Michel Sylla will be Photographer in Residence for the upcoming academic year at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (Hogeschool van Amsterdam). In this role, he will create photographs for special occasions. The artist will also be offered an opportunity to exhibit his work on campus. Sylla graduated this year from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie's Photography department.
Michel Sylla (1996, France) takes memories as the starting point for his work. He says: "Memories are often seen as something that lies behind us, but in fact they play an active role in our present. With this in mind, I started taking photos of all the places I have lived in and of places that have made an impression on me. Then I used 3D software to create my own architecture."
Jury
Every year, a jury from the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (Hogeschool van Amsterdam) visits the Photography department’s presentation during the Graduation Show of the Rietveld Academie. This year, the jury consisted of: Jopie Nooren (chairman of the Executive Board), Gerdi Limonard (head of the Library), Fernon Longfur (student assistant), Joris van Loon (teacher), Tamara Witschge (lecturer) and Lisette Visser (personal assistant Jopie Nooren).
According to the jury: "Michel's graduation work is about his own memories and the jury is very curious to see how Michel would be able to adopt this approach to working with other people's memories. As Michel uses 3D software, the jury also sees exciting opportunities for Michel to join forces with experts in this field from the HvA and further develop innovative ways of retelling personal stories."
Photographer in residence programme
Since 2015 the HvA has collaborated with the Gerrit Rietveld Academie on the photographer in residence programme. This allows the HvA to offer a unique gift to a celebrating or departing board member and to supplement its own art collection with original work by a young artist educated in Amsterdam. The artist is given the opportunity to reach a new audience.
Photo by Konstantin Guz