The Nuit des images 2024
Saturday 22 June, from 18:00 to 01:00 the next morning
Photo Elysée – Plateforme 10
Place de la Gare 17, CH-1003 Lausanne
@photo.elysee #nuitdesimages #PrixElysee #PhotoElysee
The Nuit des images is an entirely free event that includes free access to exhibitions at the MCBA, mudac and Photo Elysée.

ON SATURDAY 22 JUNE 2024, THE NUIT DES IMAGES WILL BE MAKING ITS COMEBACK WITH A NEW PLAYGROUND: THE PLATEFORME 10 ARTS DISTRICT! THE VENUE MAY HAVE CHANGED, BUT THE DNA REMAINS THE SAME! AN ESSENTIAL PART OF LAUSANNE’S CULTURAL LANDSCAPE, THIS FREE EVENT CELEBRATING PHOTOGRAPHY IN A VARIETY OF FORMS IS OPEN TO EVERYONE.

The programme for this edition includes projections on the museums’ facades, creative learning activities for families, exhibitions open throughout the evening with the opportunity to meet the artists, music on the esplanade, and culinary treats. The Nuit des images brings together audiences of all ages, from the well-informed to the curious, from image connoisseurs to image lovers, in a convivial summer atmosphere. It also invites Swiss and international artists of all generations.

"The Nuit des images is a highly anticipated event that has always celebrated diverse forms of photography. Whether striking, staged, joyful, fascinating, or committed, these images are like constellations that reach out to us, surprise us, seduce us and challenge us. During the Nuit des images, photography travels from walls to screens!"
- Nathalie Herschdorfer, Director of Photo Elysée

Contemporary topics and unique screenings
Visitors are invited to explore the entire Plateforme 10 complex and, in particular, themed screenings showcasing new and reinterpreted projects all with a strong topical connection: the physicality of violence, representation of the world and oneself, community and urban life, and participatory art in the age of Web 2.0. These are just some of the topics that encourage us to question our relationship with images and their influence, as illustrated by the works of Cian Oba-Smith (GB), Noha Mokhtar (CH/ EG), Yuyan Wang (CN), Matthieu Nicol (FR), Antoine Martin (CH), and Nikita Teryoshin (DE). The artist Damjanski will be presenting an enormous, moving, hypnotic and colourful composition created with artificial intelligence specifically for the Nuit des images.

A vibrant conversation
The evening’s guest of honour Antoine d’Agata (1961) will converse with Nathalie Herschdorfer about his career marked by compulsive roving between day and night. This French photographer is presenting an exclusive slideshow featuring thirty years of his work devoted to revealing the truth, however brutal that may be. A member of the prestigious Magnum Photos agency since 2004, Antoine d’Agata has been exploring a twilight world of pariahs and outcasts ever since he was a teenager. This artist addresses his subjects with an exceptionally intimate and per- sonal approach. Having covered numerous armed conflicts around the world, he recently travelled to Ukraine and Israel to document the unspeakable violence on the ground.

The Prix Elysée
After presenting her initial research in 2023, Debi Cornwall, Laureate of the Prix Elysée 2023 international photography prize, will reveal the results of her critical work on the USA. With Model Citizens, this American documentary artist examines the staging of reality and citizenship performance in the United States, a divided and militarised country. The international jury that awarded the prize to Debi Cornwall last year has nominated eight artists for the Prix Elysée 2025. The nominees’ projects will be revealed during the evening.

Edutaining creative activities
A host of creative and participatory activities make for a great evening with your family or friends! The Dutch and British photographers Jaap Scheeren and Luke Stephenson created the Exquisite Corpse exhibit inviting visitors to join in this well-known surrealist game. Passerelle Culturelle and the Swiss photographer Maxime Genoud will encourage visitors to try out the Van Dyke brown early photographic printing process. The Swiss musician known as My Name is Fuzzy will welcome visitors into his little electric car transformed into a mini disco for one.

Collaborations
The programme for this Nuit des images features the Kometa magazine, as well as near, the Swiss association promoting contemporary
photography, and the Lausanne-based concept store, Music Sounds Better With Books. These collaborative ventures bring a range of different perspectives on contemporary photography.
The Swiss jazz pianist Léo Tardin will be performing in the Caran d’Ache creative area in the Plateforme 10 arcades, encouraging us to dance until the curtain falls!

Three new exhibitions to discover
One hundred years on from the birth of Sabine Weiss (1924-2021), Photo Elysée is honouring this Swiss photographer and has invited the French visual artist Nathalie Boutté to engage with her work. It will also present Tamara Janes, a Swiss artist fascinated by the way we perceive, question, and transform images. For her first exhibition in a museum, she will address contemporary visual culture with a touch of humour. Finally, the Signal L exhibition area will present the work of Olga Cafiero. Photo Elysée and Plateforme 10 gave this Lausanne-based photographer free rein to collaborate with the Naturéum natural science museum to explore the canton of Vaud’s collection of artefacts pertaining to zoology, botany, and geology.