5pm.
Application: Write an email to annatia@near.li
We will get in touch with you as soon as the registrations close, you will be given the list of participants as well as additional information for the payment.

Invited expert - Amelie Schüle, from South Germany near Switzerland and France, is a curator, programmer and cultural producer focused on contemporary photography. She values how art connects people and ideas. Since October 2023, she's the Director at Photoforum Pasquart in Biel. Before that, she worked at Foam Fotografiemuseum in Amsterdam from 2020 to 2023, leading Foam Talent, public programs and creative projects. From 2018 to 2020, she curated for Unseen Amsterdam, organizing the festivals exhibitions and public programs. She has experience with Swiss galleries like Christophe Guye Galerie, Eva Presenhuber and Hauser & Wirth. Amelie earned her master's in Curatorial Studies from Zurich School of the Arts in 2017. She's also involved in portfolio reviews, mentoring artists and teaching, showing her deep commitment to photography.

Strates, Rue de la Borde 12 - 1018 Lausanne
3-5pm

Join us for an exciting meeting with Ascanio Cecco, where we dive into the world of funding opportunities from Pro Helvetia!

This event will provide an overview of Pro Helvetia's role as a public funding organization. Ascanio will share the support strategy for photography developed from the past year and introduce the organization's new website. The format includes a presentation of Pro Helvetia’s measures for the support and funding of photography, followed by a Q&A session, giving you a practical understanding of how to navigate the Swiss funding landscape.

This event is designed as an information session, offering you a better understanding of the diverse funding options available to fuel your projects.
To cap off the day, join us for a delightful apéro, where you can unwind, network with fellow near members.

We look forward to this event with Pro Helvetia at Strates in Lausanne
Please register by writing to annatia@near.li until 27.March.If you have any specific questions or topics you are particularly interested about regarding Pro Helvetia and funding you can include this in your email.
 
Ascanio Cecco is visual arts specialist at the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, where he focuses on support and funding of photography. As a curator, he has previously participated in various exhibition projects in Switzerland and internationally, in particular with the art space Urgent Paradise in Lausanne. In parallel, he held the position of graduate assistant at UNIL, and took part in various editorial projects, including the photography magazine Transbordeur.

Image Credit: Myriam Ziehli