Open Call

 

We are pleased to announce the open call for the 6th edition of Fotofestival Lenzburg. The competition is open to all types of photography and is aimed at photographers from near and far. A distinguished international jury will select the projects that show a deep understanding of the theme “SYNTHESIS” and exhibit a unique artistic style.

We understand synthesis as a process that enhances something by combining multiple elements. Yet, the resulting ensemble is greater than its individual parts – not because the individual parts don’t matter or don’t matter equally, but because they fundamentally do. More on the topic here.

 


Categories

As in previous years, there are two different categories; single images and projects.

Category Single Images: The Open Call for Single Images will follow in the fall – Stay informed and sign up for the newsletter.

Projects Category: The top five projects will be evaluated. One project will be awarded with the Jury Award, which is endowed with 1’500 CHF.


„Bold and Talented“

Thanks to the support of the BAT Foundation, with this edition the Festival launches the new program “Bold and Talented”, which in a second phase will offer the selected artists the opportunity to realize the submitted project in the form of an exhibition, together with the Festival team and young talented curators. This program will begin at the end of August 2023, with a start-up weekend, for all artists and curators, to discover the festival and its locations. It will be an occasion for reflecting on the thematic through the participation of guest experts and brainstorming for the upcoming edition.

All five exhibitions will be shown during the next edition of the Fotofestival Lenzburg, starting at the end of May 2024.


Artistic residency

Additionally, one artist will also have the opportunity to further develop, implement and/or complete his/her contribution during a two-week stay in August 2023 in our artistic residency Lenzburg.

The artistic residency includes free accommodation for the artist and optionally for an adult companion and a maximum of two children in the Müllerhaus residence for two weeks in August 2023, travel expenses (up to CHF 200) and a small stipend (CHF 500).


Dates

Start-up weekend: 25/26th of August 2023 (for all five winners)

Stay artistic residency: from 14th to 28th of August 2023 (for one winner) in Lenzburg in Müllerhaus (muellerhaus.ch)

Festival Exhibition: from end of May (4 weeks)

Location: Lenzburg


Submit

Deadline: June 7, 2023, 11:59 PM

Application: Please submit 5 to 15 images and a short description of the project.

Participation: all Swiss and international photographers and artists working with photo-based media.

Jury: Sue Barr (professor, Hochschule München), Daniel Blochwitz (curator Fotofestival Lenzburg, independent Curator for photography (CH)), Margherita Guerra (director Fotofestival Lenzburg), Lisa Medde (independent curator) Lars Willumeit (curator Photo Elysée, Lausanne)

Registration fees projects: EUR 23.00

Submit

Jury

Sue Barr

Professor, Hochschule München

Sue Barr is Professor of Architectural Photography at Hochschule München and was previously the Head of Photography at the Architectural Association in London.

She works and exhibits internationally and holds a PhD from the Royal College of Art, London.

Her most recent project – ‘Monsters: Fragments of Stuttgart Brutalism’ – an architectural and photographic installation, will be exhibited at the London Design Festival in the autumn.

Daniel Blochwitz

Curator of the Fotofestival Lenzburg, independent Curator for photography (CH)

Daniel Blochwitz (*1973/D) studied photography in the USA, graduated with a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Florida, participated in the 50th Venice Biennale (Utopia Station) in 2003 and attended the Whitney Museum’s postgraduate Independent Study Program. In 2005 he began working for various galleries, initially in New York City and later as director of the Edwynn Houk Gallery in Zurich. As freelance curator, he realized various solo and group exhibitions for museums, galleries and off-spaces, among others on Vivian Maier, Arnold Odermatt and Lee Miller. Between 2017 and 2019 he was artistic director of photo basel. He publishes and teaches on photography. Since 2020 Daniel is main curator of the Fotofestival Lenzburg.

Margherita Guerra

Director Fotofestival Lenzburg

After studying theology, multimedia publishing and photography in Milan, Margherita worked as a manager and picture editor in various publishing houses in Milan and for nearly ten years in the world’s oldest – still active – photo archive Fratelli Alinari, in Florence. In 2015 she founded Yourpictureditor, a network of picture editors offering picture research for media and advice and support for photo projects in Switzerland and Italy. In 2017 she started the Fotofestival Lenzburg, which she since then direct.

Elisa Medde

Indipendent curator

Elisa Medde edits, curates and writes about photography and visual culture. With a background in Art History, Iconology and Photographic Studies, her research reflects on the relationship between image, communication and power structures. She has been nominator for a number of prizes and chaired various juries. She loves collaborating with educational programs as lecturer and jury member, such as KABK, ECAL, Brera Academy, Fotofilmic and many more. Next to curating paper and physical spaces, she regularly writes for Foam Magazine and various publications such as C4 Journal, Something We Africans Got, Vogue Italia / L’Uomo Vogue, YET Magazine and many artists’ books. She has been Editor-in-Chief of Foam Magazine between 2012 and 2023, twice recipient of a Lucie Award for Best Photography Magazine.

Lars Willumeit

Curator Photo Elysée, Lausanne

Lars Willumeit (born 1974) is a curator, writer and lecturer based in Zurich and Montreux. Since 2018, he has been a curator and responsable de projets d’expositions at the Photo Elysée in Lausanne. With degrees in Social Anthropology (London School of Economics and Political Science) and Curatorial Studies (Zurich University of the Arts), he previously worked as photo director for DU – Die Zeitschrift für Kultur in Zurich and as photo editor for GEO in Hamburg and New York. As an independent curator and editor working in Switzerland and internationally, he has realized a number of book and exhibition projects since 2014. His theoretical interests include photographic forms of documentarism as well as collaborative and/or collective forms of image making and consumption. His recent curatorial projects include: Josef Koudelka IKONAR Archival Constellations, Photo Elysée (2022); Yann Mingard Everything is up in the air, thus our vertigo, Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne (2019); Salvatore Vitale How to Secure a Country, Fotostiftung Schweiz, Winterthur (2019); CO-OP Visual Joint Ventures, Unseen, Amsterdam (2017 + 2018); Crisis? What Crisis?!, Krakow Photomonth, Poland, 2016.

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