Mobile Camera Club Presents ‘Outsiders’ – Exhibition Open To 28 March 2015

One cannot help but look for the reasons: is the scrutiny of the photographer’s view the privilege of men? Are public spaces really as open and neutral as we would like it to be, and does it really allow women to hang out with no other purpose than to observe? Is the outside world really a male’s domain while women rule in the home, as tradition would have it?

What we want to show here is that “street photography” has no sex. We want to change this truncated vision of the world of photography. The same vision that prevails more generally in the arts and in life in general. Some thinking habits die hard, and women are still much more celebrated as muses and models rather than as creative minds—more passive than active. Despite their massive burst onto the art scene throughout the XX-XXI^th centuries, women artists remain structurally under-represented and are the real outsiders of contemporary art.

This is why we chose to take a different approach from the vast number of exhibitions showing works created exclusively by men without curators even noticing or being shocked. We thus decided to reverse the usual proportion between male and female artists and deliberately chose to hide the sex of all the exhibited photographers. A sort of “blind test” to which we invite the viewer, as a playful way of challenging preconceived ideas and showing that it is not easy to identify who is who. Because, happily, appearances are deceptive. And in most cases, nothing in the subjects chosen or in the way of approaching the characters provides any evidence of the sex of the photographer.

Mobile photography seems to be an artistic field which has finally been massively invested in by women from all countries, while the smartphone, less intimidating and more discreet than a conventional camera, breathes new life into street photography.

Meet these outsider artists—active, committed, elusive, collectors, curious, jokers, melancholic, mischievous—just like their male counterparts.

R. Bar (Israel), C. Van der Beek (Holland), A. Castillo (Mexico), K. Chulsu (Japan),

C. Edelist (France), O. Gelardin Spinola (Spain), F. Gochel (Belgium), B. Guillon (France), D. Lopez (USA), A. Nijhawan (USA), A. O’Reilly (Australia), S. Rush (USA), S. Safaei (Iran), E. Shmagrinskaya (France), M. Varuolo (USA).

“I am a fashion designer based in Tel

Aviv. Like many other I was exposed to photography when I got my first smartphone about 4 years ago. Taking, making and editing photo is, I believe, another creative way to express myself, just from a different angle. The camera allows me to see life in a different aesthetic way and even the option to change it.

I’m looking for light, shapes, forms and a character to complete the composition, and if I don’t find them all, I’ll just create them.”

Originally a painter with a background in abstracts and mixed media, the artist was introduced to photography while at art school and continues to explore the boundaries of mobile photography through a distinctive editing style.

“My world is purely visual. Wherever I am, I look around me and see possible pictures. I let myself lead by mood, colors, light, shape. I work either “pure” so hardly reworked or I work in layers, like I build up my mixed media paintings.”

Born in 1984 in Tampico, Tamaulipas, México, Castillo concluded bachelor degree in Psychology and in 2011 began studies in Photography in same city, quickly engaging with that discipline, has been one of the pioneers of iPhonegraphy courses in México, has collaborated on two printed books and taken part in regional and international collectives and currently has a single exhibition. Castillo has won contests and grants in Tampico city and in the southern region of the same state.

“My idea about photography took shape when I started using a mobile device as a way of experimentation. Based on the possibilities that this tool has given me, I assume photographic practice from everyday life and from my own experiences, dreams, ideas and emotions exploring my own identity and the identity of the country in which I live.

I want to create images loaded with a poetic and existential discourse hoping to be a mirror where others can see themselves through my photos. Hipstamatic is my native camera. Superimpose and VSCOCam are my favorites and are indispensable for my creative work.

My biggest influences come from Nietzsche philosophy, psychoanalysis, Bergman films and in photography I admire Graciela Iturbide, Gregory Crewdson, among others.”

“I was born and raised in Japan, but of Korean origin. I started photography four years ago. I deeply love shooting the street of Tokyo and using Black & White. My goal is to walk earnestly, and continue to seek opportunities of encounters.”

Edelist is a street photographer currently living in Paris. Bringing a combined analysis of nature, urban modernity and the study fine art, Edelist fuses these disparate inspirations to a decidedly unique photographic look. Edelist’s work strives to make visible the everyday, the unseen, the routine while mapping the landscape of the Parisian street.

Trained as a photographer, Gochel currently lives in Liège (Belgium). By the end of 2011, Gochel discovered mobile photography as a new medium of expression. Viewing the capacities of this new instrument as a revolution in the history of the photography, the artist decided from there on to exclusively use this photographic tool. Gochel’s present works focuses on visual interactions between man and his urban environment.

“The street has a life of its own. It has its own emotions made of the encounter between humans and concrete. What interests me is to capture the ephemeral in it, this furtive moment where elements fall into place and allow something almost unreal to appear, something at a crossroads between the heart, the head and the eyes. The smartphone is a splendid ally to help transmitting that emotion.”

“I am a Graphic Designer born in Madrid (Spain) from an American father and an Italian mother, and currently living in Rome (Italy). After having studied a Bachelor of Arts between London and New York City, I settled in Madrid to pursue my professional career. My love for street photography dates back to my late teens where I spent most of my time in a dark room at school. This passion has but increased ever since.”

“I am constantly trying to find expressions or stories, or both. In this selection I am trying to convey the feelings I sense when I believe I have found what I was looking for.

