Image/Method: Sarah Ritter
[Emerging form through iteration]


Meeting the World through the artist—entry points

1. Could you briefly describe the conceptual process you follow in your work?

When I work, the essential thing is to let myself be guided by forms and the desires of forms. I don’t have a recurring form in mind, but rather sensations, impressions linked to the body—like the sensation of liquid, of flowing at this moment, of streaming.

2. Is there a dynamic movement/shape/pattern or even rhythm that you are more drawn to in your visual thinking while working?

I don’t have a recurring form in mind, but rather sensations, impressions linked to the body—like the sensation of liquid, of flowing, of streaming.

3. Has the image(s) you have chosen here to share shifted your understanding or tapped into an area that was unknown to you? And if so, could you loosely link an idea with an imagistic aspect?

The image I chose is the first in the series of ghost images, created in 2020—and it triggered a whole methodology. It was unprecedented in my work, in what it brings into play, in my eyes. There's the idea of levitation, of an absence of weight within it, of suspension—and therefore of “secret” (how does it hold?).

 

  • Sarah Ritter became an artist after studying philosophy with Jean-Luc Nancy and photography at the National School of Photography in Arles. Her artistic practice is process-oriented; for each project, she aims at developing the proper way of making and showing images according to each topic. This approach has led to projects that explore landscapes, memory, and narrative, often through extended research phases and residencies, including trips to Detroit, Shanghai, and Costa Rica. Her first monograph, La nuit craque sous nos doigts, was published with Loco editions in 2019. She also edited the book Wild Rumors, Moby-Dick, Detroit et autres récits in 2023 (Loco Editions), which was the outcome of an art research project based on Melville’s book, in collaboration with writers, artists, philosophers and sociologists. Her work is part of several public and private collections in Europe—including the MACVAL, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, and multiple Fracs—and is regularly exhibited in France (solo and collective) and in other countries (collective shows in Finland, Germany, Slovakia, Mexico, Argentina). Ritter has received several major grants and prizes, including the 2023 Research Grant from the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, the 2022 Grant from the Fondation des Artistes, the 2021 Institut pour la Photographie des Hauts-de-France research program, the BNF’s “Radioscopie de la France” major commission, and the Schneider Foundation Contemporary Talent Prize. Her work has also been supported by the CNAP national commission and the Casa de Velázquez