Annika Felder
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This long-term research project by artist Andrea Stultiens reframes and investigates the extensive archive of photographer Paul Julien (1901–2001). During his regular trips to the African continent, Julien sketched a problematic image of ‘the African’ through photography and writing that was strongly influenced by Western colonial views.
Services
Image Edit
Book concept
Editorial design
Client
The National Museum of Dutch Photography
Project
2024
Photography & research
Andrea Stultiens
Publisher
Jap Sam Books
This project was created during employment at LMNOP.works
VISUAL CONVERSATIONS IN AND ON AFRICA
Andrea Stultiens’ research resulted in the exhibition and publication named ‘I wish there was color, I wish there was sound’. Her work critically examines the legacy of Julien by returning it to its original context in equatorial Africa. Through ‘rephotography’ and ‘collective making’ – in collaboration with members of the communities originally photographed by Julien – she provides space for valuable encounters, interactions, and collaborations.
THE BOOK CONCEPT
The concept for the publication is led by the two main components of the project: Julien’s archive is mirrored by Stultiens’ documentation of her efforts to return his work to its places of origin and initiate a new conversation around it. In the publication, the ‘archive’ and the ‘activation’ are represented by separate book blocks connected by a double spine. An index system allows readers to navigate between the two bodies of work to find parallels, connections, as well as contradictions between ‘then’ and ‘now’. Readers are invited to reflect on how we relate to visually appealing, even beautiful photographs that nevertheless memorialise problematic pasts. The publication is the eighth volume in the Nederlands Fotomuseum book series.
