Thomas
Mailaender

Enseignements

BURNING CORSO - Thomas Mailaender

PHOTOGRAPHY

BURNING CORSO - Thomas Mailaender

with Thomas Mailaender

In the spring of 2024, Thomas Mailaender and the students of the ECAL Bachelor in Photography entered the ruins of the club with the intention of making it resonate once again. Between archaeology, documentary research, and imaginative speculations, the group of adventurers crafted a surprising exhibition path blending mold and glitter, ashes and glamour. For one night, the Corso was filled with explosive sounds and images in a fiery tribute to the nights of Renens.

Workshop Survival Camp

PHOTOGRAPHY

Workshop Survival Camp

with Thomas Mailaender

During this workshop, the artist and the second-year Bachelor students spent a week living in a forest in western Lausanne. The shock of being deprived of the usual comforts such as running water, electricity and heating motivated the students to produce an enormous quantity of images. Cooking over an open fire, sleeping under the stars, hunting and fishing were all part of their daily lives, and provided the perfect backdrop for visual experimentation. The responses were manifold, from still to moving images, some dealing directly with delirious contemporary camping. The common denominators of all the works are humor and off-beatness. During Paris Photo, the results are presented in the form of an installation in the unusual urban setting of Les Voûtes. After the week-long workshop in Switzerland, all the students worked with Thomas Mailaender on the design and production of the exhibition. The students experienced a week of installation in total immersion: they lived in the exhibition as they built it. The images are presented in a raw environment, a sort of village, a makeshift camp. This whole process enabled them to confront not only the shooting process, but also the question of producing and exhibiting the images to the public. The exhibition is accompanied by a two-color catalogue-journal produced by the students and printed at the ECAL.

Junk Museum

PHOTOGRAPHY

Junk Museum

with Thomas Mailaender

This workshop, directed by Thomas Mailaender, was aimed at students in the second year of their Bachelor's degree in Photography. The students were immersed in the art of physically constructing an image and its presentation device. The idea was to broaden their artistic horizons through an awareness of installation, scenography and sculpture. The creative atmosphere of the workshop was enriched by a bold touch, where the singular smell of waste added an unexpected sensory dimension, transforming each creation into a unique exploration. Thomas Mailaender challenged the students to push the boundaries of photographic creativity. The project then took the form of an exhibition in Chavannes-Près-Renens. At the heart of this immersive experience, images were projected, hung, cut and superimposed, giving rise to unique, innovative and immersive works.