In her sensitive photographs, Estelle Hanania captures highly charged, violent moments in the works of artist and choreographer Gisèle Vienne, moments that are at the same time both fragile and poetic. In her complex oeuvre, Vienne develops systems of signs, new languages in which perceptual frames are called into question. The images of the props, scenes, stage sets, and protagonists are condensed into tense, concentrated snapshots of the groundbreaking stage plays CROWD, EXTRA LIFE, and L’ÉTANG as well as the puppets created by Vienne for many of her productions. Together, Vienne and Hanania present the photographic documentation as artistic material in and of itself and allow the medium of the book to be experienced as a choreographic space. The semiotics of both the bodies and photographs transform into a common language. An introductory text by curator Anna Gritz and a new extensive essay by philosopher Elsa Dorlin are dedicated to Vienne’s progressive and multifaceted work in the context of her exhibition at Haus am Waldsee (Berlin).

Anna Gritz is a curator and since 2022 director of Haus am Waldsee in Berlin. Estelle Hanania is a French photographer. Gisèle Vienne is a Franco-Austrian artist, choreographer, and director. Elsa Dorlin is a French philosopher.