With 40 years of experience in education in image making and artist training, the École nationale supérieure de la photographie, opened its international mentorship programme in 2022. The programme is for artists or photographers having developed and consolidated an image based practice over several years and wishing to benefit from in-depth support for their approach to contemporary questions relating to the image, and more specifically to photography.
Starting from a review of your professional career and your artistic practice, you will be guided over five months, through individual follow-ups, critical sessions and group sessions, to question your approach, to develop your ongoing creative project and to enhance your practical realisations (production of texts, editing, research and documentation, project structuring). The exchange of ideas and the sharing of appropriate methodological advice will enable you to build a better foundation for your practice and strengthen your position as an artist-author. In a horizontal work dynamic, the ENSP mentorship programme aims to help you update your commitment to the challenges of the contemporary image.
The 2024 edition of the mentorship programme will be led by two mentors: Laia Abril (Barcelona, 1986) & Lila Neutre (Rueil-Malmaison, 1989), artists from the world of art and contemporary photography with both national and international recognition. Through the prism of the image, narrative and the document, their work addresses issues relating to gender, the expression of multiple identities and modes of resistance. They use photography and other media such as video, sound writing, editorial and installation. Presentations by other image professionals will complement and enrich the guidance offered by the mentors.
I'm thrilled to invite you to the final presentation where I will talk about my ongoing project Mare Internum, at 14:00 on June 28th (full program from 09:30 to 18:30) at the ENSP Auditorium, 30 Avenue Victor Hugo, 13200 Arles.
Mare Internum is a visual essay on identity construction in relation to Marseille's seascape. Intuitively documenting these seashore landscapes, I observe the interplay between urban and natural environments, turmoil and serenity, shared existence and solitude. "Mare Internum" translates to "internal sea," synonymous with the Mediterranean Sea, which becomes the main character of a subjective experience.
I photograph the necessity of staying near the water, ultimately to remain close to distant shores. Born in Jerusalem to Moroccan and Eastern European roots, I moved to France at age 10. In Marseille, I am surrounded by friends with layered origins - linked to Italy, Iran, Algeria or elsewhere. The seaside is our meeting point, which emphasizes the complexities of cross-border connections: when the passports of some are politically conflicting, it is precisely because we live outside our native lands that we can meet. Despite its urgent socio-political and ecological challenges, the Mediterranean remains a place where identities converge. I focus on moments of introspective resilience, navigating various forms of separation within ourselves and with others. A certain peculiar peace is found here, as the seaside brings a sense of home, interconnection and hope.
For the past months, this project has been receiving the guidance of photographers Laia Abril and Lila Neutre alongside a talented group of international female photographers: Giulia Frigieri, Marie-Pierre Cravedi, Wendie Zahibo, Amira Lamti, Adeline Praud, Alejandra Fayad, Liis Lillo. Both mentors and mentees will present their work throughout the day. Grateful to be part of this and thank you Emilie Traverse, Lucile Guyomarc'h and Yann Linsart for your help!