Who: Solène Gün is a young photographer whose work focuses on the realities and representation of immigrant youth.
When: She obtained a bachelor’s in visual communication with honours from ECAL, Lausanne, in 2018, majoring in photography. During her studies, she attended the ECAL Summer University at the Fototeca in La Habana, Cuba.
Where: Gün, herself an immigrant from Turkey, addresses her experience and status as well as the environment in which she once lived, on the outskirts of Paris.
What: Turunç (Bitter Orange) is a series in which Gün immerses herself in the daily life of young men in the cities of Paris and Berlin, both of which host large communities of Turkish immigrants. While acknowledging the despair, boredom and detachment from the state these young people go through, Gün also senses the hope and solidarity that sustain them.
She focuses on their specific subjective universe, a complex blend of the desire to hide away and the need to show and profile oneself.
Why: Contemporary narratives need to bring different subjectivities closer together. Solène Gün’s approach is one of them, creating a counter-narrative to stereotypes.
