JocJonJosch is a trio of Swiss-English-Swiss artists. Their work consists of photographs, videos, sculptures and performances. One of their particularities is to work on the concept of the collective, and especially the process of decision-making.

Their early works have a refreshing humour reminiscent of the artist Erwin Wurm and his one-minute sculptures or the so British humour of Monthy Python while their recent works are tinged with a certain melancholy.

The series Coloured Circles (2008) proposes to place characters inside coloured circles. The circles, which float in the image by anamorphosis, are staged with voluntary imperfections. A few months later, Black Holes (2009) works similarly, but the round of colour gives way to a black circle.
I focus on this series because it revolves around the same interest as my current work (Mirrors aux alouettes). Like them, the rectangle of the frame of the image within my photographs or their coloured circles function as a kind of door to another dimension or a black hole sucking the viewer. A space in space, a mise en abyme. The fact that several three-dimensional surfaces give the impression of a two-dimensional surface is in a way a definition of photography. By replaying this transformation within the image, the illusory process of photography is revealed.
http://www.jocjonjosch.com

In my series « Puissance Foudre”, I was interested in Jacques Emery who is an electrician during the day. But during his free time, in his cellar, he makes multitudes of machines recreating lightning. Beyond the sci-fi background, it was the character of Jacques that fascinated me. I have often compared it to Prometheus. I quickly decided to focus on his creations rather than him. Then I used all the tools I had to increase the mystery and mysticism around him: the black and white, the long time exposure, the wide angle, the choice of particular motifs, the staging…

The result is a world with a touch of wonder.

http://www.olivierlovey.ch/index.php?/projects/puissance-foudre/

Between fascination and repulsion, death remains a relatively taboo theme in our society. Swiss artist Virginie Rebetez makes this absence her main theme throughout her series.

Her latest book « Out of the Blue » offers a personal investigation around Suzanne gone missing for already 20 years. « Under cover » is a series of African tombs covered with sheets according to a funerary ritual. « Packing » shows the clothes worn by some of the deceased at the time of their death. But I would like to focus on an older series entitled « Flirting with Charon ». These are staged in mansions of socially isolated and recently deceased people. The artist takes place within the image and performs daily gestures such as watching TV, eating, sleeping, wearing clothes, watering plants …Yet never the photos of Virginie Rebetez fall into a unhealthy voyeurism. Neither do we feel the choice of the theme for its sensationalism. No superfluous aesthetic either. His questions are at the center of the work and the coherence of the work is total.

Through the example of Virginie Rebetez, I wanted to highlight the importance of sincerity in the constitution of a work. In a world where shining is so significant, we can be tempted to follow trends, to find the right topic that will make people talk about. A few years ago, I remember also wanting to start a work on death when my father died. I had a concept that I was sure would work in the photo contests. I soon felt that I was not in the right place. My photography is more playful. I try to escape reality, to marvel at how the real is transformed through the camera. And in my opinion it is in this unique area that I have the opportunity to produce a good job, to make my contribution to the photography.

http://www.virginierebetez.com/

Eva Lauterlein is a Swiss-German artist graduated from the Vevey School of Photography. I remember at the beginning of my studies that her work had marked me a lot. She had been part of the “Faire Faces” exhibition of the Elysee Museum with her work “chimères” where she proposes to mix different points of view of a same portrait. The result is a disturbing vision that produces a feeling of discomfort. The selection I proposes is a mix of her different series that can be found on her website : http://evalauterlein.net

In her work, I particularly appreciate the fine line between verisimilitude and extraordinary. The first reaction you should have watching a photograph is to believe it.

I have always enjoyed the spirit photography. This is a good illustration of what I like in the photographic medium. As far back as I can remember, I did not take any pictures for memories. But the day I realized that photography was not necessarily an accurate reproduction of reality, my interest has changed. With the spirit photography, there was this naivety to believe that photography was a revealer of an invisible world. I am extremely rational in my everyday life, but I like to think that photography is a gateway to another world.

The selection presented is taken from the book « Le troisième oeil.  La photographie et l’occulte» Gallimard. ISBN : 207011791X