EPFL photo exhibition will bring visitors “behind the scenes”
The exhibition will explore and make visible the many non-academic professions at EPFL, and their contributions to campus life. © 2019 EPFL
In September, visitors to the Rolex Learning Center will be able to discover, through photographs and interviews, the many kinds of non-academic work done at EPFL every day – from catering to animal care.
The exhibition “Behind the Scenes” is being organized as part of this year’s celebrations of EPFL’s 50th anniversary, and is inspired by a theme proposed by the College of Humanities (CDH) management : “Making the Invisible Visible”. The goal: to showcase all the work done every day at EPFL not directly related to academia or research, which may go overlooked but which is nevertheless essential.
In addition to photographs, the exhibition will display excerpts of interviews conducted by EPFL bachelor students as part of a course in the CDH Social and Human Sciences (SHS) program. The course, led by sociologists of work Marc Perrenoud and Marta Roca i Escoda, gave students the chance to explore many different professions represented at EPFL, and shed light on their contributions to campus life.
After studying several different domains of work, the students and their teachers chose to focus on animal care, concierge services, heating, mail services, waste management, 24-hour technical intervention, cleaning services, photocopying services, catering and audiovisual services. The students also participated in introductory photography workshops with professional photographer Laurent Kaczor, and the EPFL Photo Club. Visual sociologist Michaël Meyer directed the students in their work.
Visitors are invited stop by the exhibition at the Rolex Learning Center from September 13 until October 6, including during the EPFL Open Days on September 14-15 and the Nuit des Musées on September 21.