Biography
Marcel completed MA Photojournalism and Documentary Photography in 2020. Marcel is now an artist, who also teaches.
Interview
You graduated from MA Photojournalism and Documentary Photography in 2020. What was the most important learning you took from the course?
The Rethink unit was very important for me. It expanded my vision of photography and the photographic medium, pushed me to challenge my own conceptions of what photography is and can do, and encouraged me to take my practice further. Combined with the course's focus on ethics within photography, it fundamentally reshaped my practice and work that is more critically engaged and socially relevant.
What was a highlight from your time at LCC?
The people. Being surrounded by classmates and tutors from such different backgrounds, each with their own visual language and perspective.
How did your major project help you when you graduated?
It gave me the confidence to keep making work I believed in. Completing a project on my own terms taught me that work you value eventually gets picked up. This conviction carried me through the uncertainty of the years after graduating, shaping the projects I've pursued since.
You are now an artist and teacher. Can you tell us more about your role?
I work as an artist while also sometimes teaching, (Royal Academy of Art (KABK) in The Hague) The two roles feed each other: my own practice informs what I bring to students, and teaching constantly forces me to articulate my own thinking about images.
How do you see the MA Photojournalism and Documentary Photography ethos reflected in the work you do?
Continually rethinking the photographic medium and studying and challenging its ethics.
What’s the most exciting or fulfilling aspect of your current work?
Challenging socio-political constructions through visual media, and finding ways to involve people politically through the work. The most fulfilling moments are when a project visualises abstract terms within society (such as algorithmic surveillance) and for people to engage with societal issues they might otherwise not confront.
Have you won any awards or residencies or grants since leaving the course?
2025: Arles Photobook Award Shortlist
2024: .tiff FoMu
2024:Prix Médiatine
2023: Lauréat Folio #4
What are you currently working on?
Exhibitions, project proposals and new projects.