ISSUE Nº21: Photography Essay
by Alexandria Catiere
I was born in 1978 in Minsk. From my teens, I was passionate about Art and studied at school specialising in Applied Arts. The necessity to speak English brought me to Minsk State Linguistique University which I graduated in 2001 as a Bachelor of Pedagogy with French, German and Italian languages under my belt. In 2002, I got a fellowship to study at the International Center of Photography, New York. In 2005 I entered the Irving Penn Studio as an assistant and fine art printer. From 2009, I work and live in Paris.
Over the past twenty years, I have developed a photographic practice praised internationally for its sensitive approach to portraiture. Never limited by the subject-matter itself, my installations are composed of photographic assemblages, mixing various fragments of life. Through the use of my black and white gelatin printing skills, I aim to reveal that which is most fleeting and universal in all of us. My work explores the cycle of the life, fragility of the human nature and our presence on earth. I`m interested how time and the photographic material reveals the essence of things. In the darkroom, I let myself be free and make the prints by instict never limited by the same technique. I call them "photogenique paintings".
The result of my residency BMW at the Museum Nicephore Niépce in 2011 was shown at Rencontre d`Arte 2012 Festival and Paris Photo 2012. The exhibition travelled to Rome Museum of Contemporary Art and Moscow Museum of Photography.
Solo exhibitions have taken place at CNA- Centre National de l`Audiovisual, Luxemburg and PhotoforumPasquArt, Bienne, Switzerland among few.
In 2018 I was nominated to Prix Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland.
A retrospective of 17 years of my work, Behind the Glass, took place at the Museum of Nicephore Niepce, Chalon sur Saone, France in 2019.
In 2022 I was granted the Grande Commande Photographique by the French Ministry of Culture and was finalist of the the Prix Niepce, France.
2022-2023 I was on an artist-in-residence program at the Maison National des Artistis, the only elderly house dedicated to the artists, Nogent -sur- Marne, France. The projects "Now we are all equal" and "The bouquet of Mme J. " be published in 2024 by la Collection du Parc in 2024 accompanied by the exhibition supported by the Fondation of the Artistes.
PHOTGRAPHY alexandra CATIERE
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