When did your interest in photography begin?
I loved how cameras worked. I remember my first Brownie Hawkeye, and soon fell in love with a camera in the window of Morgan’s Pharmacy near our house: a Kodak Pony 135. All through my teenage years I took pictures at home and at school, loving black and white Tri-X film, as I could process it in our basement where my chemicals were always in the way of the laundry detergent! When I reached high school, as was the custom in my parents lives and my older brothers, I went off to boarding school. I have often laughed that I chose my boarding school because it had a beautiful darkroom! I had two interests that kept me from studying as much as I should have: photography and theatre.

What happened next?
Fast forward to college where drama class was first on my list of activities. My cameras were collecting dust. I was married at 20, had two sons during the 1960s and, as our family grew, I started taking pictures again of our boys. I believe that my mother’s interest in colour, in fashion, in the Impressionists and in art in general had a very helpful effect on me. I believe it began to influence how I framed images. I helped decorate the windows of my mother’s dress shop, and tried to pick up some of her charm. I definitely failed with the charm.

And how did you find your way back into photography?
A great friend knew I should be taking pictures instead of trying to be my mother. Good advice. And she was such a good friend: she said she would go into business with me to get me started. So we started I AM A CAMERA. We photographed weddings, bar mitzvahs and book jacket pictures. I made every mistake there was to make. Then a call came from a small political magazine where a good friend was working: would I be interested in shooting pictures, where the money would be minimal, but the experience great? The big appeal was that the editor would apply for a press pass for me to go to the White House and Capitol Hill! This began my life in pictures.

Did this also mark your path into the world of political reportage?
Strangely my late brother and I both became photographers. My brother’s work took him to New York and the world of fashion and interiors. My world was Washington where the subject was politics. As the daughter of a physician and a lovely dress shop owner, who lived in Georgetown, seeing a politician at our house for dinner, or columnists, senators, foreign service officers, etc. was the norm for me. At school we would have the daughter of an ambassador, or a congressman, or a cabinet secretary, or a parent brought before the McCarthy hearings. I remember my father giving medical check-ups to employees of the World Bank or my mother finding just the right dress for a First Lady’s trip to India – it was all a natural part of my world.

Obviously, the best qualifications to work in the White House?
Starting in the Reagan years, my editor at TIME introduced the idea of asking for me to go behind the scenes, where there were no lights and mics, where there were no other photographers except perhaps the President’s photographer. I would become a fly on the wall. I requested of TIME that if I could achieve “behind the scenes”, there would be no TIME reporter with me. This to me was key. No reporter to distract the subject. The White House would have to trust me not to repeat anything I heard. I took very seriously the fact that I came into the room with a Leica, not a pencil. Behind the scenes was the kind of work I loved and there was only one kind of camera I would use. One of my Leica range finder M series cameras.

Looking back, how do you see your work today?
Today I’m struck by how different the magazine world is compared to when I was working. I believe the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s were the golden age of magazines. Politicians and Presidents wanted to be in TIME magazine, Newsweek, The New York Times Magazine, US News, or Stern, Paris Match, or the British Sunday Times magazine. TIME wanted photographers to be at the White House every day, so we never missed anything the President was doing, even when he didn’t have a public schedule. We were never to miss a surprise. That is a lot of day rates! And there was plenty of work.

What do you think of today’s press work, given the sheer mass of current images vying for attention in the media?
Then, of course, with the coming of a camera in a portable phone, things began to change radically. In many different ways. Social media began to send messages around the world in an instant. I had a photograph go viral – my first and only viral image. People now get their news online and fake news has undermined all news outlets. No more morning newspapers when people can get the entertainment version on Instagram or Tik Tok.

With a bit of melancholy, we prefer to look at your photographs, of which you recently published a new selection in the photo book Through Her Lens. Thank you very much for the interview!

Diana Walker was born on January 20, 1942 in Washington D.C.. She started out as a freelance photographer; then, as of the mid seventies, worked at Washington Monthly magazine, and as of 1979 as assignment photographer for TIME magazine, with the opportunity to report directly from the White House. Her work has appeared in international magazines, numerous exhibitions and many photo books, including The Bigger Picture. 30 Years of Portraits (National Geographic, 2007), Hillary: The Photographs of Diana Walker (Simon & Schuster, 2014) and Through Her Lens: The Photojournalism of Diana Walker (Briscoe Center for American History, Texas 2024). The Diana Walker Photographic Archive at the Briscoe Center includes over 200,000 images. Diana Walker lives in Washington D.C.

A portfolio of Diana Walker’s work appeared in issue 4.2024 of the LFI magazine.

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What do your photographs tell us about the region of Calabria; what are its typical aspects?
I think that you might read something about some main issues like illegal buildings, building speculation, ‘Ndrangheta. You might also see a lack of care for the environment and common areas. But, at the same time, you can look at a gorgeous place. Umberto Zanotti Bianco wrote, “There is no beauty of a territory that has not yet been awakened, no wealth of new worlds barely touched by civilisation worth the charm of this neglected and yet ancient Calabria, with its mute ruins of forgotten cataclysms, suffocated by ivy and honeysuckle, and which, wherever it cleaves, reveals the marble face of a great but lost civilisation.” I am moved every time I read it.

What did you want to show with your pictures?
In this case I started without a precise idea in mind, just for my personal pleasure and my connection with this special place. After a few years, I wondered what I really wanted to tell, and which could have been the best way to represent my landscape. Finally, I decided to get closer and to produce some vertical sections of my landscape, in order to go deeper. If you want to understand Un luogo bello, you need to look at the photographs with the right measure of slowness. But at the same time, you can feel free: I experimented so that every person looking at my photographs, could hear different echoes. Everyone could listen to different stories, depending on his or her own background.

