Who I am / What’s my journey so far
I am based in east London at present - sometimes wishing to be in different places at the same time – there is so much to see!
I am from a small village in Switzerland with 2 big churches - one catholic, one protestant. Since my teens I wanted to do photography. Somebody once suggested, I should do wedding photography, that I would make good money… Not quite what I’d imagined. I always wanted to travel, to see what is out there. I was always strongly affected by social injustice seen on TV or read in the paper. Professionally I took a different direction, not what I wanted to do though, economy… I was living in Bern at that time, the capital - a pretty but rather conservative town. In the meantime I started traveling, was in Japan for a while and interestingly enough, it was there that I came to know about classical Indian Music. I then moved to Zurich, the biggest and most diverse city in Switzerland. There I worked at the Art University as an administrator and next to my job I was studying Classical Indian Music at a College in Basel. In 2000 I finally made the first step and bought my first camera, a Nikon with a 35mm lens and so started with photography. The owner at the lab where I got my films developed, once told me to stop overexposing my films… He was so kind to explain me basic photography and recommended me a few books! After being more confident I did photograph the wedding of a friends’ friend - a learning curve par excellance. Never say never - or trust your instinct?! I lost contact with the couple…
It took a while until my next big trip; and one day I sat in a plane towards Kolkata not really knowing what’s expecting me. The purpose of this 3 months trip was to study Tabla in my teachers home town. Of course I had my beloved FM2 on me, with the intention to document this journey in detail. It was an intense time, a eye opener on many levels. I also had to realize that Documentary Photography is not the easiest task - I got only few good pictures out of it! I went back to Switzerland, knowing exactly what I wanted to do, applied for a one year photography course in London and got accepted. I packed my suitcase, sold most of the stuff I owned and left.
There I was in London, started the course, met lots of people and midway my camera got stolen. I started working (at Snappy Snaps - glad this time is over) so that I could buy new equipment. After the course I started assisting. I then worked in a professional lab, earned some cash and went to Naples for 2 months where I fell in love with the city. I returned to London and picked up with assisting again. I tried to go freelance and it didn’t work out, on the contrary, after months of not finding work I was so broke that I had to go back to full time employment. I worked as scanning and retouching assistant for nearly 3 years.
It was a great opportunity as I gained a lot of knowledge in digital imaging, it enabled me to travel and to buy proper equipment. Shortly after investing all this money I did find my freelance job for Rough Guides. I also completed a documentary project about Gypsies in Naples and I was taking part in a participatory project in Jamaica. In the mean time I have completed 6 travel guides.
My practice / Why this course / Where do I want to go?
I truly love to document the moment, I am fascinated by the fact that this very moment, when everything is just right and you capture it, does not occur ever again.
I like to document places, I like to dive into these places, to observe, interact, to absorb and so to create a story. Time is a major factor in our lives. The quicker the better, but do we get the essence in this way? I am also interested in the everyday, the small, the less obvious but yet important. Things that can be amusing, uplifting, questioning. I like the interplay between image and words, the experiment with perception.That is one side of my practice.
I have found a new direction, a turning point – the other side. I am drawn to document social injustice. But there lies a true challenge – how can I document social injustice, coming from a stable and safe background? Can I possibly see as a photographer and showcase to an audience what people in need experience? I want to research into participatory photography and so give people a voice in a collaborative form. I think such a body of work gives more insight and can be very powerful. It surely is not an easy task – more eyes see more but also makes the process more complicated. This is where I see the MAPJD as a platform to experiment, with tutors and fellow students as guidance/critiques/support. An exciting thought that scares me at the same time.
We will see where these 2 years will lead me – to know the direction is necessary but too much concrete planning can be an obstacle. I let myself go with the flow, even if that flow is called research, theory, academic paper. In that sense I see the MAPJD as an opportunity to critically assess my weaknesses as well as my strengths. But most importantly to build up on my strengths and to find new ones…