The Sténopé Studio series consists of black and white portraits captured by a Scotch-taped beer can pierced by a pinhole. The sitters, blinded by three spotlights, pose for five minutes. The images are then developed in silver emulsion in Stéphanie Probst’s bathroom. The bodies are projected into the can and emerge upside down as negatives. Some positives are printed by the contact of photographic paper onto photographic paper. The “apéro, récup’, et chimie argentique” [have a drink, recycle, and silver emulsion chemistry] process is part of a DIY, alternative approach, and in itself contains an element of disobedience to the age of the selfie and the conversational image. With the use of the pinhole, the image is cobbled together and takes on a physicality. If a can or a shoebox becomes a camera, the process is drawn out, becomes fragile, and remains subject to accident. The taking of the shot is extended and becomes performance: The image is no longer instant but becomes duration. The series gives a glimpse of the world on the other side of the looking glass, inside the can, a world made up of many worlds where people can breathe out, where they can dance and where they can live. The hyperfocal distance and the curvature of the paper distort the physiognomy, the sitters are alive, they breathe, vibrate, they are a little blurred, ghostly. Familiar and intriguing, they are conducive to reflecting and dreaming.

Stéphanie Probst (*1986, Geneva, lives and works in Geneva). A photographer, teacher and future archivist, with a Master’s degree from the HEAD Geneva in 2012, she practises photography in all its forms, digital or film. She takes part in a variety of collective exhibitions and runs artistic workshops initiating those attending to the pinhole. Her practice is mainly focused on photography and desktop publishing. Her works are anchored in the daily round of Genevan alternative living. Fascinated by portraits, she works out series, collections, families, calling on those close to her. She asks questions about identity and social relationships. For her the photograph is a transaction, an intimate exchange which requires a relationship of trust. Whether she uses digital or alternative processes, the image is a thread that links her to her models. This is Stéphanie Probst’s second collaboration with the CPG, after the Cherche appartement exhibition in 2013.

 Photography : Stéphanie Probst, Sténopé Studio, 2014