Your motifs give the impression that something is either in the making or unwinding – in any case something unfinished.
I simply took pictures of what I have in front of me every day. In general, I try to maintain an ethical and respectful attitude. It’s true that looking at our landscape you might feel as though confronted with something suspended or – only in appearance – temporary.

The photographs are also a beautiful expression of the power of nature and, at the same time, of people’s use of nature…
I’m very impressed by the power of nature. During an art residency in Iceland, I often thought that my photographs weren’t as beautiful as the landscape in front of me. In that case the goal was to create a personal narration of a well known and loved place. The risk of the cliché was very high. In general, I’m really interested in investigating the relationship between people and nature.

But the people themselves aren’t visible in the pictures?
Looking at the project I think you can read the presence of the people. You don’t need to work with portraiture to feel this presence. At the same time I love portraiture, but this work was about my personal relationship with my landscape. I think that in this series there is a special intimacy which is very difficult to obtain with portraiture, if you don’t work with the same person for a long time. I’m thinking of the lovely books by Christopher Anderson, dedicated to his family. In documentary and landscape photography, portraits are frequently included, but they often look cold, like distant photos, in my opinion. Perhaps Bryan Schutmaat in Grays The Mountain Sends or Alec Soth in I Know How Furiously Your Heart Is Beating get the kind of intimacy I am referring to. But I wasn’t interested in this kind of result in this case.

To what extent are composition, light, colour and shadow important to you in your photographic process? What do you pay particular attention to?
I’m sure you know the book The Nature of Photographs by Stephen Shore. In this book, Shore analyses every single aspect that composes a photograph. I use this method in a workshop of mine, in which students are invited to focus and train on many different angles. First, they have to work with geometry, in another exercise they play with light, and afterwards with colours, with space, with time, etc. After a dozen different exercises, they develop a focus on all these different topics, and they can put the pieces together and improve their comprehension and photographic practice, as a result.

What exactly does your photographic approach look like?
I don’t know. I don’t think I have a single approach. I prefer to choose my approach depending on the project I’m working on. I think that maintaining the same approach could be a way to become recognisable, and to better sell yourself and your artwork. Often this is the result of a trend and therefore it’s not motivated by a real need. So, we are often faced with beautiful empty photographs. Wonderful exercises in style without any honesty. I want to answer you with my manifesto: I love photographs that ask questions rather than offer answers.

Is your project also a kind of declaration of love to your homeland?
I’ll answer you with a few words that Giovanna Calvenzi wrote about me in the epilogue to my book: “[…]He’s neither trying to denounce nor seeking an objective viewpoint. He selects his framing not to judge but to seek empathy, perhaps even in an exercise of pietas which transforms the persistence of malaise into a kind of land art. He builds a sequence of images of details and wider visions which, page after page, guides us through a land we do not know, which is his alone[…].”

Alessandro Mallamaci‘s interest in the visual arts, communication and photography, began in 1996. Until 2008, he worked as an ambassador and educator, collaborating with esteemed brands like EIZO, Leica and Fujifilm. More recently, he had the privilege of lecturing at Columbia College in Chicago, USA. He currently teaches at the Academy of Fine Arts in Perugia. The artistic projects and books he has designed have received awards and graced exhibitions, art fairs and galleries across China, France, Iceland, Italy, the UK and the USA; his photographs have been published in various magazines and books. Un Luogo Bello will be published by Gente di Fotografia and it will be available from November 2024. Find out more about his photography on his website and Instagram channel.

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The current exhibition at the Leica Gallery Wetzlar presents a selection of images from your broad body of work – from the early Feine Leute (High Society) to your more recent Metamorphosen (Metamorphoses) series. Is any group of pictures particularly important to you?
Each theme that I’ve dealt with is important to me. I would start working on anything that I considered significant and of social relevance: always without being commissioned to do so; without a publisher; at my own risk. Even so, I would like to emphasise the Jüdische Porträts (Jewish Portraits) project, for which I portrayed and interviewed at length Jewish personalities around the world who had survived the Holocaust. It was an impressive experience.

Precise observation is always at the heart of your work, above all with the portraits.
Yes, long before photography, I was involved with behavioural research. That’s why body language has always been very important to me; it is the key to people. I find fascinating how much people reveal about themselves through their body language. Fully engaging with the person being portrayed and listening to them are crucial. Yes, even in photography you have to listen and be able to put your ego aside. It’s the other person who is always the most important. Passion and discipline are also part of photography in order to master and persevere when working on subjects for long stretches.

In your work, it’s not only the photographs you get together for each series that are important, but also the accompanying texts and videos. Why?
Photography and interviews are often of equal importance to me. It’s a second form of storytelling with words that I can use to speak about people’s worlds. In this manner, the people become visible in their entirety, physically and psychologically. There was even text in Das Deutsche Wohnzimmer (The German Living Room), which was, of course, always authorised. Video became particularly significant in my Spuren der Macht (Traces of Power) series, because I was not only interested in the physical aspect, but also the mental attitude and changes that seem to happen automatically when you’re always in the public eye, and if you want to remain in power.

In the Spuren der Macht (Traces of Power) series, how close or how distant do you reckon you got to the politicians, publishers and celebrities?
With the politicians it is decidedly important to keep a distance, otherwise you can no longer report objectively. I visited my interview partners once a year; I was very well prepared, as I had spent the whole year following what was written about them and what they had said. Then I photographed them, had a talk with them and then left again, disappearing for a year. The distance was always maintained. Naturally, through taking pictures a closeness is formed, you get to know the other person better. You really have to empathise with the other person, that’s the key.

