TrAIN

TrAIN Associate Project Partner

Wiebke Leister is a German artist and writer living in London. She studied photography at the University in Essen and holds a PhD from the Royal College of Art in London. She lectures on the MA Photography programme at the London College of Communication and at the University of Applied Sciences in Bielefeld. As well as writing for magazines and organizing conferences, she has exhibited and published her work internationally, receiving several awards.

Her research investigates the nature of photographic portraiture beyond the limits of individual likeness – currently focusing on representations of faciality, including the laughing, mocking or kissing mouth in relation to its facial canvas. She is an Associate Director of the Photography and the Archive Research Centre at the University of the Arts London, which commissioned her recent publication ´Lovers, Liars and Laughter´, launched with a performance at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London in November 2008 and displayed an outdoors installation at the Elephant and Castle roundabout during the summer of 2009. Recent academic publications include ´Performing Laughter´ (About Performance, 2008) and ´Mona Lisa on a Bad Day´ (Journal of Photography and Culture, 2010).