It is when I find these expressions and stories that my spirit is filled with accomplishment (to a certain degree). My search is endless as it is an impossible task to capture the soul of a human being, so I continuously have the urge to keep on going…”

B. Guillon began taking photos with a smartphone in 2010, participating then in numerous collective projects. Using both this photographic tool and a digital reflex or even analogic cameras, B. Guillon likes experimenting the new ways which every device has to offer.

Nijhawan is a visual journalist from the Silicon Valley with a deep interest in immersive storytelling. Nijhawan loves experimenting with various image-making, tools everything from cheap film cameras to Google Glass. For Nijhawan, the technical limitations of the iPhone are what make it the ultimate training device for the eye, while its discreet form makes it ideal for street photography.

Nijhawan graduated with a master’s in journalism from UC Berkeley and is currently a lecturer in new media at CELSA Paris-Sorbonne University.

“I’ve been drawn to street photography since discovering it via social networks such as Instagram and Eyem in early 2011. The ease of being able to connect with street photographers all over the world has a huge impact on my work and inspires me of the art of the everyday. My occupation as a TV editor is creative, but using my phone in this way has opened my life to art like nothing else. I shoot with Procamera 8, and edit with Snapseed and Superimpose. My photographs have been shown in New York, Sydney and Melbourne.”

“I am a Seattle-based photographer, writer, and educator. My photography has been exhibited in the United States, London, and Europe as well as presented in electronic magazines Kwerfeldein, Actual Colors May Vary, Askar Magazine, Camerapixo, Dodho, Resource Magazine, wire.it, and Volksrant. I write about the intersection of community, social networks, and image. My writing about connected mobile photography has appeared in iPhoneography.com, wearegrryo. com (formerly wearejuxt.com), dprConnect, and iPhoneogenic.com, among others.

My work explores constructs of America as both mythical and mundane symbols of belonging or exclusion, leaving and arriving, erosion of certainties and corruptions of absolutes. How do images situate time as moments of simultaneity, of multiplicities of subjectivity that interrogate tropes of memory. I currently serve as Special Assistant for Teaching & Learning at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Wash., U.S.A.”

“The vehicles in which we travel reflect ourselves, our past, as well as our cultural and personal identities. The photos in this exhibit are from on-going documentary series, Dream Car, of images captured on the streets of Seattle beginning in 2010. The mobile photo series explores feelings or memories that American-made cars of mostly the 60s and 70s evoke of the American past, their link to its cultural mythos of mobility, independence, self-reliance, consumption, ethos of cool, and the tropes of opportunity. A symbol of the 20th Century version of the American Dream, the car is a metaphor forged of imagination and steel, sculpted forms, the output of manufacturing lines and factories, physical labor and unions, of power, pride, and prosperity—the design of a dream. The juxtaposition of that design, as much a product of desire as Detroit, with today’s America is more difficult for me to grasp. Now, found here or there, suddenly, parked, at the corner of a street… these cars are transported to another America. I’m provoked by the juxtaposition of that scene. All photos captured and edited with iPhone 3Gs, iPhone 5 between 2010-2014 in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.”

“I was born in 1990 in Tehran, Iran. It is said that there are about 7000 spoken languages in the world though most may hardly speak another language besides his of her mother language. But I am in constant learning endeavor to master a language which I can be understood by everyone around the world who has a passion for capturing feelings, excitements, sorrows, distinctness and uniqueness of people and places. A photo speaks a thousand words to all of us.

I started my passion to reflect on others, circumstances and places by studying photography at Pardis Faculty of Tehran University since 2010.”

“I am not a photographer, yet taking pictures has given me a sense of unity and personal satisfaction. They are relics of my life. Souvenirs of my wandering. All that I have learned concerning light and composition is contained within them.”

“I was born and raised in a small town in Siberia (Russia), but moved through adulthood in Moscow. The numerous changes that occurred in Russia soon caught me as well. Six years ago, I moved to the United States and reside there to this day. This significant transition sparked interest in photography – an art form I always loved but never thought I could master. Moving to the US fueled my passion and gave me both time and resources to learn photography. I live in a small village in the Western mountains of Maine. Currently, with the aid of FotoDepartament (St Petersburg, Russia),

I am extending my skills in documentary photography. My future goal is storytelling through the medium of documentary photography.”

Ideally located in the cultural heart of Paris, Mobile Camera Club exhibits mobile photography in all its forms. The name of the gallery is a tribute to camera clubs and photographic societies, which were the real « test kitchens » of the early photographic years. It is also a reference to Alfred Stieglitz, a photographer and gallery-owner born 150 years ago, who was a real talent scout, a forward-thinking artist, and a staunch defender of photography as a fine art in its own right.

At Mobile Camera Club, you find art prints for sale, either mounted or framed, or not. The gallery also provides lectures and workshops to help you use your smartphone as an effective camera, and make the best use of photography apps. A reference spot for mobile arts.

opening hours:

From Tuesday to Saturday: 2:30 pm to 8 pm

For more information do not hesitate to contact us: [email protected]

mobile camera club

56 rue La Bruyère 75009 Paris

Tél : +33 (0) 695 287 810 www.mobilecameraclub.fr Facebook.com/mobilecameraclub

how to get there:

Metro, Lign 13 (Liège)

Metro, Lign 12 (Trinité d’Estienne d’Orves or Saint-Georges) Metro, Lign 2 (Blanche)

Bus 74 (La Bruyère) Bus 68 (Moncey)

parkings:

12 rue Jean-Baptiste Pigalle + 7 rue Mansart