You photographed Angela Merkel for around thirty years. What was the special thing about this long accompaniment?
It was fascinating to see how the scientist was transformed into a politician. At first she was very awkward and inexperienced, because she was not used to being in public. However, as she gained confidence and experience in her role, her body language changed and she became increasingly self-assured. The fact that I got an appointment with Angela Merkel every year over a span of thirty years, was something special. After all, as a politician and then Chancellor, she accepted that she would be constantly photographed or filmed, but she didn’t like it.

What does the Leica Hall of Fame Award mean to you?
I photographed people in all their diversity and learnt a lot about the world through my camera. I am happy that through this honour, my tool, my Leica, with which I’ve taken many of my pictures, has gained visibility.

Which Leica cameras did you use for your series, and do you remember any particular moments?
I was able to go on the journey from the M cameras to the R cameras from the very beginning. That was exciting at times. The thing I’ve always appreciated about my cameras is the fantastic and unbeatable lenses. Sometimes, the experiences I went through, together with my camera in the most remote regions of the world, were pretty adventurous. A few years ago, I photographed the Nobel Prize winner Kenzaburo Oe in Tokyo, and two days later I had an appointment with the photographer Nobuyoshi Araki, but shortly before that the camera went on strike. Great drama. Fortunately, Seiichi Moriya, the Leica Store Manager at the time, didn’t hesitate to lend me a camera, without even asking for any kind of security. What a wonderful experience.

Your most recent works, which are also appearing in the exhibition in Wetzlar, come from your Metamorphosen (Metamorphoses) series. For the first time, people are not the focus.
Yes, even though you don’t see any people, the subject that threads through all my work remains: change; transience. My focus this time lies on nature. And the compelling thing is that the colours, or the structures, change. All of a sudden, they become brittle or acquire great depth. A new beauty emerges, a transformation. In nature, nothing stays the same. Growth, decay and emergence. All phases of life are found in the metamorphoses. Present and past flow into one another. And the future lies in becoming again.

Many thanks for speaking with us.

Herlinde Koelbl was born In Lindau on October 31, 1939. After studying fashion, she discovered photography as her creative means of expression, in the mid seventies. Over the following decades, and in addition to working on assignments for magazines, she began an enormously productive series of self-published, long-term photographic projects, which were often accompanied by interviews. Some of the projects also resulted in documentary films. Her sensitive and often philosophical interviews appeared regularly in ZEITmagazin. She works mainly with Leica cameras in the 35mm range and also with a Hasselblad in medium format. Koelbl has published more than twenty photo books and has received numerous awards, including the Medal of Excellence (1987), the Dr Erich Salomon Prize of the DGPh (2001), the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (2009) and the Bavarian Order of Merit (2013). She currently lives and works in Neuried near Munich. Find more about Herlinde Koelbl’s work on her website or on her Instagram channel.

On the occasion of the Leica Hall of Fame Award, upcoming issue 8.2024 of LFI honours the photographer with a portfolio. Koelbl already appeared in the Leica Classics segment of LFI, in issue 8.2019.

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Could you please briefly describe your project?
Critical Minerals – Geography of Energy is a multi-chapter project that explores the profound transformation in the global energy landscape – the shift towards renewable energy sources. The story delves into the intricate geopolitical, social, and environmental implications of the exponential demand for minerals necessary to achieve renewable energy goals. As industrialized nations spearhead the race towards sustainability, they face the dual challenge of formulating clean energy policies while securing the necessary raw materials, often sourced from the Global South. Consequently, science, economy, politics, human rights, and environmental activism have begun to question the high costs associated with this energy transition. Pursuing greener energy is at risk of perpetuating past mistakes instead of heralding an equitable and sustainable future.

What is the extent of the series so far?
The project currently has four chapters, each focusing on a different critical mineral. It consists of four, possibly five chapters, each dedicated to a specific critical mineral: copper, lithium, cobalt, nickel, and we are planning to include a fifth chapter on rare earth elements. The narrative is designed to evolve with contributions from various geographical locations and local collaborators, adding depth and breadth to the story.

What will this in-depth study look like?
The idea is to cover these minerals’ impact, from extraction to their role in the global energy transition. This is a collaborative endeavour featuring photographic and video contributions from local collaborators such as Cristóbal Olivares in Chile, Guerchom Ndebo in Congo, and Muhammad Fadli in Indonesia. Alongside the photographic series, there is a significant video component designed as a multichannel short film and a series of maps for the future. This approach utilises various mediums and perspectives to offer a more accurate and engaging portrayal of the subject matter.

This complexity seems very important to you.
Photography must embrace collaboration, inventive narratives, and targeted presentation. It’s essential to go beyond mere documentation and strive for storytelling that educates, advocates, and inspires action.

How long have you been working on the project?
I started working on the topic over two years ago with a precise plan, mostly executed as designed. Over the past few years, I have taken around 5000 images during four trips and about 120 days of fieldwork across different locations. For the final selection, I aim to narrow it down to 50-60 images. The LOBA submission aimed to provide a concise yet impactful overview of the project, selecting images representing the diverse geographical contexts and the project’s aesthetic. It was crucial to include a variety of images that together tell a cohesive story and highlight both the global processes and personal narratives involved.

What experience have you gained in the collaboration so far?
There was no bad experience besides some predictable logistical difficulties and production slowdown. As for the pleasant surprise, working in a team and sharing the fieldwork with local collaborators was a pleasure. This profession has been a solitary activity for too long; I’m happy to work today with companions.

