Interview with Debi Cornwall

"How do we make sense of life in a violent country? How do performances and fictions and playing roles help us either make sense of our violent culture or justify the violence or distract ourselves from it?"

Debi Cornwall (US, 1973), winner of the Prix Elysée 2023, one of the most prestigious photography prizes in the world, presents Model Citizens.

In this series, which is still in progress, she explores how staging, performance and role-playing feed into the idea of citizenship in our Western societies. The photographic medium becomes a tool for political analysis.

The exhibition Debi Cornwall. Model Citizens is on view at Photo Elysée from June 30 to October 1, 2023.