Photo Elysée | Christian Marclay x ECAL: Photo Booth
Phin Sallin-Mason & Sarah Marachly, Puzzled, 2024 ©ECAL/ Phin Sallin-Mason & Sarah Marachly
Written by: Aundréa Verdi
The allure of the photo booth, with its promise of instant gratification and self-expression, has long captivated both the masses and the artistic. In this innovative showcase, Christian Marclay delves deep into the archives of Photo Elysée, Lausanne, collaborating with photography students to breathe new life into the thousands of faces captured by the museum's photo booth over the years. On view at the museum until June 2nd “Christian Marclay x ECAL” encapsulates this intersection masterfully through its innovative premise: using a photo booth as both a tool and a subject for artistic inquiry.
Christian Marclay, video still from Photomaton, 2024 © Christian Marclay / Collection Photo Elysée
Since its inception in 1924, the photo booth has served as a democratic medium, democratizing the act of portraiture by making it accessible to the masses. Its allure lies in its simplicity and immediacy—a self-contained chamber where individuals can capture fleeting moments of self-expression, uninhibited by the constraints of traditional studio settings. The photo booth emerged as a ubiquitous presence, offering an expedient and affordable alternative to professional portraiture.
Carla Corminboeuf & Cyriane Rawyler, Fading, 2024 © ECAL/ Carla Corminboeuf & Cyriane Rawyler
The exhibit's exploration of this iconic yet understudied medium is timely and revelatory. By delving into the archives of Photo Elysée and reimagining the faces preserved by the museum's photo booth, the artist Christian Marclay, alongside ECAL photography students, embarks on a transformative journey of reinterpretation and reinvention. The project's objective—to transform analog images through innovative digital interventions—speaks to the evolving nature of photographic practice in the digital age. The fusion of art and technology has always been a fascinating terrain, ripe with opportunities for exploration and introspection.
Phin Sallin-Mason & Sarah Marachly, Puzzled, 2024 © ECAL/ Phin Sallin-Mason & Sarah Marachly
The photo booth is central to the exhibit's thematic underpinnings as a liminal space—a threshold between the private and the public, the individual and the collective. Within the confines of its curtained enclosure, participants are simultaneously liberated and constrained, afforded a fleeting moment of autonomy within the machine's gaze. It is here, amidst the flicker of the flashbulb and the buzz of the mechanical apparatus, that questions of identity and self-representation come to the fore.
Phin Sallin-Mason & Sarah Marachly, Puzzled, 2024 ©ECAL/ Phin Sallin-Mason & Sarah Marachly
Visitors are invited to navigate this nuanced terrain through a series of installations and visual sequences, confronting the complexities of selfhood in an age of digital mediation. Whether through playful experimentation with facial expressions or introspective contemplation of one's image, the photo booth becomes a site of performative selfhood—a stage upon which the boundaries between authenticity and artifice blur.
This exploration emerges as a meditation on the nature of photographic truth and the malleability of identity in an era of pervasive image-making. By juxtaposing the mechanical precision of the photo booth with the fluidity of digital manipulation, the exhibit invites us to reconsider the boundaries of photographic authenticity and the transformative power of artistic intervention.
Furthermore, the project's collaborative nature underscores the ethos of the photo booth itself. By embracing collective participation and creative exchange, the exhibit validates the enduring relevance of this seemingly mundane yet impactful medium.
Installation, Christian Marclay, Photomaton, 2024, (c) ECAL/ Gaetan Uldry, Sarah de Brito Faustino
“Christian Marclay x ECAL” offers a thought-provoking exploration of the photo booth as both a cultural artifact and a catalyst for artistic innovation. Through digital experimentation, the exhibit challenges self-representation in a mediated world. It highlights the enduring power of photography to illuminate the hidden corners of human experience and provoke reflection on the ever-shifting contours of identity.
