Photo: Pierre Blache
Anne-Marie Ninacs is an independent researcher and curator, she was invited as guest curator for the 12th edition of Le Mois de la Photo à Montréal, one of the city’s most prestigious international visual art events. She brought together works by 25 artists worldwide under “Lucidity”, a theme very dear to her…
M-KOS: Anne-Marie Ninacs can you tell us about the process that led to your decision to act as commissioner for Le Mois de la Photo?
Anne-Marie Ninacs: Le Mois de la Photo usually proceeds with open submissions, from this I proposed a concept to the event director that I would be interested in pursuing for the next event, and which artists I would want to present. Things like that. So that’s what I did, and here I am.
M: And have you worked a lot with photography before this event? Is it part of a broader concern?
AMN: No, actually I’m not an expert in photography. I’ve always resisted to be a single discipline specialist, I was never interested to look at things from a disciplinary angle. To take on the role of curator of photography was something very new, and I think it’s beneficial for an event specializing in photography to be organized by people who are not coming in with fixed preconceptions or an informed vision. I do personally like this non-specialist position, that’s where we become most interesting, most alive, and I always try to put myself out of my comfort zone. This allowed me to learn a lot about photography, I think it also allowed me to provide other perspectives, to see photography in works that are not considered as such, as in the work of Douglas Gordon for example, or to bring forth propositions that may be more esthetic, or very sensitive to the visual aspect of works, such as the tinkerings of Augustin Rebetez, or even with Roger Ballen who is trained as a photographer but does offer a different perspective.
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