Emilie Crittin
BIOGRAPHY
I was born in Sion in 1987, with two nationalities, Swiss and Canadian (Quebec). Photography has been a part of my life ever since childhood. Around age twenty I began to explore more artistic aspects of it, along with my studies in the social sciences and in sustainability. I am a traveler by heart, as much in my inner life as in the world and in 2012 spent three months in the subtropical rainforest of the Misiones region in Argentina. This stint became an important hinge moment on my pathway of connection to All Life and of deep and inner ecology. Since then I have also been moving forward along the way of shamanism.
In 2014, on my return from four months’ travelling in Indonesia, I reconnected more deeply with the world of mountains and my photographic path, which was anchored in the subtle worlds, emerged and developed in parallel. For the last fifteen years I have also been involved in outdoor cleaning up events and through that, since 2016, I’ve been making photographical creations with the plastic I pick up on the shores of Lake Leman. This project has also led me to facilitate creative workshops using waste to sensitize people to environmental issues.
I also took training in therapeutic photography and in facilitating mindful photography. I currently offer ReliVivAnt workshops, to connect with oneself, others and All Life through creative expression.
Artistic approach
My artistic approach is anchored in deep and inner ecology, the art of connectedness to oneself, to others (humans and more-than-humans), and to All Life. I live my photographic practice as a relational, intuitive, spiritual and conscious experience, wishing that my images awaken the viewer’s imagination and sense of wonder, opening them to the magic and mystery of All Life. Feeling particularly connected to the mountains and the mineral world, my photographs are encounters, resulting from the relationship I experience with the energies of the place and what is present, in the moment. Some of my images function as intermediaries between the physical and subtle worlds.
The experience of beauty and wonder requires reciprocity from me: once I have entered into a deep relationship, I feel a responsibility to share this beauty and what I felt, in order to encourage, by opening one's heart and listening, the encounter of this animated world of beings, and to no longer perceive it as an inanimate world of things.
Particularly appreciating abstract and surreal photography, I like to photograph from unusual angles and present new perspectives to challenge our look and our mind.
One of my main photographic projects concerns the spirits of the mountain. Through it I am seeking to break down the boundaries of human imagination and reenchant the natural world so as to lead us back to attitudes of gratitude, respect, and goodwill towards nature. The project also invites us to travel in our inner world and reconnect with our deeper self, thereby opening up to a relational holiness that grows from a quality of depth in our relationship to what is.
Exhibitions
Solo exhibitions
2018: « Plasto Lemano », Office des Nations Unies, Palais des Nations, Genève
2018: « Plasto Lemano », Centre International de Conférences de Genève
2019: « Plasto Lemano », Collège et Ecole de Commerce André-Chavanne, Genève
2022: « Esprits du Vivant », QAP Coopérative, Aigle
Collective exhibitions
2016: « Bipolaire », Association Synapsis, Suisse (exposition itinérante)
2017: « Bipolaire », Association Synapsis, Suisse (exposition itinérante)
2017: Exposition des Artistes de Villeneuve
2017: « Nous sommes nature…plastique », Association Tricrochet, Genève
2018: Exposition des Artistes de Villeneuve
2019: « L’Anthropocène », Semaine de la Durabilité, Université de Lausanne
2019: Exposition off de la Biennale de Villeneuve
2019: Exposition thématique « Art Animalier » au Montreux Art Gallery (MAG)
2022: Salon des Arts Ré-Visionnaires, Aigle
Publications, contests, medias
• Caprice Magazine
• Everest Magazine
• Journal L’Auditoire
• Journal Le Régional
• Villeneuve Actualités
• Five year report for 2017-2021 of the Fondation des Grangettes (covers + inside pages)
• Political campaign 2017 for the Green Party of Chablais vaudois
• Political campaign 2021 for the Green Party of Villeneuve
• Promotional posters for events of the Association Id-eau
• Magazine Connexions des TL (Lausanne public transport), Carte Blanche column
• Editorial du Lémaniques 115, Bulletin de l’Association pour la Sauvegarde du Léman
Contests and prizes
• 2016: Co-creator and member of the jury for the photo contest called Rencontre entre deux mondes (ASL) (a meeting of two worlds)
• 2017: Finaliste Environmental Photographer of the Year 2017
• 2019: Member of the jury for the Environmental Design, Comic & Photography Competition (UNEP)
• 2021: Finalist in the Spiritual Art Awards 2021
Medias
• 2021: « Sur le chemin du réenchantement », L’Evénement Syndical, Sonya Mermoud
• 2021: « Emilie Crittin et Laurent Rochat se rencontrent pour la première fois », Emission Premier rendez-vous, RTS, Pauline Vrolixs
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
Re-Visionary symbol: I leave my work free of copyright so that it can be shared among people who wish to reproduce it in the spirit of the Collective, as long as they indicate me as author.
Copyright symbol: I am the copyright holder of my own works: my work cannot be reproduced, except by the Re-Visionary Art Collective, under the conditions as indicated above in point 1. Unless I give my written consent.