Documentary photography forum:
14. April 2010 – 10. July 2010

Claude Baechtold & Riverboom
Switzerland versus the world

What is typically Swiss? What is the same, and what is different, in Afghanistan, China and the United States? “If you grow up in Switzerland – and I know what I’m talking about – you tend to get a bit bored,” writes French-speaking Swiss journalist Serge Michel. Life is happening somewhere else. In 2002, he and photographers Claude Baechtold and Paolo Woods took a trip to Afghanistan. Around 9,000 photos brought Claude Baechtold back home. And because he’s Swiss and really likes things to be orderly, he sorted all of them into categories. On the left you’ll see a selection of nine photos in a particular category; on the right is the best picture in the series. Baechtold’s Best Afghanistan is the name of the alternative travel guide published in 2006 by Abrams (New York). Since then further series have appeared in collaboration with photographer Gabriele Galimberti, featuring places like Beijing, Texas and Switzerland. Claude Baechtold efficiently brings order to the world, cheerfully sorting Robidog poop containers, sportspeople, weapons and local delicacies into categories, and comparing Switzerland with China, Afghanistan, and the USA.

From 1991 to 1996, Claude Baechtold (born 1972) studied at the Haute école d’art et de design (ECAL) in Lausanne. He traveled to Iran in 2001, Afghanistan in 2002 and 2003, Iraq in 2004, and the North Pole in 2006, and lived in Beijing from 2007 to 2009. In 2002 he founded the Riverboom publishing house with journalist Serge Michel (born 1969) and photographer Paolo Woods (born 1971). In 2002 Claude Baechtold came first in the Swiss Federal Design Competition, and in 2005 he won first prize in the Vevey International Photo Awards.
www.riverboom.com