Marcel Top (b. 1997, BE) is a visual artist living and working between Belgium and London. Top has recently exhibited work in occasion of .tiff at FoMu (BE), Fotofestiwal (PL), La Mediatine (BE), Utopias Photofestival Lahti (FI), Der Greif 15th anniversary past and present (DE), Openwalls Arles at Gallerie Huit (FR), Archipel_0 at Contretype (BE), 3865Km to the West Mechelen (BE), PhEST (IT), PhMuseumdays (IT) and Photo OpenUp (IT),. His works are part of the collections of the University of the Arts London and the Institut pour la photographie Lille.

​

He was awarded the Discovery Award at encontros da imagem, the Prix Mediatine (2024), Folio #3 at the Institut pour la Photographie (2023), PhMuseum Grant, exhibition (2022), SOFAM price (2019). His work has been showcased in publications such as the British Journal of Photography, Phroom, PhMuseum, Zone Magazine  and .tiff.

 

After studying photography at Narafi (Brussels), Marcel Top went on to take a master in photojournalism and documentary photography at the London College of Communication. 

Top researches the topics of mass surveillance, privacy, data collection.In his practice, he layers a traditional approach to documentary research with a more experimental use of new technologies (such as facial recognition, movement analysis, and deepfakes). The artist uses these technologies to visualise and examine scenarios in which people can protect themselves and their rights by gaining knowledge and reclaiming control of surveillance tools. 

​

Top’s projects addressing human rights, police misconduct and facial recognition during protests aim to contrast the abstract nature of the algorithmic mechanisms behind mass surveillance, by providing a concrete visualisation of the phenomenon and confronting the public with the extensive amount of surveillance societies are subjected to and the ethical risks deriving, finally offering theoretical solutions.