Artist
Sarah Stone
La Vie de Camille
As a capitalist medium, photography promotes consumption. It shapes our self-image and how we present ourselves to the world. The progressive commercialisation of human activities transforms our bodies and the way we dress them into spectacles for admiration, distraction, envy or disgust. And yet fashion and photography sometimes transcend the limitations of this aesthetic economy.
La vie de Camille by Sarah Stone proposes a refreshing counterpoint to stereotypical representations of the young body. It is playful and theatrical, but never loses its genuine interest in a fellow human. An ideal of freedom is encountered here, not a product.
Stone’s photography functions as a medium for self-discovery and positioning. Her artistic practice is often triggered by a fascination/identification with a strong female figure (her mother in ANNA and her Amsterdam roommate in La Vie De Camille). In Stone's portraits the protagonist's body remains largely defiant and autonomous.
Camille knows she is being watched and photographed, that her image can be shared. Yet she remains seemingly unmoved by the attention. The abstract audience does not exist. A sense of privacy remains, the rest of the world temporarily nonexistent. Camille's extensive wardrobe is being put to use to stage different incarnations of herself. Like an accomplished shapeshifter she is always in motion, elusive yet close.
She makes herself available but decides when and how close the camera may come. We don't find out much about her, but the proximity is fascinating. Camille remains untouched no matter how near we come. The safe space that the photographer and model have set up together and share with us is an inspiring resistance to the objectification and commodification of appearance.
Geert Goiris
The format hasn’t changed since the magazine’s inception in 2012. However, the project's scope has expanded significantly – .tiff has evolved into a platform, offering a year-long trajectory of presentations, conversations with experts, and exhibitions. FOMU leverages its extensive network, expertise and resources to stimulate the artists' artistic practices and personal visions.
The selection process involves reaching out to professionals in the Belgian photography scene, as well as to previous participants. This results in a long-list encompassing a diverse range of backgrounds. For this edition, FOMU departed from its usual practice and solicited the expertise of 3 external jurors: Sorana Munsya, independent curator; Anna Planas, artistic director of Paris Photo; and Max Pinckers, .tiff alumnus and artist. Together, we carefully curated a diverse group of artists, always mindful of whether the participants would benefit from our support at this particular juncture in their careers.
This 11th edition of .tiff marks a new beginning with a fresh design, while it also safeguards its strengths. Throughout the years, .tiff has fostered a thriving Belgian photography community that transcends language barriers, enabling rich exchanges of ideas between artists, curators and critics. The current selection exemplifies the continued growth of this community, and Belgian photography’s ability to reinvent itself year after year.
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