FRIBOURG.- Monitored, controlled, observed, counted, hunted or protected, wildlife is subject to human constraints. Over the course of a year, Laurence Kubski documented interactions punctuating the cohabitation of humans and wild animals in the well defined geographical and cultural space of the canton of Fribourg.

Over the seasons, the photographer witnessed bats being counted in the vicinity of caves, birds being ringed during migration and drones flying over meadows on mowing days to spot fawns hidden by their mothers…

In the exhibition, Kubski mixes these observations with her own childhood memories, spent in the Fribourg countryside.

Sauvages explores local practices within a broader perspective. The local area serves as a representative sample of current Western culture. By mixing documentary images and staged scenes, the photographer is asking: Does the wild still exist?

The 14th edition of the Fribourg photographic survey is a competition Service de la culture de l’État de Fribourg.

Laurence Kubski is a Swiss photographer and graphic designer born in 1986. After studying at the École cantonale d’art de Lausanne, she mixed investigation and staging in her artistic practice, documenting the interactions between humans and animals in different cultures.

Her photographs have received numerous awards, including the first vfg Young Talent Award for Photography in 2017, and the Swiss Design Award in 2023. She was a finalist at the International Festival of Fashion, Photography and Accessories in Hyères in 2020 and 2024. She has also published the monograph Crickets (Simonett & Baer, 2020).

A publication with texts by Valérie Chansigaud and Nathalie Herschdorfer is being presented as part of the exhibition. It is co-edited by éditions Textuel and the Bibliothèque cantonale et universitaire de Fribourg.

Valérie Chansigaud is a historian of science and the environment. Her work focuses on the human perception of nature. Nathalie Herschdorfer is an art historian and exhibition curator. She is the director of Photo Élysée in Lausanne.