[ PROJECTS BOOK.PUBLICATION ETWAS.ANDERES.KANNTEN.WIR.NICHT SURSELVA SWITZERLAND ]
Ruschein (CH), 2016. Author, photography
After my studies, I began to write down memories from the lives of my grandparents – a project that developed over the years into a collection of life stories from my home valley of Surselva. In addition to recording the interviews and writing the texts, I also took photographic portraits of the narrators. The book «Etwas anderes kannten wir nicht. (We didn’t know anything else) Portraits of a Generation in Surselva» is my first work published by a publishing house. 1st edition 2016 (2000 copies) 2nd edition 2019 (1000 copies).
Senior citizens from the Surselva Valley in Graubunden talk about their lives. Bluntly and with love for detail. Stories that touch.
No biographies are told, but specific, selected events from the life of each individual. While Marionna gives us glimpses of her childhood, Ida remembers her wedding, Maria tells of the black market during the Second World War, Rosa laughs at sexual ignorance and Oscar laments the extinction of the mountain villages. Together, these facets form the picture of a generation that grew up in Surselva. A generation that builds a bridge from the time of the world wars, the crises and unemployment, the religious life before the Second Vatican Council to today’s global prosperity society. It is a witness to the enormous technical progress and social change that took place in the 20th century and brought great changes, especially in the alpine region.
Ruschein (CH), 2016. Author, photography
After my studies, I began to write down memories from the lives of my grandparents – a project that developed over the years into a collection of life stories from my home valley of Surselva. In addition to recording the interviews and writing the texts, I also took photographic portraits of the narrators. The book «Etwas anderes kannten wir nicht. (We didn’t know anything else) Portraits of a Generation in Surselva» is my first work published by a publishing house. 1st edition 2016 (2000 copies) 2nd edition 2019 (1000 copies).
Senior citizens from the Surselva Valley in Graubunden talk about their lives. Bluntly and with love for detail. Stories that touch.
No biographies are told, but specific, selected events from the life of each individual. While Marionna gives us glimpses of her childhood, Ida remembers her wedding, Maria tells of the black market during the Second World War, Rosa laughs at sexual ignorance and Oscar laments the extinction of the mountain villages. Together, these facets form the picture of a generation that grew up in Surselva. A generation that builds a bridge from the time of the world wars, the crises and unemployment, the religious life before the Second Vatican Council to today’s global prosperity society. It is a witness to the enormous technical progress and social change that took place in the 20th century and brought great changes, especially in the alpine region.