zonezero.com fotografen -
neue folge

Die Website »www.zonezero.com« wird in Mexiko City gemacht. In einem
Land der »Dritten Welt« also. Aber das beeinflußt die redaktionelle Politik
der Site nur am Rande. Zwar werden hier mehr Fotografen aus Mexiko
und dem erstlichen Lateinamerika publiziert, als hierzulande. Aber man
findet bei »zonezero.com« ebenso viele Portfolios von Fotografen aus an-
deren Weltgegenden wie den USA, Europa, Australien etc.

Wie das Fotorama ist »zonezero.com« eine Art Portal für zeitgenössische
Fotografie, mit integrierten Galerien und einer Zeitschrift - siehe das Menü
der Site durch Klick auf das Thumbnail gleich unten.



Sorge für den weltoffenen Geist und die thematische Breite der Site sorgt
ihr Chefredakteur Pedro Mayer, ein erfolgreicher und weitgereister Bild-
journalist mit Wohnort Mexico City.

Vor Jahren hatte ich die Gelegenheit, Pedro Mayer persönlich kennenzuler-
nen. In Graz, als es noch die Fotosymposien von Camera Austria dort gab.
Mayer hatte einen Vortrag darüber gehalten, wie der amerikanische Markt
für Fotokunst funktioniert und warum er »eurozentrisch« orientiert ist und
Künstler der »Dritten Welt« kaum Chancen haben, auf ihm zu reüssieren.
Es war das erste Mal, daß ich mit dieser Fragestellung so direkt konfron-
tiert wurde. Das war vor 20 Jahren . . .

Mit ähnlicher Klarsicht hat Pedro Mayer die Bedeutung digitaler Fotografie
und deren digitaler Vermittlung schon sehr früh erkannt. Denn »Zonezero«
ist schon seit 1996 online. Seitdem hat man dort über 400 »Galerien« publi-
ziert. Ob solchem Fleiß kann man nur den Hut ziehn. Siehe die Menüseite
der Galerien durch Klick auf das Thumbnail gleich unten.



Unseren Respekt für die Arbeit bei »Zonezero.com« wollen wir ab jetzt in
der Form zollen, daß wir in unregelmäßigen Abständen auf die neuesten
Galerien auf der Site aufmerksam machen. Die Linkliste gleich unten ist die
erste Folge dieser Serie.

Die Kommentare zu den einzelnen Galerien, die wir mitpublizieren, sind die
originalen von »Zonezero« - daher in Englisch.

There has been no exhibition that we have published in ZoneZero which
has given us more pleasure to publish than the work of Rafael Goldchain
from Canada. The depth of the idea of photographing himself as the various
members (male or female) of his family along several generations, was ter-
rific. However, if this project would have been tried by someone with less
craft than that of Rafael, the outcome might not have been as successful
as it has. His artistic explorations will probably land these portraits along
those of other great masters of photography.

Rafael Goldchain -
Familial Ground
(Canada-Chile)

»Familial Ground is the product of a process that started several years ago
when my son was born. I gradually realized that my new role as parent in-
cluded the responsibility to pass on to my son a familial and cultural inheri-
tance, and that such inheritance would need to be gathered and delivered
in a manner appropriate to his age. My attempts at articulating histories, cul-
tural and familial, public and private, made me acutely aware of how much I
knew of the former, and how little of the latter.." - Rafael Goldchain

Start »Familial Ground«



I suspect that we will see over time how the publication of personal diaries
over the internet, will gather a strong momentum. It seems like an ideal me-
dium for this genre. There is the intimacy of the reader with his screen, much
like in a book, but how many books are being published that are diaries of ba-
sically unknown people? Not many you have to admit. How many publishers
are willing to invest in the production and distribution of a book that does not
have an assured wide audience to begin with? In addition, the internet will
allow us to add »intermedia« (various media that interact with each other, I
am tired of the term multimedia because it stems from an era when the media
were actually considered to be separate from each other, something that no
longer is the case). Stephan Childs from the USA, brings us such a personal
diary, in his » Jacob Wrestling«. We will be bringing you more such diaries
over the coming months.

