fotoseptiembre u safoto...ursula sprecher & julian salinas ursula sprecher (born 1970 in basel,...

URSULA SPRECHERJULIAN SALINAS

Heimatland

F O T O S E P T I E M B R E USA®S A F TO O

2012 SAFOTO Web Galleries Monograph • Ursula Sprecher & Julian Salinas

URSULA SPRECHER & JULIAN SALINAS

Ursula Sprecher (born 1970 in Basel, Switzerland) & Julian Salinas (born 1967 in Düsseldorf, Germany), have been working on photographic projects and exhibitions as a duo since 1998. They both apprenticed in fashion and advertising studios, and studied in the Photography Department of the School of Art in Basel.

Their work has been exhibited in galleries and museums in Switzerland and Europe, such as the Kunsthalle Basel, Kunsthaus Baselland, and Monika Wertheimer Gallery, among others. Their images have received numerous awards and are featured in various publications.

Their most recent monograph, Heimatland, was published in 2009 by TRUCE Publishing in Zürich.

Heimatland

A classic journey of exploration? More like dialing back our perception of Switzerland, a white spot on the map of the world where nothing really happens.

We create images of The Middle where life is still and tranquil; still-lifes in a country that has only one center and no edges.

Aliens might ask in astonishment: What do people do here all day? Everything seems to be fin-ished and ready, like paradise. As sung in a Swiss psalm: In light areas of the sky I can dream of being happy and blessed.

Using a large format 4x5 camera, we find and frame a desired landscape. People at the location are then asked to be part of our picture, reenacting their normal behaviors and gestures, some of which we may have observed beforehand while scouting the location.

We work together like playwrights and set designers, staging our photographic narratives against backdrops that help portray our bemused views of Switzerland’s pervasive Middle.

Reality becomes a game, which then becomes a reality again, just for the camera.

Ursula Sprecher & Julian Salinas

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2012 SAFOTO Web Galleries Monograph • Ursula Sprecher & Julian Salinas

Melide

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2012 SAFOTO Web Galleries Monograph • Ursula Sprecher & Julian Salinas

Baar

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2012 SAFOTO Web Galleries Monograph • Ursula Sprecher & Julian Salinas

Platta

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2012 SAFOTO Web Galleries Monograph • Ursula Sprecher & Julian Salinas

Ospizio Bernina

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2012 SAFOTO Web Galleries Monograph • Ursula Sprecher & Julian Salinas

Schwellbrunn

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2012 SAFOTO Web Galleries Monograph • Ursula Sprecher & Julian Salinas

Pfungen

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2012 SAFOTO Web Galleries Monograph • Ursula Sprecher & Julian Salinas

Chavannes-De-Bogis

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2012 SAFOTO Web Galleries Monograph • Ursula Sprecher & Julian Salinas

Birsfelden

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2012 SAFOTO Web Galleries Monograph • Ursula Sprecher & Julian Salinas

Disentis-Mustér

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2012 SAFOTO Web Galleries Monograph • Ursula Sprecher & Julian Salinas

Unteräger

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2012 SAFOTO Web Galleries Monograph • Ursula Sprecher & Julian Salinas

Wassen

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2012 SAFOTO Web Galleries Monograph • Ursula Sprecher & Julian Salinas

Bernex

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2012 SAFOTO Web Galleries Monograph • Ursula Sprecher & Julian Salinas

Lungern

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2012 SAFOTO Web Galleries Monograph • Ursula Sprecher & Julian Salinas

Moléson-sur-Gruyères

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2012 SAFOTO Web Galleries Monograph • Ursula Sprecher & Julian Salinas

Sargans

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2012 SAFOTO Web Galleries Monograph • Ursula Sprecher & Julian Salinas

Bellinzona

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2012 SAFOTO Web Galleries Monograph • Ursula Sprecher & Julian Salinas

Jenaz

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2012 SAFOTO Web Galleries Monograph • Ursula Sprecher & Julian Salinas

Monthey