Hello Anne, you have a curated new exhibition opening next July in Malta at Valletta Contemporary, which gathers the works by photographers Nigel Baldacchino, Bénédicte Blondeau, Bernard Plossu, and Awoiska Van der Mole. Let's start with the intriguing title 'those eyes - these eyes - they fade.' What does it stand for conceptually?

Anne Immelé (AI): The title, which is the starting point of the exhibition, was proposed by the two photographers behind the show, Nigel Baldacchino and Bénédicte Blondeau. I was immediately intrigued by this title, so my first approach was more poetic than intellectual. I perceived it as a posture which invites us to reflect on the conditions of vision, allowing us to question issues such as subjectivity and objectivity, and the distinction between what is seen and perceived, what appears and disappears. This title conveys a spectral and poetic dimension and the shift from ’Those’ to ‘These’ generates a state of suspension.

© Bénédicte Blondeau from the series 'Ce qu'il reste' 

Regarding the choices of the lens-based artists. What motivated you to address different approaches to metaphysical photography? And how do you think the show tackles the contemporary debate on the medium?

AI: Practicing photography demonstrates a certain way of inhabiting the world, at times of grasping it as a poet. The descriptive and mimetic aspect of photography fascinates me as it allows us to observe, to scrutinize the apparent banality of the quotidian, of the common. It offers direct contact with reality in the here and now. However, the apparent simplicity of this medium goes hand in hand with great complexity when it comes to the nature of this medium and to what is being seen. Firstly, because there is always a gap, as narrow as it might be, between reality and representation, and secondly because real life photography, just like cinema verité, triggers an ambiguity, an indistinguishability between what is real and what is imaginary, what is near and what is far, what is known and what is unknown.
The question of veracity is an exciting contemporary discussion on photography. However, the photographs I have selected depart from this debate, and suggest questioning the opacity of a medium known for revealing reality.

© Bénédicte Blondeau from the series 'Ce qu'il reste' 

© Bernard Plossu, 'Egypte, 1977'

Muting from the title of Joan Fontcuberta's book 'The Photography of Nature & The Nature of Photography' (2013) I would say that the exhibition is both on nature itself and also questioning the very essence of the medium. Would you comment on this?

AI: This is absolutely right. Remember that, since the invention of photography, the nature of the medium has triggered numerous debates. The term ‘’Essence of the medium’’ scares me a little, as it implies one truth, while it is the way photography relates to reality that creates a multiplicity of perceptions and understandings.
The exhibition is also about the potential relationship with untouched, original nature, or what remains of it. Starting from their position in the world, each of the four photographers questions the constant circulation of an original meaning that links them to the world. The exhibition opens a path from the experience of natural and original places, such as the desert (Bernard Plossu) or the cave (Bénédicte Blondeau), towards dark and silent urban places photographed by Awoiska Van der Molen or Nigel Baldacchino.

© Nigel Baldacchino from the series 'Fog' 

© Nigel Baldacchino from the series 'Fog' 

© Nigel Baldacchino from the series 'Fog' 

What were the opportunities and difficulties you met when paving the road for the coexistence of the artworks? What criteria did you follow when you designed the show?

AI:  The genesis of the project began with the title and the early choice of photographs from existing series by Nigel Baldacchino and Bénédicte Blondeau. Those two starting points then generated an ensemble of criteria related to poetic notions such as Apparition, Evanescence, Suspension, or Erasure. I wanted to put together photographs which allow the search for meaning and sensations, the alternation between the snapshot and the timeless, the double movement of embracing the world and detaching from it.
This is exactly why I thought of the photographs of Awoiska Van der Molen, where we can feel the active presence of the natural elements. In order to create an articulation between Awoiska’s urban spaces and Nigel Baldacchino’s photographs, I suggested an older series of hers, illustrating urban night views. As in her photographs of mountains, those nocturnal visions are a state of things that offer a fascinating perceptive experience.

© Awoiska van der Molen, from the series '2005-2008 Urban'

© Awoiska van der Molen, from the series '2005-2008 Urban'

The choice of the photographs of the desert of Bernard Plossu came at a later stage. Some prints of rocks or of dust, with their bright grey colour, create a perceptive contrast with the obscurity characterizing the rest of the exhibition despite some colourful layers in Nigel Baldachino’s photographs. Bernard Plossu comes from a different generation. He is very famous in France, with the risk of patrimonialisation, so it was important for me to display his photographs next to contemporary photographs, releasing them from frames to show them in a larger format. Thus, the exhibition reactivates the photographs of Bernard Plossu in a novel way.
The exhibition is an ’artwork-space’, built on the principle of echo, of interaction, and of the connection between the different photographs, the different spaces, and the different temporalities.

© Bernard Plossu, 'Californie, 1978'

In the synopsis of the exhibition, I read that "the show is conceived as an extended meditation, an active and poetic contemplation on the medium transcending its defining purpose." Concerning your curatorial creed and the paths you have made in the past, how does this show positions itself? How important is it today to involve the public, non-experts, or young people in experiential paths that help critically reconsider the role of the image and visual storytelling in society?

It is essential to develop the critical eye of youth and of the non-expert public, in terms of reflexes related to the belief in the image’s appearance. I teach photography at HEAR (Haute école des Arts du Rhin) which enables the students to produce their own photographs, to relate to production time, not just to the scrolling time, of an image. Putting into perspective the production process allows for a better understanding of the power of imagery.
Since 2012 and my first exhibition as a curator – Les temps satellites – I have been looking into connecting photographs to transcribe our relationship not just to the real world, but also to the world of images. My work as a curator for the BPM-Mulhouse Photo Biennial allowed to show photographers that are in direct contact with the real world, but also post-photographers whose artworks are created from existing images. The exhibition at Valletta Contemporary is in line with my research of the poetic side of what is real.
My intention was to create a journey composed of flickering images, whose power also lies in a feeling of uncertainty, so as to be closer to the feeling of life.

Anne Immelé (website)