What camera equipment did you use?
I primarily use medium and large format cameras, often with a tripod. I sometimes create panoramic photographs by stitching multiple frames together. Drones and aerial photography were also extensively used to capture the vastness of the mining sites and landscapes. Despite the immediate impression, the various formats are extensions of one single format.

What are your hopes for this year’s LOBA award?
I’m excited about the visibility opportunities the prize will give the project and the story. The transition to green energy and the fair distribution of resources are critical issues. Increased debate and visibility can drive policy makers to take necessary actions.

Davide Monteleone was born in 1974 in Potenza, in the Basilicata region of Italy, and today lives in Switzerland. He has a Master’s Degree in Art and Politics from the Goldsmiths, University of London; and he is a curator and lecturer at many public and private institutions. He has been dealing with the climate issue, and the tense relationship between economy and geopolitics, for many years. His work has been widely honoured and has appeared in numerous exhibitions. In 2020, his Sinomocene series made it onto the LOBA shortlist. Find out more about his photography on his website and his Instagram account.

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What does street photography mean to you?
For me photography has always been about having fun and there’s no better enjoyment than street photography. I love the freedom and enjoyment that street photography brings to me. You are entering the unknown where anything is possible, and if I’m not feeling a sense of happiness along the way, then my eyes will be shut. It’s about looking and then waiting for the moment to unfold in front of you.

How do you recognise this moment?
You can feel when everything is coming into place, the subject, the light and the mood. When you’ve captured that moment, it is very special, very exciting. The whole parade is like a kind of dance with strangers and you need to be at the rhythm of the street. Then it’s fun and challenging. Even when you miss the moment or are not seeing it, it’s ok, it will come soon enough. Patience is key and great photographs come from those who wait.

Do you draw inspiration from books or other media?
I read a lot books and research many of my projects before I set foot in some places. I always feel a great responsibility to honour those I photograph, and try and present my work in the most honest and compelling ways I can. It’s funny, well maybe not so funny, but lately I’ve been thinking about producing a large body of photographic archival work and memoir rated writing. I seem to be following “death” in much of my work; or has it been following me? Gazing down at the dead through my viewfinder and dodging my own death more times then I can count on two hands.

How did you decide on the edit, the selection of images? How big are your archives?
Over 30 years of archives is a big job! I narrowed my selection down to the photographs I took on Leica M cameras and then chose the ones that personally moved me. Some are award-winning pictures that people might recognise and others more quiet. The final edit needed to cover each Leica M camera I have owned, starting from the M3 and stopping at the M11. Editing for a portfolio is like editing for a retrospective, you are never quite satisfied, you wonder what you missed from your life’s picture vault. In the end, these photographs are window’s into others’ lives and into your own soul. I am very proud of all of them.

You like to explore new and innovative ways with photography, often collaborating with other artists, writers and creatives through books, exhibitions, film and theatre.
Being a photographer for so many years on the road can become quite lonely and self indulgent. The art of taking photographs is mainly a solo journey, which I love; but I suppose over time I have come to appreciate the role other artists may have with my works and ideas and how best to collaborate. I work a lot with a wonderful writer, Jacques Menasche, because we totally understand the collaborative process that brings out both of our strengths and talents to produce rewarding projects. Jacques comes from a strong photography background and we share music and literature tastes, and this ends up being incredibly creative when we do stuff. I am constantly exploring different mediums and ways to present my photography and make art.

Bringing photography and art together is a good thing.
My one man show I performed some years ago was an idea I came up with to bring the power of my photography, stories and my life to a live audience, that could witness the raw authenticity and emotion of not just the photographs, but also an insight into my private world and revelations. If I am being challenged creatively and I can combine other artistic elements with the photography to make the impact stronger or more interesting, then that’s a great thing.

Your latest book that will be out this autumn is titled Fucked Up Fotos. What is it about?
This book features only the work that I originally overlooked, and takes my philosophy of imperfections to a whole other level. In it are the mishaps, mistakes and general fuck-ups along the way, photographs that would have never seen the light of day. Now they stare back at me with a vengeance, reminding me of the times I opened up the back of my camera exposing the negative to sunlight, forgetting I still had an unwound roll of film inside or x-rayed film at customs. There is very little of me in these photographs. In fact, the images were not exactly made by me at all. It’s the imperfections in photographs that makes them unique; beautiful; makes them great. Perfection is boring.

Self-taught photographer Stephen Dupont was born in Sydney in 1967, and has a Master’s in Philosophy. In addition to documentary photography, he works in the fields of art and film. His long-term projects cover comprehensive subjects such as war and climate. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the W. Eugene Smith Grant for Humanistic Photography in 2007 and a number of World Press Photo Awards. He works regularly for TIME, Newsweek, The Sunday Times Magazine, GEO, Vanity Fair and The New York Times Magazine. He is exhibited around the world at galleries, museums and festivals (NYPL, Peabody Museum, ICP, Polka, Noorderlicht, Visa pour l’Image). In the autumn of 2024 his latest book titled Fucked Up Fotos will be published by Steidl. Find out more about his photography on his website and Instagram page.

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Unomia Stolonifera – what are the characteristics of this type of coral?
This soft coral from the Indo-Pacific is a particularly formidable species due to its rapid and aggressive spread. It reproduces both sexually and asexually, allowing even small fragments to quickly colonize new areas. In 2014, Unomia unexpectedly appeared off the coast of Venezuela, likely introduced through the illegal aquarium trade. Devoid of natural predators, it swiftly overran local ecosystems, taking over 80% of shallow reefs and hard substrates. This invasion has displaced other corals and seagrass fields, essential to marine biodiversity.

