SIYU Personal

Susanne has been meandering professionally between image and text for over 30 years. She has worked as a journalist, editor, copywriter and art historian, and is also a passionate photographer. She completed GAF 38 with Gian Vaitl, Silvia Luckner (✝) and Jürg Waldmeier in 1999 and 2000. 

After successfully completing her Master's degree in Art History and Hispanic Studies (M.A. University of Basel, 2011), she travelled to Barcelona in 2015 to do a doctorate (later abandoned) on medieval women's orders. Since then, the Catalan capital has been the centre of her life. Nevertheless, Susanne often comes to Switzerland to realise various freelance and professional projects as well as the relaunch of the SIYU AWARD.
 
You were a member of vfg for many years before SIYU was founded. Today you are with SIYU - what is your role in the new association? I was a convinced and active member of vfg and I am also a member of SIYU because I think it's important to use the opportunity that an association offers - in other words, to initiate projects that show and thematise the medium of photography in all its facets. The SIYU, which is now broadly supported throughout Switzerland, offers an excellent network for this, which can be actively cultivated and expanded. You are part of something bigger, organising and attending exhibitions, panel discussions and workshops or working towards the relaunch of the SIYU AWARD!
 
What is the SIYU Award? The SIYU AWARD is essentially the former ‘vfg Young Talent Award for Photography (NWFP)’, which was organised annually by vfg for over a quarter of a century before the merger - until 2022. With the merger, the vfg, as well as the SBF and the uspp, have committed to assigning this prize a new, suitable place within SIYU. This is exactly what we are now doing as well as possible.
 
What motivated you to return to the SIYU Award after your years at the NWFP? I helped organise the NWFP with a great team for over twelve years and was on the vfg for a long time. Yes, it's voluntary work, often done after closing time, often stressful and resilience is sometimes put to the test. And teamwork is no cosy zone either and there is a lot to learn about yourself - sometimes more than you would like. But is there anything more satisfying than getting to know ten interesting, up-and-coming artists, their ideas and their work at the opening of the group exhibition every year? And to be able to follow their path afterwards?

What is the significance of the award for SIYU? Based on the conviction that the SIYU AWARD is important for the Swiss photography scene and that our work for it is meaningful, Christoph Kern and I, as experienced alumni, have decided to give the new AWARD a fresh start together with a fresh team that brings new impetus and ideas. 

You work as a journalist, editor, copywriter and are an art historian with an MA - what is your connection to photography? In all of these professions, in addition to a good text, the image is also very important. In journalism, the two are usually inextricably linked; in art history, the visual has to be translated into a text; what you see has to be described; what is written has to become visible, so to speak.

How do you integrate photography into your profession? I've always had the good fortune to have jobs in which the other was also important - for example my work as the sole editor of DER UTO, the section magazine of the SAC Zurich, which I did until a few years ago. It was up to me to combine the two in such a way as to arouse interest. I am currently accompanying and editing an artist's book. Here, too, the text has to correlate with the pictures and photos, not compete with them, otherwise there's a risk of boredom.
 
What is it like living in Barcelona and commuting between two countries and cultures? I've always been rather nomadic and have always been ‘on the road’ a lot. But when you have to build a life in another country, you are challenged to a different extent than when you are ‘travelling around’. Especially if you have to build up a network first and can't settle into a nest you've made. But I like leaving my own comfort zone - friction generates warmth, so to speak. It was the same with Barcelona. The ‘risk’ was worth it, both personally and professionally. I wouldn't want to miss this commute, even between languages!