My name is: Céline Manz, I’m recently living and working in Amsterdam, born in Zurich, Switzerland, 1981.

I use conceptional photography in two different approaches: to record the statements I make in my performances and to question the photographic media in an experimental way.

I do performances without an audience, alone with the camera, recorded by self-timer. The act of performing can last several hours. It happens that I repeat a performance the next day when the first outcome didn’t satisfy me. I am the main character in these photographes, but they are no self-portraits. The characters I create are always fictional: In the series Damsel in distress or You’re the one I love the most, they are my own interpretation of stock characters (aka archetypes) used in theatre and movies. In the large-scaled image Winning the game when the rules have changed, the question of gender affliation remains unsolved. And in Fetish, the most powerful moment in the entire performance consists only of a simple gesture – a gesture that hits my intention better than any mimic could do. The titles are important components of these self- representations and serve to reveal my purposes.

In the experimental part of my work I explore the possibilities and limitations of the photographic media.

In The Rorschach Tableaux I questioned whether photography could be used to make an authentic image anyway. Previously shot 4/5“ portraits were given a special treatment in the darkroom and became photographic variations of the famous inkblot tests used in psychoanalysis. These abstract variations did not refer to portrait photography anymore but reflect the viewer’s personal interpretation. Photographing the invisible under hypnosis was a performance in which the photographer’s aim of picturing the beyond was turned into the absurd. A hypnotist put me into a state of mind where I truly believed I could photograph the invisible. During this 30 minutes lasting hypnosis performance I found and captured the invisible with my camera. At least that’s what I remember. However, after returning to my normal state of mind, my own images had lost all value of evidence. The invisible was there, somewhere in the pictures, but it was as hidden for me as for any other viewer.

For more details about my works and further information contact info@celinemanz.com and check www.celinemanz.com.

Or visit http://celinemanz.allyou.net.
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(photo in header is titled ‘Fetish’)
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Damsel in Distress
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Dressed to Kill
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You’re the One I love the Most I
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You’re the One I love the Most III
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Winning the Game when the Rules have Changed
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Experimental:

The Rorschach Tableaux
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Photographing the Invisible under Hypnosis
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Syntigraphies
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The Vanity Collection
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Sketches for But I found You Anyway
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Ilja Keizer / Editor-in-Chief at the leading Dutch online arts & inspiration magazine / photographer at Ilja Keizer Photography / creative and online consultancy / art-direction / living & working in the Netherlands / twitter / website

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