Since my return, I have been very happy to report on my trip and its conditions, and there have been various questions about it, which I am happy to answer in this last post:
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Flying is particularly stressful when traveling because the films are sensitive. As it’s not good for them to be x-rayed several times at security, I had to insist every time that they didn’t get on the plane. Of course, this always causes annoyance on the one hand and frayed nerves on the other. This was also the case on the return flight from Lima, where a particularly correct worker was waiting for me. He mobilized everyone he deemed necessary to assess this unusual situation. He was particularly irritated by the fact that the films made no noise when shaken, and he didn’t know the Polaroid cassettes, which seemed suspicious to him. Consequently, several people came to inspect them, until finally a dog was ordered to sniff them. Totally disinterested, he was repeatedly dragged to my films, without any results.
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I took the first photographs for this series in Damascus in 2003, when all was still well with the world. Back then, everyone involved had a lot of fun on the shoots and I was passed from one store to the next. I also had this very positive experience in Peru and Bolivia. In my opinion, the enthusiasm also depends on the number of tourists. If people are used to lots of tourists, who often photograph them without being asked and in passing, there is justified resistance to this. As the number of tourists taking photos has increased enormously, the conditions for my series have become more difficult over the years and the rejection or demand for money has increased.
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“I want to bring nature to the plate in all the richness that my homeland offers.”
Virgilio Martínez Véliz, chef of the Central restaurant, Lima.
I have been working on the LADENTISCHE series for more than 20 years, many things have changed since the beginning, but what hasn’t changed is my love of good food, food and food mean culture. It is important to me what I eat and what ingredients it is made of, so it makes sense to photograph these ingredients in their origins at the markets.
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I brought 34 films to the lab, between 3 – 4 shots per film, sometimes with blank photos … So a total of about 100 shots.
Now there are two more big tasks: the photographs have to be selected, scanned and edited so that I can put them on my website, and an exhibition venue has to be found and the pictures shown.
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Here is a first result:
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People keep asking me where I met my contacts: that was one of the things I worked on the most beforehand, namely having at least one contact in each place who I could talk to. I had already spoken to Roberto in Cusco several times on the phone from Germany, in La Paz I had two people via two channels and I got to know Damian through the Goethe-Institut. In Iquitos, I had three women at my disposal, including Rosa. Without the help of these locals I would not have been able to work at the pace I did, they were all a great help and a lot of fun to work with. They too had learned, they confirmed.
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One of the best moments in photography is just before the shutter is released. I count to three so that the subjects know when I’m going to release the shutter. Of course, this moment requires a certain amount of concentration, the subjects must not move and no one else must walk into the picture. The counting is correspondingly loud with a certain spatial distance. This creates contemplation for us, who are busy taking the picture, but also for all the viewers. This overall situation leads to an apparent standstill in market life for a brief moment.
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Then came the demand for my shoes: they weren’t repaired well …
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Six weeks, very long and short at the same time. It was a fantastic time
and also successful, I was able to find and photograph a lot of situations.
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Finally, I would like to thank the Kulturwerk Foundation,
without whose support this trip could not have taken place.
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