Teaser : War Reporters For Peace (english subtitles) by Melanie-Jane Frey
Published 2018-05-29
/ videos & photographs by Melanie-Jane Frey
The project WRFP is destined for an international large public exhibition. Through video installation and wet collodion portraits by Melanie-Jane Frey, war reporters show themselves to you and talk to you to give an ear to what they have seen of the reality of war and what they think could be done to make a better change for peace.
They tell us about their commitment to follow their mission to show the rest of the world what is happening and the price of such a job.
« WAR REPORTERS FOR PEACE », is a multimedia installation directed by the photographer and artist Mélanie-Jane Frey
The photo and video installation includes a monumental video wall and a giant Wet Plate Collodion portrait photos’ exhibition. The visitor follows the rhythm of the testimonies of great war photographers from around the world and their visions of peace. The photo exhibition includes 24 tight portraits of these photographers, 18 of which can be found in the video.
The installation of War Reporters For Peace is built around the video wall. The visitor is embarked in an imposing setting, where testimonies (subtitled in English and French) respond and complement each other.
Each of the photographer interviewed confides their hopes and doubts about a world of peace. With their experience of the conflict, this one-on-one meeting with those who have witnessed the horror of war has given rise to a profound reflection about our individual commitment to the global peace process.
"A meaningful message for the 100th anniversary of World War I"
"War photographers fascinate and inspire respect. They benefit from a kind of romantic aura that supports their legitimacy to testify to a wide audience. "Says Mélanie-Jane Frey.
Faced with their gigantic portraits, we plunge into their eyes in a search for truth. The Ambrotype photographs taken with a large format camera 8x10 and with the wet collodion process, make all the depth and intensity of the glances. This photographic process, one of the very first, dating from the 19th century, sensitizes the image on an aluminum plate with chemists still humid and very capricious. The photos are taken with an alchemist technique revealing the bottom of souls.
"It's the ideal process for this project that I've been keen on for so many years. For 20 years I worked as a photojournalist and it was by attending all the photographers who covered the war that I realized how much their experience had a special interest for those who were stuck in their daily lives : they make us become aware of its reality of the horrors of the war, out of movies, video games or history books. " Explains author Mélanie-Jane Frey.
We plan to give as much voice as possible to this exhibition in 2018, to celebrate with a meaningful message for the 100th anniversary of World War I.
/ What is wet plate collodion ?
"A kind of prehistoric Polaroid with incredible black density and unique effects."
[Wet Plate Collodion] : Primitive instant photographic process with chemistries based on Silver nitrate and Collodion. It is called « Wet » because it is used inside the large format camera as the chemistries are still wet after being just applied on the glass or aluminium plate where the picture will appear.
Here in the WAR REPORTERS FOR PEACE project, we did all the portraits with Aluminium plates. It is then called [Tintypes].
24 tintypes portraits of war photographers.
➡️Warm thanks to all the team who worked hard and with passion on the WRFP project
Director, producer and photographs : Mélanie-Jane Frey
Wet Plate Photographs : Studio Ambrotype & Co.
Video : Mélanie-Jane Frey & João Victor Bolan
First Assistante : Angelique De Place
Assistants : Medi Musso, Analia Cid
Montage : Romain Hamoniaux
Music : Charlotte Lambert
➡️Warm thanks to all the photographers who participated in WRFP project:
Ammar Abd Rabbo
Alain Buu
Alain Mingam
Ali Arkady
Arnaud Roiné
Capucine Granier-Deferre
Christine Spengler
Christopher Morris
Edouard Elias
Emilien Urbano
Eric Bouvet
Frederic Lafargue
Furkan Temir
Georges Merillon
Joao Silva
Laurence Geai
Patrick Baz
Pierre Terdjman
Ryuichi Hirokawa
Stanley Greene
Veronique de Viguerie
Yan Morvan
Yannis Behrakis
Yuri Kozyrev
Ziv Koren
➡️Warm thanks to our beloved parteners & sponsors
Studio Ambrotype & Co
Wet Plate Supplies
Matphoto
Visa pour l’image
CDP Editions
Celebration days Pictures
/ PRESS KIT on request :
/ screen shots
/ Making-of pictures and videos
/ The 24 war photographer portraits
/ videos interviews and teasers
Contact - Melanie-Jane Frey : (+33) 06 12 37 29 57
Email : [email protected]
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