Stephan Childs -
Jacob Wrestling
(USA)

»Jacob Wrestling is a series of images conceived as an allegorical narrative.
It involves elements of personal experiences, memories, as well as imagined
characters and settings. The text excerpts are drawn from the novel Demian,
written by Herman Hesse.« - Stephan Childs

Start »Jacob Wrestling«



Some time ago we presented the work of the Argentinean photographer Os-
waldo Ancarola, who followed with great dedication the events in the life of
his wife, in an essay » My family has Cancer«. We are very saddened by the
news that his wife has died very recently, and would like to point you in the
direction of a last goodbye that Oswaldo wanted to share with all those who
responded with so much empathy to this diary.

Visit Obituary


Start » My family has Cancer«



Julian Gallo also from Argentina, has impressed us greatly by sending us an
essay done under his guidance, by a group of working professionals, amidst
the economic and political crisis we all know that has been going on in their
country. But in particular we have to admire their effort, as it is one of the very
few examples, where the work submitted to us, had already been assembled
in a digital format by the time it was delivered to us. This, up to now, has hap-
pened very rarely. For the most part it has been our designers and program-
mers in ZoneZero who have had to put together the work we have published.
We welcome the fact that these Argentinean photographers made it their prio-
rity to present the work both in English and Spanish as a finished piece of work.
Julian Gallo, the team leader and teacher, sent us the work the same day he
had been laid off from the newspaper he had been working for, thus joining
the ranks of the hundreds of thousands of unemployed without a safety net.

Destination Lujan
Various artists
(Argentina)

»A group of journalists followed this procession of believers during seventy
kilometers to show through photographs and direct testimonies the motivations
that drive this heterogeneous crowd of nearly one million people, where faith,
devotion and promises are mixed with alcohol and sport fanaticism. We have
explored the possibility that a journalist should think and at the same time be a
narrator, a reporter, a cameraman, a sound person, and editor and a director.
In short, we have shown that the task of a journalist is much broader that is
believed today.« - Julian Gallo

Start »Destination Lujan«



About Pinhole Photography
Various artists

No one can deny that at ZoneZero we have always had an open mind when it
comes to publishing work that wasn't necessarily done with the aid of new tech-
nologies. We are showing this time, for a second occasion, pinhole camera pho-
tography. One could easily argue that this style can be duplicated using digital
cameras and computers. I am sure that in time this will increasingly come to hap-
pen, notwithstanding the present day arguments that the cost of doing it one way,
does not compare with the other. Another argument on the side of the pinhole en-
thusiasts is that there is a great pleasure in doing it that way, as the computer is
still been perceived as a »cold« medium vs. cardboard and tape, as being »warm«.
We certainly have nothing to argue against using pin hole cameras for creating
such photographs, otherwise why would we publish these fine photographs?
Nevertheless, I am a strong advocate of always questioning what we are doing
if for no better reason than to reaffirm what has been done. The photographs
that make up this exhibition were presented in the context of the First National
Encounter of Pinhole Photography, held in the city of Veracruz, Mexico, during
the month of July 2001.

Start Pinhole Photography
Gallery



We believe that the work of Ines Ulanovsky from Argentina, is a very important
reminder to all of us especially now as the clarions of war are blasting at full
strength. At stake are not only the lives of many innocent people, but also the
very notions of a world ruled by laws other than the might of the powerful.

It brings to our attention among other issues what it means when those who
are in power, take the law into their own hands, and murder 30,000 innocent
civilians solely to advance their own ideology, and do so under the total com-
placency (and some would even say complicity) of US foreign policy.

The power of this work is that the images themselves with just a few words
become an impossible discourse to forget. Their humanity is what brings all
of us together.

Nearly 3,000 innocent people were murdered on September 11th, in New York,
and the world has done the right thing by mourning them, and in their memory
show them their due respects and solidarity. However, ten times that many,
thirty thousand, were murdered alone in Argentina, also by terrorists, state-
terrorism, and the world has not yet mourned them accordingly.

