BLURRING THE LINES GOES TO THE NETHERLANDS
by Klaus Fruchtnis
Because of the fantastic quality of the project developed at PCA in 2019, FOTODOK in collaboration with Stefanie Grätz, head of the Photography department at the HKU University of the Arts in Utrecht, decided to bring “Blurring the Lines” as we presented it at Paris College of Art to Utrecht, The Netherlands.


Installation view, 'Blurring the Lines', HKU, Utrecht, February 2020 © Martha Stroo

Photography has evolved considerably since its invention, and education is without any doubt a significant element that have accompanied and shaped this evolution. The way in which emerging photographers are exploring the photography boundaries is a captivating subject that has inspired Blurring the Lines to start in 2016.


Catalog 'Blurring the lines, 2019 Urbanautica Institute, 'Blurring the Lines', HKU, Utrecht, February 2020 © Martha Stroo

The project aims to promote student’s thesis research work, to get international recognition, and contribute to an inter academic dialogue. For this 2019 edition, and among the 66 very high-quality projects coming from 19 participating photography schools worldwide, curators Steve Bisson and Lisanne van Happen selected 3 winners, Roberto Vito D’Amico, Irene Antonia Diane Reece and Viktor Naumovski, as well as 22 finalists.


Installation view, 'Unmanned Pigeons' by Roberto Vito d'Amico, HKU, Utrecht, February 2020 © Martha Stroo

Installation view, 'Dragone' by Jonna Bruinsma, HKU, Utrecht, February 2020 © Martha Stroo

Installation view, 'Standing in the sun' by Viktor Naumovski, HKU, Utrecht, February 2020 © Martha Stroo


Installation view, 'Billie James' by Irene Antonia Diane Reece, HKU, Utrecht, February 2020 © Martha Stroo

This explosion of the medium combined with an endemic proliferation of pervasive social media has encouraged us to reflect on the ethical consequences of the image-making process. Our talented participants remind us of the potentiality of the medium without forgetting that photography can separate what is pointless and irrelevant from what is pertinent and poignant. The notion of storyteller itself has been redefined, placing the storyteller in a position in which a variety of tools allow the photographer to communicate the same message in different ways. Photography is a generous medium with resources that are not merely physical materials and processes; each process comes with beliefs, practices, and conventions that affect our understanding and ways of production.

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Blurring the Lines at HKU Oudenoord 700 in Utrecht on Friday, February 7th at 17h

This project was made possible by all the participating schools, Paris College of Art, FOTODOK, Urbanautica Institute, European Cultural Centre, Faservice and Fujifilm.

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LINKS
Programme 'Blurring the Lines' 
Catalog Blurring the Lines 2019, Published by Urbanautica Institute 
Blurring the Lines 4th edition in Paris 
Article originally published by Paris College of Art (Klaus Fruchtnis, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, Chair of Photography)


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