“Butterfly Collection”

30X21 cm c-print image (200 pieces) Paris, 2012
(Collection of Foto Galatasaray – by Maryam Şahinyan)
Documentary©Pauline Guyon / Louis Vuitton

The collection Girls holding their skirts which I have called the Butterfly Collection corresponds to a pose which until the 1980’s could be found in the archives of any pre-teen girl aged about 10. For me, these little girls, who are about to become young women, are wearing the emblem of womanhood for the first time in the form of their skirts, which they are holding with both hands. Here again, none of them is truly free. They are intimately bound to the culture to which they belong and if we focus more closely on the details, then we begin to decipher the cultural codes relating to the accessories worn by these young girls. The Butterfly Collection is very striking both in its unique graphic richness and as a representation of a group of a defined gender and age. Maryam Şahinyan’s archives contain countless collections created in secret, with infinite care.

Maryam Şahinyan’s archives comprise hundreds of various types of scenario. Linking these visual vehicles into an accurate whole is one of the most crucial stages of the Foto Galatasaray project. There are photographs connected by graphic, cultural, aesthetic preferences or which are absolutely typical of the era in which they were taken.

The single biggest difference between studio photography and all other forms of photographic practice is that it should act as a form of bridge between the public domain and art, without taking a selective approach. Studio photography is a documentary exercise in one respect, but also a record of an idealized reality.