Over the recent past we here in ZoneZero, have brought you diverse bodies
of work that in our very modest way attempted to redress such a matter. Each
of the corresponding authors, some of whom we know personally, others we
don't, created a body of unique work that enables us to come closer to their
feelings of hurt.

Our solidarity is as close to their pain as it is with those who perished on Sep-
tember 11th. It is not about knowing the persons who died. We are also them.

Ines Ulanovsky -
Photos of You
(Argentina)

»As a child, pictures of the disappeared drew me in a mysterious way. When-
ever I saw them at a demonstration, I had the feeling that they were not dead.
That they were taking it all in; staring from their pictures. 30,000 photographs
of the disappeared belong in Argentina's picture album." - Ines Ulanovsky

Start »Photos of You«



In a world with all too much pain, it comes as a welcome relief when someone
directs their camera to look at the pleasure of life, these can be simple moments,
yet everlasting to the photographers gaze, such an essay or journey allows us
to rest the eye of the more pleasant moments of our existence.

Diana Blok -
Ay Dios
(Netherlands)

»Ay Dios is the result of a four-month months journey to the island of Curacao.
This visit led to many astonishing insights; I made the streets my place of work
and allowed myself to be led through the theatre of life on the island. Rather than
molding a conscious story, I let the surrounding influences help me visually cre-
ate what I call the 'thread of life'.« - Diana Blok

Start »Ay Dios«



I had met Mario many years ago, but then we lost contact with each other. One
day recently, we had the pleasure of his visit in our studio, and he pulled out a
portfolio of exquisite prints of a body of work done more than forty years ago.
We felt compelled to bring you these images as they revive an era, which for
»political correctness« has altogether vanished from most serious publications.

The photographer provides us with his motivations in the essay that is published
alongside the pictures, and it makes for very interesting reading. However, what
was most important to us is that this specific world, which he depicts, has dis-
appeared. It is not on any endangered species list. It simply is no more, and for
that we are all at a loss. No longer are the rivers as clean, or the women as com-
fortable with a foreigners gaze. In it's place there is today pollution and distrust.
This for some reason is called progress.

Mario Mutschlechner -
Nundeui, at the foot of the sky
(Germany)

»On glancing through my diaries of the late sixties, I found the pre-Columbian de-
scription of the Lower Mixteca as "Nundeui" and its translation "at the foot of the
sky." I adopted both as the title for this exhibit, because it means to be at the en-
trance of the sky, from where I managed to glimpse at this tropical Eden.« - Ma-
rio Mutschlechner

Start »Nundeui«



Fifty Mexican photographers -
Tonantzin-Guadalupe : A Day with Her

»This book speaks about a urban Guadalupe from the XX century, inside our cur-
rent society, efficient and triumphant nowadays, granting and receiving a modern
cult, constellated with signs of the industrial civilization.« - Jose Joaquin Blanco

Start »Tonantzin«



Lauren Greenfield -
Girl Culture
(USA)

»Girl Culture has been my journey as a photographer, as an observer of culture,
as part of the media, a media critic, a woman, a girl.« - Lauren Greenfield

Start »Girl Culture«



Vee Speers -
Bordello
(Australia)

»My idea to tell the story of Bordello came about from my environment, and using
the 1920ies as my inspiration, gave me a more poetic and nostalgic means to fa-
bricate the stylised imagery. Indeed, my interpretation is an idealistic and romantic
view, but nevertheless engages the viewer in more than a narcissist meander
through the mind's desires.« - Vee Speers

Start »Bordello«



Jonathan Moller -
Our Culture is Our Resistance
(USA)

We are very proud because Rigoberta Menchu Tum, a Nobel Peace Prize winner
wrote the introduction to this excellent and strong work by Jonathan Moller.

»Between 1993 and 2001 I worked as a human rights advocate and free-lance
photographer in Guatemala, principally working with indigenous Mayans uprooted
by that country's long and brutal civil war. I spent much of my time in rural areas,
working to support Guatemala's hardest hit displaced and refugee populations in
their struggle for respect of their basic rights.« - Jonathan Moller

Start »Our Culture is
Our Resistance«