Melody Gygax - Photo Editor/Curator

 

We had the chance to interview Melody Gygax the Swiss agent of MAGNUM PHOTOS.
Photography has been at the centre of her life for over 25 years, first as a picture editor for various medias for many years and most recently as head of photography at the Basler Zeitung.
As a photo editor/curator she nowadays works with brands, advertising agencies, corporate publishers, photo galleries, cultural institutions and photographers.
Melody is a regular jury member for photography competitions, is active as a qualified juror, teaches photography in the areas of curation, conception, editing & storytelling and is a long-standing expert on various portfolio reviews.

HM: How and when was your passion for photography born?

MG: I grew up with a darkroom in the basement and with my father's pride in

his Leica M4. He was not a photographer, but a chemist and physicist, 

so for him the technology and the zone system of Ansel Adams were the most interesting aspects.

So as a teenager I began to experiment with his camera and in the darkroom with baryta paper.

After graduating from high school I started an internship at a photographers studio in Zurich 

and this led almost automatically into an apprenticeship.

And here my problem started: Technology has never really interested me. A small dilemma.

My father just said I knew that from the beginning, you'll just have to get through it.

Ok. Of course I have not passed the practical final apprenticeship exam,

the technique was highly rated and not the narrative. But I was interested in the narrative.

So I quickly changed sides and became a picture editor. Photography is my vocation 

and my way, which I’m communicating with the photographers.

HM: What's your point of view on photo projects that work or don't work?
MG: The answer of that question seen through my background coming from
the narrative. I use my work for the judging of the current competition at
the Verzasca Foto Festival www.verzascafoto.com/contests 

as a statement: my criteria were mainly relevance, further of course the
narrative, authorship, research (meaning knowledge) and editing.
How do I see the personality of the photographer even if I am very
critical of self-discovery trips. Is the work stringent, does it answers
questions or poses new ones. How are the photographic stylistic
devices and generes used?
I'm allergic when the project text promises a lot but I don't understand the images. 

I have to be able to understand what I see.
There was one story with a strong impact in the competition that really
hurt without taking away the dignity: Younes Mohammad (Iraq) /Open
Wounds. Because of this it was so clear for me this work belongs to my 10 finalists.
I immediately fell in love with the winning work of Nicola Bertasi (Italy)
/Pandemic Postcards: After seeing so many bad Covid stories this one
it was refreshing. There is a lot of work in it in terms of research, working
with archives, meticulousness and a beautiful design of the collages.
But also look back into the history of pandemics.

HM: What do you think the future of photography will be? Both in the
artistic and commercial fields
MG: Commercial fields: In Journalism? Editorial? Advertising? Arts?
Chaff will always separate from the wheat. Well told and honest stories
will always be booming. The problem is their mediation and the
appropriate output media. Not every work should be put on the market
as a book. Certain works clearly belong to a photo fair or in a gallery.
I see it in my projects especially with Magnum Photos it's first of all
about good and important photography. Secondly about personal
contacts, friendships, network, where my knowledge, mediation and
attitude is a big part and needed.
Pitching is part of the photographic industry of course and will always be. 

But the market is very capricious and broad and has room for the
breadth of photography and the lack of money.
The photographic memory of a country, an era, in everyday life will
retain its importance and therefore will continue to be cultivated.

A good oeuvre will always endure. That's what I'm committed to.

melodygygax.com