Raphaëlle Stopin

Raphaëlle Stopin (1978, France) is an exhibition curator and art historian. Director of the Centre photographique Rouen Normandie, which has been awarded the title of centre d'art d'intérêt national, she has developed a programme of contrasting exhibitions that reflects the specific nature of photography, caught between art and media. She brings together experimental practices and media uses, contemporary and historical figures, each working to develop unique narratives of the world. She has curated solo exhibitions by Evelyn Hofer, Dana Lixenberg and Lorenzo Vitturi, as well as group shows such as "La Rose est sans pourquoi", "À fleur de monde - à propos du toucher", "Le Parti pris des choses" and "À tire d'aile, figures de l'envol". If images are the ‘major language’ of our contemporary societies, what else can authors who choose photography do? Observing and supporting ‘minor’ forms of artistic expression is a key part of its programming. As part of this, it is also developing grants and residencies to support creation, production and professional development. In 2022, she devised the Frutescens programme for young artists on the French photography scene, as part of the European photography platform FUTURES, of which the Centre photographique Rouen Normandie is the French representative. From 2003 to 2020, she worked with the Villa Noailles as artistic director of the photography competition at the Festival International de Mode et de Photographie in Hyères, with a particular focus on the so-called emerging scene, combined with the rediscovery of historic artists. A specialist in the work of William Klein, she has produced five retrospectives of the artist ( Abbatiale de Rouen, 2016; Telefonica Foundation, PhotoEspaña, Madrid, 2019; Catalunya Foundation - La Pedrera, Barcelona, 2020; Museum Hanmi, Seoul, 2023; MAC Montélimar, 2024) as well as an exhibition dedicated to Polly Maggoo (Villa Noailles, 2016). In 2024, she was invited by Paris Photo to curate ELLES X, an exhibition promoting the representation of women artists. She is secretary of Diagonal, a French national network of venues for the dissemination of photography.