What specific consequences does this have for Venezuela and its population?
The consequences are severe: as native species vanish, fish populations that rely on these habitats are also rapidly disappearing. The most distressing aspect is the speed of this destruction. Entire ecosystems, which supported vibrant marine life and local communities for centuries, are being wiped out in just a few years. What I witnessed underwater was heartbreaking – kilometres of coast overrun by slimy, foul-smelling coral that had driven away the fish and suffocated corals that had been growing for centuries. The speed of this invasion is astonishing.

What was your impetus for the project?
This project is a personal mission fuelled by my deep connection to the Caribbean Sea, a place that holds a special significance for many Venezuelans, including myself. The Caribbean is our sanctuary, where we find peace, joy, and freedom. When I learned of the alarming discovery I felt a profound responsibility to act. This project required me to immerse myself – literally and figuratively – into the depths of the issue. I took up free-diving and learned underwater photography, not just as a technical challenge but as a way to fully grasp the gravity of the situation. I wanted to capture the urgency, fragility, and beauty of what’s at stake.

What do your pictures show?
My primary goal was to highlight a critical yet often overlooked crisis threatening our marine ecosystem. I hoped to bring this hidden world to the surface – literally and metaphorically – so that people could truly see and feel the urgency of what was happening. I wanted to capture the stark contrast between the once-thriving marine life and the barren, coral-smothered seascapes left in Unomia’s wake. The absence of fish and the suffocated corals – these images are meant to be a wake-up call. But it’s not just about the devastation; it’s also about the resilience and dedication of those fighting back. There’s a small but determined community of scientists and experts who are working tirelessly, with limited resources, to understand and combat this invasion. I wanted to show the world their struggle, commitment, and hope.

You used the Q3 and had a special underwater casing built for it. How exactly does it work, and what were the technical requirements for it?
The Q3’s compact size and high resolution made it ideal for underwater photography, so I had a custom underwater case built specifically for it. However, because it was a one-off design, it didn’t have full functionality – I was missing the control for the aperture, which added an extra challenge. Despite this, the case was robust, waterproof, and allowed me to capture the intricate details of the marine environment while adjusting settings as best as I could underwater.

What challenges did you face while taking the underwater shots?
Shooting underwater was a whole new level of challenging – especially when you’re photographing corals, which, let’s face it, aren’t exactly sprinting away. But that doesn’t make it easy! Positioning your body underwater is a dance with the tides and the subject. This means working slowly and being hyperaware of your surroundings. It also means handling your equipment with subtle precision to get the shots you want. Light was another major challenge, especially since I love shooting in colour. As you go deeper, the light fades – reds disappear, and everything turns blue. I chose to work with natural light to be as non-intrusive as possible, but it required careful consideration of how to capture the true essence of the scene. On top of all this, I was carrying a lot of equipment, constantly moving without an anchor, all while dealing with the pressure of being underwater.

How did the camera perform?
The camera was absolutely amazing. But the start of this process was nothing short of nerve-wracking. Imagine this: it’s my first time doing underwater photography, and I’m about to dunk my precious camera into the ocean. My mentor, Matt Draper, casually dropped the bomb that if even ONE grain of sand got inside the housing, the whole mission would be toast. So, I turned into this obsessive, ritualistic neat freak every morning – meticulously assembling the housing like it was some kind of sacred art. But the moment I hit the water, all that anxiety just floated away. I messed up, experimented, went deeper than I ever thought I could, and it ended up changing me completely. Underwater, you can’t rush – you move slowly, flow with the currents, respect the environment, and learn to see light in ways you never imagined. It totally transformed the way I approach photography.

Born in 1988 in Caracas, Venezuela, Ana María Arévalo Gosen is a visual storyteller now based in Madrid. She frequently travels to Latin America to work on her projects, focusing on women’s rights, social justice, and environmental issues. Her work has earned her several honours, including the Leica Oskar Barnack and Camille Lepage Awards in 2021. Her work has been featured in international media like The New York Times, National Geographic, and El País Semanal, and exhibited globally at venues including the Open Your Eyes Fotofestival in Zurich, Fotografiska New York and the Ernst-Leitz Museum. Find out more about her photography on her website and Instagram account.

The project was done with the support of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

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You arrived in Bucharest for the first time in October 2019. What was the feeling that made you start a new long-term project?
I remember my first visit to Bucharest very well. I took the bus from the airport and got off at Romană Square. It was a sunny and warm autumn day. From the roundabout I walked into Mendeleev Street and it was like opening a door into a new world. Old buildings from the 19th century, art deco houses, electrical cables hanging everywhere, so many layers of time, life, people…I was immediately fascinated and attracted to it. I felt at ease with the city life and its people. I felt I could communicate on the same level, even if I didn’t know the language.

And there was also a literary coincidence that connected you with Bucharest…
Yes, returning to Stockholm, I discovered the book Solenoid by Mircea Cărtărescu and got completely hooked. I never read something so surrealistic, it was just too much. I was amazed that somebody could have so much imagination. While reading the book I discovered that many of the places that are described in the pages, were the ones that I just started to love about Bucharest. This made my connection with the city even stronger. I could dream of Bucharest in Stockholm, while reading Cărtărescu’s book, and got to know the city a bit using satellite images on Google maps.

