Portfolio Reviews
Daniel Blochwitz
Curator for photography
Reviews in German and English.
Daniel Blochwitz (*1973/D) is a freelance curator for photography in Zurich. He studied photography in the USA and graduated with a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Florida in 2003. During his studies he taught photography for several semesters and curated his first exhibition together with Professor Barbara Jo Revelle. In 2003 he participated in the 50th Venice Biennale (Utopia Station) together with a small international group of artists and art historians around Martha Rosler. After his studies, Blochwitz went to New York at the invitation of the Whitney Museum to attend the postgraduate Independent Study Program there. In 2005 he began working for various galleries, initially in New York City and later as director of the Edwynn Houk Gallery in Zurich, which specializes in photography. Since 2015, Blochwitz has been a freelance curator specializing in photography and has realized various solo and group exhibitions for museums, galleries and off-spaces, among others on Vivian Maier, Arnold Odermatt and Lee Miller. In addition, he publishes, teaches and advises repeatedly on photography. Between 2017 and 2019 he was also given the mandate of artistic director and curator of photo basel, which he successfully developed further during this time. Daniel Blochwitz is a member of the association Spectrum - Photography in Switzerland and was appointed to the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie (DGPh) this year. Daniel Blochwitz lives and works in Zurich.
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Margherita Guerra
Director Fotofestival Lenzburg
Reviews in German, Italian and English.
Since 3 years director of the Fotofestival Lenzburg. After studying theology, multimedia publishing and photography in Milan, she has been working in the field of photography for 20 years. She worked as a manager and picture editor in various publishing houses and for ten years in the photo archive Alinari, Florence. In 2015 she founded Yourpictureditor in Switzerland, an international network of picture editors offering advice and support for photo projects in various countries. In 2017 she co-founded the Lenzburg Photo Festival.
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Sarah Girard
Director Bieler Fototage
Sarah Girard has been director of the annual Bieler Fototage photo festival since February 2018.
Reviews in German, French and English.
She is a member of the City of Geneva's group of photography experts, a member of the commission of the Foundation for Photography, Film and Video of the Kunstmuseum Bern, and is a regular expert on photography prizes and portfolio readings (Prix Focale de la ville de Nyon 2018, Rencontres de la photographie d'Arles 2019, Bourse des Amis du Musée Albert-Kahn 2019 and 2020). Since 2018 she has also been a lecturer for the Zurich course Kuverum in the field of cultural mediation. In 2019 she contributed to the launch of the photographic survey in the Bernese Jura.
www.bielerfototage.ch
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Melody Gygax
Melody Gygax is the Swiss agent of MAGNUM PHOTOS.
Reviews in German and English.
Photography has been at the centre of her life for over twenty years, first as a picture editor for various media for many years and most recently as head of photography at the Basler Zeitung.
As a photo editor/curator she now works with brands, advertising agencies, corporate publishers, photo galleries, cultural institutions and photographers, showing them how to take their visual storytelling to the next level.
Melody is a regular jury member for photography competitions, is active as a qualified juror, teaches photography in the areas of conception, editing & storytelling, photo editing and is a long-standing expert on various portfolio reviews and holds seminars at the most important photography festivals in Switzerland.
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Sascha Renner
Deputy Director of the Fotostiftung Schweiz
Reviews in German and English.
Sascha Renner (born 1973, lives in Zurich) is a curator and critic. From 2012 to 2020 director of the COALMINE Forum for Documentary Photography, Winterthur. Since 2016 curator and head of communication, since 2018 deputy director of the Fotostiftung Schweiz. Studied art history and ethnology at the University of Zurich (M.A.). 2001-2010 art critic and art editor at the "Tages-Anzeiger" and "züritipp". 2010-2013 Art editor at "Schweizer Radio DRS 2" (today "SRF 2 Kultur"). 2015 City of Zurich scholarship for art education. His interests lie in the fields of storytelling, curating photography and visual cultures. His activities as a mediator include exhibition concepts, artist talks, juries, portfolio reviews, publications on photography and art in catalogues, specialist magazines and newspapers.
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Guido Schmidtke
Since 2004 picture editor at STERN
Reviews in German and English.
After studying communication design at the Folkwang University in Essen, he worked for many years as a freelance photographer, mainly for magazines. He began his work as a picture editor at ADAC Reisemagazin, 4 years later he went to STERN, where he worked in various departments. For the last three years he has been responsible for foreign topics.
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Gilles Steinmann
Director of Photography NZZ
Reviews in German and English.
From 1999 editor for an IT magazine. Then web designer and photographer for various newspapers and magazines. Studied in Lucerne at the Media Training Centre (MAZ) with traineeship at the NZZ photo editorial office. Further years as picture editor at a Sunday newspaper and its magazine. Studied Cultural Media Studies at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK). Since March 2011 member of the picture editorial staff of the NZZ. From June 2017: Head of the NZZ picture editorial department.
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foto: © Dominic Nahr
Michael Pfister
Visual Storytelling Expert
Reviews in German and English.
Michael Pfister was born in Bern in 1979. He began his journalistic career as a reporter for Swiss Radio DRS, then cultural manager at Migros-Kulturprozent, Pro Helvetia, British Council. He studied at the Swiss School of Journalism MAZ in Lucerne. Worked as a photo editor first at Ringier, then at the international photojournalism agency laif in Cologne. Since 2010 positions at Axel Springer, Gruner & Jahr and most recently 4 years as Director of Photography at ZEIT ONLINE responsible for the visual appearance. During the last decade he worked with Pulitzer Prize winners and World Press Photo winners as well as reportage agencies worldwide. As an expert in the field of photo and reportage journalism, he trains and works as a mentor for visual storytelling and digital transformation, educating photographers and young journalists in Germany and abroad. As an initiator and moderator of discussion groups, e.g. at the international literature festival in Berlin, he promotes a nuanced discussion of photojournalism and human rights in conflict situations. As a curator, he also organizes photo exhibitions with photographers and visual artists. Member of Reporters Without Borders, PEN (Poets, Essayists, Novelists) and Spectrum Photography.
https://www.instagram.com/mpenroute/
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