November 2019

If you don't share, were you really there?

by Aurelie Crisetig

About the Creator

Aurelie Crisetig (b. 1992, Vevey) is a Swiss photographer and visual artist. She uses photography as a tool to explore the alteration of human memory in a world overwhelmed by digital entities. Working both with film and digital photography, her works reflect on the constant use of mechanical recordings, especially in public and cultural places. After graduating with a BA in History and Aesthetics of Film & History of Art from the University of Lausanne, she completed an 8-week Digital Photography Workshop at the New York Film Academy. In 2018, she graduated with an MA Photography at UAL: University of the Arts, London. ‘If you don’t share, were you really there?’ questions the behaviour of visitors in art museums through their use of mobile phone photography. The project draws a parallel between the physical absence of the tangible artwork and the transient life of a single image posted online. The photograph taken and shared disappears into an unprecedented flow of online images. Capturing and sharing a social media souvenir has become a priority for museum visitors, whose behaviour expresses their wish to see the most by spending the least amount of time in a specific space. This fast viewing experience generates an act of looking that prevents contemplation and is mostly encouraged by mass-consumptive, contemporary tourism that offers visits to countries, cultural institutions or sightseeing attractions the quickest way possible: with their mobile phones.