You then returned to Bucharest several times to work on the new project.
Yes, at that time, after closing my long-term Europea project, I needed to start something completely new. In Bucharest I could just dive into it and be completely absorbed, almost like Alice in Wonderland, entering a new unknown world. For me this city has this dreamy atmosphere. I have always been attracted and fascinated by the passing of time and I especially like places where the layers of time are not covered up. It’s somehow a kind of raw honesty that I like, that doesn’t make life perfect, that doesn’t stop the flow of life. My view is romantic, of course, and I’m also aware that in many situations I don’t see or show the suffering of certain places and people. I’m looking for another kind of beauty with different aesthetic rules. What I’m after is to show beauty or the enigmatic qualities of normal things or situations, that we usually just think are ugly or unimportant.

You say that the streets of a city are like an open theatre. Would you call what you do street photography?
What I do is a kind of photography that looks at the very mundane things that we usually overlook. It’s more poetic, existential and subtle. But yes, the streets are where I fell in love with photography, all those parallel universes coming together, passing by, melting into one another, quickly crossing the urban environment, and the spontaneity of that kind of photography, not arranged or theatrically set up, just letting it be and observing, fantasizing, dreaming – an open theatre. It’s the energy, the intensity of life that I find attractive. In one way what I do is street photography, but at the same time it’s not… I’m not interested in a kind of artificial street photography or where it’s only about colour and composition.

In Bucharest you decided that you wanted to start doing portraits of teenagers, the younger generation. Why?
The choice of subject was instinctual and swift. I was more attracted to the younger generation. They really jumped out for me compared to the rest of the people. They have a very specific way of dressing, each with their own style; and I saw them as confident, real and non-pretentious. I also wanted to get as far away as possible from eastern clichés. I also think that in Bucharest the circumstances are unique with the younger generation that I met, who grew up with the internet outside of the Ceausescu era. I felt I knew them, and it was not difficult to relate to them; like seeing myself when I was a teenager searching for my own identity.

Every picture that we see in your work is a gelatine silver print, that you make with digital scanning, to be inserted in your books or used in various publications. As you said, you have kept on working exclusively with analogue film since you started. What do you find fascinating about this medium, and what makes it so important for your own process?
The darkroom has been an integral part of my practice, almost as important as taking photos, irretrievably connected. I tried digital in the past, but I was never satisfied with the results or the process. In front of the screen, it’s easy to be too controlling, to be perfect, it’s too mental. Analogue work is organic, you touch it, you smell it, you feel it. It’s also about the relationship to the subject that I‘m photographing: it’s honest, it’s raw. There are no filters, and I can’t alter the image too much. It is what it is. That’s the magic of it, not having total control; you accept the laws of life and its unpredictability. Working in a darkroom is kind of sacred. A special moment where you dive into the work or yourself like in an introspective meditation. You take a break from the outside world. It’s like stopping time again, first inside the camera and then in the darkroom.

Even his family history is international: Joakim Kocjancic was born in Milan in 1975 of Slovenian roots, the child of a Swedish mother and Italian father. Since then he has lived in many European cities. After studying painting in Florence and Carrara from 1998 to 2002, he got an MA in Photojournalism in London, in 2005. He is based in Stockholm since 2006. Following Paradise Stockholm (2014, Journal) and Europea (2020, Max Ström), Bucharest is his third large, long-term project. Find out more about his photography on his website and Instagram channel.

See also the portfolio Bucharest in issue 4.2024 of the LFI magazine.
The portfolio Europea appeared in issue 6.2021 of the LFI magazine.

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Kuala Lumpur is your home city; what fascinates you about it as a photographer, and what new things do you keep discovering?
Kuala Lumpur’s streets are full of diverse characters that make each neighbourhood unique. When I explore areas like Pudu, Chowkit, Kampung Baru and Chinatown, it feels like I’m discovering a new city every time. As a Malaysian, I’m fortunate to experience various cultural events from the Chinese, Malay, and Indian communities. While Kuala Lumpur’s streets aren’t as chaotic as those in India, Japan, or New York, it’s still crucial to know where and when to take photos to capture the perfect shot.

You photographed this series in colour, in contrast to other series about the city in black and white.
I’ve photographed activities in Kuala Lumpur for 3 years now in black and white, and in colour. Although I enjoy shooting in black and white, I do also shoot in colour. When there are cultural events happening, I enjoy capturing moments in colour, embracing the colourful diversity of cultures in Kuala Lumpur.

The pictures show numerous festivities – is Kuala Lumpur a city of festivals?
Malaysia has many cultural events. In February we have the Chinese New Year celebration, and then the Hindu Thaipusam celebration, which is the biggest cultural event in Malaysia. In June, we have the Hari Raya Haji celebrations of the Malay Muslims. And many more events that are happening in Malaysia, really and truly colourful and diverse.

To what extent and why do you feel drawn to these events?
As a Malaysian it’s always interesting to be able to experience all these different festivals. People are welcoming and happy to share their culture with everyone. With my photographs of festivals, I hope to share of what I see and experience.

You also capture the oddities of the city, of everyday life.
It’s hard to encounter rare moments that are hardly seen in daily life in Kuala Lumpur. For example, one of the photos I really like was from a morning market, where the puppy was barking on a motorcycle and there’s an aunty trying to scare it. It was a funny scene with great colours. To have a chance to encounter these moments I went out every week for 3-4 days, photographing life as it happens. See more, encounter more and shoot more.

With some motifs you get very close to the people; how do you approach them?
I’m intrigued by capturing people up close; it’s like I can feel them inside the photo. After I take a photo, I will say some good things about the subject I photograph. And maybe have a small conversation with the people. It could be their fashion, or moment that I was interested in.

