Blurring the Lines, a project founded by Klaus Fruchtnis and Steve Bisson, is a platform for fostering emerging photographers, involving universities and schools of photography from all over the world. From its creation in 2016, the project has increased its network including for the 2021 edition 39 schools coming from 24 different countries and 135 candidates asked to share their degree thesis and to reflect on the topic “Ethical shift in photography”.
The European Cultural Centre established a collaboration with Blurring the Lines in 2018, when at Palazzo Mora was showcased for the first time a presentation of the project in the context of the Time Space Existence exhibition. From that year, the cooperation has constantly grown; we have hosted two international conferences on the theme of Photography education and we are currently working on the third edition. Moreover, we have published the proceedings of the events in collaboration with Urbanautica and, since 2020, Elena Volpato and Bérénice Freytag, responsible for the photography section at the ECC, have officially become Board members of the project.
1st International Blurring the Lines Conference, Palazzo Mora, 2019
For the 2021 edition of Blurring the Lines, the ECC has been involved for the first time as part of the jury in selecting the winners of the award.
For our Photography Team, composed of Elena Volpato, Bérénice Freytag and Suzanne van der Borg, the selection process has been thrilling. We decided to make it a choral choice, each of us writing down their thoughts on each project and then taking the time to share the reflections and to make a final decision based on the highest number of votes.
A form of small temporary democracy formed by three citizens, in which the opinion of one counted as much as the opinion of the other. While browsing the projects, it was interesting to notice a common sensitivity, and it has been exciting to discuss those works that impressed and involved us more than others.
Photo credits: Cora Sun Yuting
At the end of the process, we were gratified to be able to share our votes with the rest of the jury, the winners of the 2020 edition, Ragna Arndt-Maric, Thembinkosi Hlatshwayo, and Riti Sengupta, and the curators Lisanne van happen and John Fleetwood, and to note with pleasure that also in this case, the opinions remained similar.
Browsing through the projects, we noticed that there were many themes in common. Young photographers investigating matters linked to culture, family, rootlessness and sexuality, and several times our preferred choice was based on the “originality” of the project, especially for those presenting approaches or themes we did not stumble across before.
The selection has then faced a second phase, coordinated by the 2021 guest curator, the photographer Amak Mahmoodian, that brought to nominee 3 winners, 33 finalists and 14 special mentions.
Photo credits: ©Thembinkosi Hlatshwayo, Slaghuis II, winner of the 2020 edition
The ECC and Blurring the Lines strengthen thus a collaboration which is contributing to enhance the attention on emerging photographers and on how education is essential to provide them the proper tools for a successful professional future.
The third edition of the international conference Photography and Education will be held at Palazzo Michiel, in Venice, and online, on 19 and 20 November in collaboration with Paris College of Art and FOTODOK, and with the precious contribution of the 2021 nominees and professionals in the field of contemporary photography.
Words by Elena Volpato and Suzanne van der Borg
Photo credits: Irina Dmitrovskaya
Photo credits: Irina Dmitrovskaya
Photo credits: Raúl Armando Jiménez Jiménez