Samantha Dietmar

MExico

A Photo Book – Eine fotografisches Reise durch Mexikos während der Vorwahlkampfzeit im Jahr 2006 / A unique photographic journey in Black and White through Mexico during the presidential elections in the year 2006

Crowdfunding Film MExico
MExico
MExico - Quintana Roo, Cancun (Rincón Rupestre)
MExico
MExico - Cuidad de México, 1st of may
MExico
MExico- Chiapas, Oventic
MExico
MExico - Veracruz, Xalapa
MExico
MExico - Tlaxcala, Apizaco
MExico
MExico - Veracruz, Xalapa
MExico
MExico - Tlaxcala, Acuitlapilco
MExico
MExico - Tlaxcala, San Pedro Tlalcuapan

Crowdfunding zur Realisierung des Fotobuchs MExico im Kehrer Verlag ist bis 30. September zu finden auf – Find Crowdfunding MExico here: www.kickstarter.com

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Samantha Dietmar begleitete 2006 in Mexiko „La Otra Campaña“ der Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN), die parallel zum offiziellen Wahlkampf für die Präsidentschaftswahlen inmitten eines politisch aufgeheizten Klimas stattfand.

Bereits zu Beginn ihres Aufenthalts entwickelte sich die Serie weg von einer reinen Fotoreportage hin zu einer sehr persönlichen Arbeit mit vielen Facetten. Dietmar spiegelt kritisch Potential, Kultur und Schönheit Mexikos, wie auch Armut und Unterdrückung. Konsequent richtet sie den Fokus auf die alltägliche Ebene: Zwischen Präsidentschaftswahlkampf und zapatistischer Kampagne, zwischen dem Weltwasserforum und Arbeiterdemonstrationen, zwischen Tourismus und Lebensalltag entstehen Räume und Situationen, die sich als Spuren sichtbarer Wirklichkeit in Dietmars Motive einschreiben. In der Zusammenstellung der Fotografien verdichtet sich die Fülle von Szenen und Ereignissen und aus der Summe der Einzelbilder entfaltet sich eine Erzählung über Mexiko, die gleichsam ein- und mehrdeutig ist.

Samantha Dietmar
„MExico“
mit einem Essay von John Berger
114 Abbildungen in Schwarz-Weiß
144 Seiten
Deutsch / Englisch / Spanisch
Konzept und Editing: Samantha Dietmar, Sabine Schmid

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Samantha Dietmar is launching this kickstarter campaign to help raise funds for covering the costs of publishing her photographic project on Mexico from the year 2006 in a book under the title MExico. ME and Mexico.

For this project she travelled with a Mexican photographer from January to May 2006 all over the south and middle part of the country. She documented the election campaign „La Otra Campaña“ of Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN), which was organized at the same time as the official presidential election campaign, in a difficult political climate.

The „Other Campaign“ – unarmed Zapatista alternative – which promoted an anticapitalist alliance to the public, was lead by subcomandante Marcos. Dietmar had the occasion to accompany him on parts of his travels through the country by integrating a group of journalists for alternative media.

>From the very beginning of her stay in Mexico, what started as a photoreportage, became more and more a photographic journal with a larger view. Her Mexican journal mirrors in a very questioning way the power, the culture and the beauty of Mexico, but also its poverty and the repression.

In a very consequent way she focusses on the importance of everyday life: From the presidential election campaign to Zapatist campaigns, from the World Water Forum (with Danielle Mitterand) to the 1st of May Workers’ demonstrations, from tourists to the country people – these photos reflect our time and the world we live in. With their artistic approach they are at the same time a very personal document.

Dietmar’s very personal approach and individual way of exploring the world creates a vision of unity. Following her aesthetic strategy, she searches, finds and looks very closely at what she found. In presenting these individual black and white photographs, which like entries in a diary are connected with her personal experiences, she develops her story about Mexico, a story which is straight forward on the first glance, but full of details when you look closer at it, and therefore has not lost anything of its freshness and importance for today. Cracks and scratches seem to appear on the surface of Dietmar’s photos, they have this fragmentary, unfinished character, which gives them their special authenticity. Often she does not clearly focus on the people she takes the portrait of, the visible grain adds to this impression of disintegration. Photos of places and landscapes, details, rooms, complete the picture Dietmar paints of the situations and moments she witnessed.

Samantha Dietmar’s journey through Mexico came to a brutal end in San Salvador Atenco, where she photographed violent clashes between the inhabitants of this town, left wing activists and the police: she was arrested, and shortly afterwards expulsed from the country.

This work of 4000 negatives, voluminous, but somehow unfinished, has now been edited by Samantha Dietmar in collaboration with Sabine Schmid.

Samantha Dietmar

„MExico“
with an essay by John Berger
114 black and white photographs
144 pages
English/Spanish/German
Concept and editing: Samantha Dietmar, Sabine Schmid