Which camera did you use for these shots and what was your experience with it?
I used a Leica M10R and a Voigtlander Ultron 28mm F2 ii, with a small external flash sometimes. The first time that I came across a Leica was 2020, when I joined a Leica Sharing hosted by Leica Malaysia. Since then I was interested in Leica cameras and the history behind them. I could not own one as I could not afford it at that time; not until 2022 when I worked in a Film Lab called Zontiga, a creative hub for photography enthusiasts. I had the chance to buy a Leica M10R on instalments from my boss who is also a photographer. That’s when my photography journey with Leica started. At the beginning working fully manual with the Leica M was not easy. But after 3 months I started to get the hang of it. I enjoy the Leica M because it’s fast, and always ready to capture moments as they happen. M for Moments.

Your pictures are very dynamic and full of energy, and you often see people dancing…
It’s important to have fun as a photographer, when I’m at events that are full of energy. I don’t act like a photographer, instead I join the fun with the people: if they are crazy I will be crazy too. This way I can blend together to capture dynamic photos. Be crazy and you will get crazy photos.

Edmond Leong was born in 2003 and grew up in Kuala Lumpur. For the past three years he has spent most of his time photographing people on the street. Among others, he was a finalist in the Youth Category of the Sony World Photography Awards 2023, and bronze medal winner in the Street and Animals Single Category of the Paris International Street Photo Awards 2022. In his work at Zontiga – a creative space for photography enthusiasts – he gets to know the different perspectives of a diversity of artists. Find out more about his photography on his website and Instagram page.

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Your exhibition project is constantly changing. How do you see the presentation today?
Yes, it has changed, and I find it has done so in a very natural manner. I’m a big fan of art not remaining static and unmoving, but keeping in motion. Maybe it’s in part because I’m a musician, and my experience is that, despite a similar programme, every concert is different. Each piece sounds different every evening, even though it’s the same composition.

With exhibitions, however, the pictures remain the same, but the lay-out is varied.
It’s an exciting process. The basis for the current exhibition was the nearly two years I spent travelling in the Ruhr district. At some point I realised that, in truth, it was about much more. The Ruhr region is the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and many elements there are fuelled by deeply European themes – like people who left their countries long ago, to settle down in a new place. A search for clues begins, which inevitably brings up the subject of Europe and its significance. In the end, I realised that I myself am an ardent European, who considers this continent to be grossly underestimated.

So maybe the presentation of the European idea in Budapest is a particularly good coup.
Yes. Hungary is currently taking over the six-month, rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. The exhibition places us in the centre of attention, so to speak.

Do you see your exhibition as a political statement?
That also. What’s more, in a country that plays a controversial role within Europe. In Germany, in particular, Hungary is quickly reduced to clichés. I’m very interested in these connections. The political dimension of apparently beautiful things is remarkable sometimes.

The exhibition also offers an overview of 15 years of work, from 2009 to 2024. Which motifs were added most recently?
I think the most recent pictures are portraits of the Hungarian jazz guitarist Ferenc Snétberger, and the Georgian violinist Lisa Batiashvili.

And the oldest motif, from 2009, was Johan Leijonhufvud, also a musician. Why was this picture important to you?
For me, this photo is a small starting point for my affinity with Leica. We see a look that still blows me away today. I’ll never forget how, back at the time, a curator made a selection of my motifs, and the ones he labelled with yellow post-it stickers were all taken with a Leica M.

But, was that a Leica gallery manager?
No, not at all. It was simply someone who chose the pictures because of their spirit, their quality and their look. I found it fascinating – in particular in this incredibly fast world of cameras.

Back to the exhibition – what did you notice, in particular, about this lay-out?
There is, in fact, no more insightful experience for a photographer than seeing his photographs hanging on a wall in a certain size for the first time. I noticed a certain heterogeneity. We see many artists here in black and white, where a kinship is evident. At the same time, you can recognise many other aspects and perspectives. It’s by no means just celebrities in the exhibition; there are also people who have never been seen by the general public before. I’m certainly depicting a conglomerate of influences.

The exhibition is not only presenting portraits…
Over recent years, I’ve increasingly discovered an abstract side to myself. I find art and emotions in an enormous amount of places.

That leads, at times, to very surprising motifs, like when an advertisement for a fast food chain appears in a desolated location.
When looking through my work, I nearly overlooked that picture, which was taken close to Auschwitz. At some point, I took a closer look at what was in it and thought to myself: wow, this is absurd from a German perspective, but completely understandable from a local one.

It’s not just the picture that plays a role, but the subtext as well – which, once again, is rather musical.
I like that. I find it fascinating that the same subtext isn’t automatically conveyed to every viewer; that different feelings or parallels, sometimes even astonishment or even incomprehension, can arise. Ultimately, it’s about an emotion that is up to each individual.

But the European context is at the forefront.
My Europe message is simple and clear. I believe there is a reason why such an enormous number of artists, from all over the world, have settled in Europe over the years and centuries. For example, Ai Weiwei – who’s a very political artist – says that right now Europe is the most suitable place for his art. That’s certainly exciting, and that’s why this is also a plea in favour of an evolved culture and our European way of life. And I don’t agree with the conclusion we often hear saying that Europe is over. On the contrary, I believe Europe is currently being challenged to reorganise and redefine itself. When it comes to being a centre and source of so many wonderful art forms, Europe is still unrivalled worldwide.

You are often referred to as an ambassador. How do you feel about that role?
As a musician, I’ve often been confronted with the term ‘ambassador’. Maybe it’s because music also taps into emotion faster than other art forms. Photography is often about depicting reality. On a wall, it becomes emotion, or even art in the best case. However, it’s a diplomatic, opening, and unifying force that can also be political.

