Articles by Still-Dancing

© Stephan Bösch

Alpaufzug in Switzerland

Doris stands hardly on the brake. A fox mother crosses the street with her two young. We are off to Toggenburg. A valley in the northeast of Switzerland. Today is an important day for family Ammann. At around 3 o’clock in the morning we arrive the farm. The hole family sits eagerly at the breakfast table.

Every springtime the alpine farmers ascend to the higher alp with their animals. The meadows of the valley are grazed. On the alp lush meadows are waiting for the cows. The quality of the milk is better because they eat mountain herbs. That’s the reason why the taste of the alpine cheese is different.

The ascent up the Alps is celebrated according to old traditions. The farmers dress themselves in Sunday-dress. The three nicest cows wear the “Gschell”. These three bells are tonally compatible. An other important thing is the “Zäuerle” or “Jodeln”. It is a kind of alpine chant without words.

After the caravan has left the street steep serpentines lead up to the hill. From time to time the farmers get some drinks at the wayside. After a few gulps and a short talk they continue to walk quickly.

While the ascent up the Alps you realize the value of the family. The kids don’t have to go to the school. Everyone of the family helps. In the mountain chalet all sit together comfortably and eat bread, cheese and sausage. The first cow gets milked to have milk for the coffee. After this eventful day silence comes and the the hard daily work begins.

Alpaufzug in Switzerland from Stephan Bösch is now online. Enjoy!

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Though classic beauty will always have its place in the world of fashion as well as in advertising, with the media overload becoming more and more intense, many brands have proceeded to capitalizing on non-normative recognition values either.

That is why we at Plain White Shirt are always looking for original types and strong faces. While our models are all dressed equally in plain white shirts for their portfolio shoots, each of the photos reveals some unique character one just can’t help but keep in mind!”

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©Pietro Masturzo

World Press Photo 2010

© Yann Gross

Horizonville
Introduction by Pascal Beausse

Exploring by moped, Yann Gross slows down time to develop an ethnographic study of a
group of people living out their dreams. Recreating a world of American culture in a Swiss
valley only makes sense if it entails inventing a new cultural identity that forges a bond
between people in that community. The social component of these practices goes way
beyond leisure to create a new model of everyday life. It is the construction of a collective
fantasy world in reality. As Slavoj Zizek puts it, “Welcome to the desert of the real!”

Here an artificial universe based on imaginary notions from film and television has been
adapted to the everyday reality of a part of Switzerland very far removed from the Rocky
Mountains of the Wild West, but also very far removed from any reality of life in America.

The different events and gatherings that cement the bonds between all these people who
gird themselves with symbols of the American Dream lend it the force of reality.
It is certainly less about recreating a piece of America in part of the Rhône Valley than
about creating a new culture, new practices and identities, fusing Swiss realities with the
imaginary American Way of Life à la Hollywood.

Yann Gross does not attempt to explain this singular sociocultural phenomenon, much less
judge or even mock it. He takes a highly empathetic, humanly intelligent approach. Like the
character in David Lynch’s film The Straight Story who travels across the vast spaces of
America by mini tractor, he slows the pace of his perception in exploring the valley by
moped, towing a trailer that allows him to camp wherever he sets up his tripod.

This patient and genuinely curious approach means that he is accepted by the people who
are the subject of his photographic investigation. The trust he elicits enables him to
develop several different complementary modes of representation, from posed portraits to
snapshots of the rites and festivals where the tribe assembles.

Landscape photographs revealing the architectural impact of this dissemination of the
American Dream along the roadside against the backdrop of the Alps reinforce the calm
strangeness of this mingling of two worlds.

Yann Gross’s story is about people at the beginning of the twenty-first century. In the wake
of globalization, thanks to contact facilitated by high-tech communication between far-flung
cultures, human communities are inventing new identities and practices that help create a
cheerful patchwork of creolization.

Enjoy the exhibition Horizonville by Yann Gross!

© kirill surov

Santa for Everybody

Every year on a certain day in November several major streets in Toronto are filled with crowds of people. They come to greet Santa Claus and to participate in a very colorful parade. In reality it becomes celebration of coming winter. The crowd is diverse – people of different cultural and religious backgrounds, of all ages.

The series is about anticipation and preparations to the parade.
It is still in progress – each year brings a bit different understanding of this event.

Santa for Everybody from Kirill Surov is now online. Enjoy!

© hector emanuel

Republic of Lakotah
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota

Pine Ridge is home to Wounded Knee, where in 1890 three hundred men, women and children were massacred by the US 7th Calvary as they were being transported to the reservation.

Life in Pine Ridge is hard.

It is the poorest Indian reservation in the United States, with an unemployment of about 80% and almost half of its residents live below the poverty line.

Both the infant mortality and alcoholism rates are the highest in the country, while the life expectancy is the lowest (52 for women and 48 for men). Many lack basic services such as running water, sewer, transportation, telephone, and the lack of health care is among the worst in the country.

Enjoy the series Republic of Lakotah by Hector Emanuel!