That’s why the exhibition also includes some portraits of politicians, from Viktor Orbán to Olaf Scholz. What can be deduced from that?
You can’t categorise me in any specific box. I really enjoy playing and flirting with contrasts. That was also the case when I photographed Olaf Scholz, for example. The motif shown here with the trumpet is the most unusual in the series. It shows a person with great responsibility in an almost childlike, playful moment. Both combined give rise to power.

And did he grab the trumpet himself?
I’ll keep that to myself (laugh).

Till Brönner was born in Viersen, Germany, on May 6, 1971, into a family of musicians. He grew up between Italy and Rhineland. He was given his first trumpet when he was nine and, by the age of 20, was a member of the RIAS Big Band. He is one of the most successful jazz musicians of our times. He took the first portraits of some of his colleagues in 2009; this was followed, shortly after, by portraits of people outside his own field – actors, sports people, authors and activists. For a long time, Brönner lived and worked between Berlin and Los Angeles. He is considered a cosmopolitan. Find out more information on his website.

The Identity – Landscape Europe exhibition remains on display at the Ludwig Múzeum – Museum for Contemporary Art in Budapest until August 25.
It is a project realised in collaboration with the Brost Foundation, and the Bonn Foundation for Art and Culture (Kunst und Kultur e.V. Bonn), and was curated by Prof. Walter Smerling.

Five years ago, an article about the Melting Pott exhibition appeared on the Leica Camera blog, and LFI 5.2019 carried a portfolio taken from the Melting Pott series.

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What does photography mean to you?
Photography is a way of entering into a dialogue, building bridges between worlds that lie far apart, or that are separated from each other by prejudice. It pulls down walls and opens up the path to new ways of thinking. You can approach them with gentleness, which is very important. I think it’s far too easy to use trashy images to shock and make people aware.

In general, what inspires you?
When I started out, it was Wolfgang Tillmans, Rineke Dijkstra and Nan Goldin.

You also do commercial photography – fashion series for example. To what degree has this kind of work influenced your personal visual language?
I had the stubbornness or the luck to be able to stick my nose into everything. It took me longer to make a name for myself, but I can’t go on doing the same thing forever. I think you have to be very open and take an interest, because everything changes so quickly, especially in photography.

What relationship do you see between your work and other art forms?
Music is always in my ears, I paint on prints…

…as can be seen, for example, in your Le Phénix series. How did you develop that?
I wanted to develop my pictures by hand. I started out with analogue photography; then came photoshop and digital technology at the beginning of 2000, and many embarrassing attempts initially with all of that. I find perfection irritating. Beauty retouching as well. And sometimes, when something in a picture bothers me – a blue sky, for example – then I prefer to brush a thick stroke of colour over it. Holding something in my hand again, tactile work… that’s the only way to produce a one-of-a-kind.

You also enjoy working with paper.
Yes. And I like to cut out with a scalpel.

What role does digital picture-processing play in your work?
As I said above, I like to introduce more colour. But, in general, I do no – or as little as possible – beauty retouching. For example, I didn’t change the colour of the waves in the book, but I simply oversaturated the existing colours. It’s funny to see how many colours are hidden in a grey-white sky. It’s also connected to the birth of my daughter: I can’t support the search for the ideal physical image; why not just be content with who you are or how you were born? Everyone is here for a reason.

What does the title of your most recent series, L’arc sera parmi les nuages refer to and where did it come from?
We found many parallels to the story of Noah’s Ark that fit with my pictures. The attempt of couples, or equals, to save the good for later, after the imminent flood ahead. The book is not supposed to become a religious amalgamation, but the title comes from there. It was a kind of peace announcement, to say that from now on there will be no further flood. “There will be a rainbow in the clouds” was the statement.

What is the series about?
It’s about how we can save our planet from this fear of a flood, which is always present in a place like Château Palmer, as the vineyard is very close to the sea. And what we can do to save our social values beyond that. Dialogue is very important. To pass on what you’ve learnt.

Passing things on to posterity.
That was what really struck me when I saw young people from the suburbs of Bordeaux working there. Crossing boundaries and teaching each other something. Making each other larger.

Where and when did you photograph the motifs, during which opportunities? How do you discover suitable motifs?
I was at Château Palmer four times, and covered the complete cycle of the seasons, from the beginning of the preparations following winter, the burying of animal horns and the tying together of branches to share their memories, all the way to the grape harvest and preparations for the next winter. I was there three times for a complete week, out and about with the winegrowers in the vineyards and in the wine warehouse, from sunrise to late in the evening.

Why did you decide to use colour for this work?
Because I want to bring colour into the world. As far as I’m concerned, you only opt for black and white if colour in the picture is disturbing.

Which Leica and which lenses did you shoot with, and how was your experience with the system?
I was travelling with the SL2-S and Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-70 f/2.8 Asph – a great camera! Everything is compact and you simply can’t take a blurred picture. I’m not a technophile, and I’m far too busy dealing with the people I’m photographing to spend much time preparing the camera; so it was the perfect companion – I never missed a moment!

What do you want for your pictures? Is there a message you would like them to convey?
Be gentle with each other, have hope, and know that everything you do has a value that will leave its mark on world history.

Born in Gießen in 1980, Henrike Stahl is an autodidact who assisted on photo shoots with Steve Hiett and Paolo Roversi. She has been working freelance in the field of portraiture since 2001. As a photographic artist, she likes to experiment with her prints, which she paints, folds or processes using other creative techniques. In 2023 she was the second artist to attend the Instants residency programme established by Leica and Château Palmer. Her pictures have been exhibited in Paris, Berlin and Arles, among other places. She lives and works in Germany and France. Find out more about her photography on her website and Instagram channel.

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