This is what it's all about.
The book «.quantum: in action point by point» shows over 130 people who are working for a better world: for environmental and climate protection and refugees or against right-wing extremism. With my 70-year-old camera, I have taken portraits of them over the last three years, which are now compiled in a large-format book with short texts and drawings. With your support, you are helping to ensure that the book, which is very expensive and produced entirely in Switzerland, will be available at an affordable price of 75 francs.
«.quantum: in action point by point» - Size: 264 pages; Content: approx. 120 photos, approx. 14 pictures/graphics, approx. 35 pages of text; Format: 275x275mm; Publisher: Edizione RAGAZZO; ISBN: 978-3-033-11324-4
Pre-orders are welcome at the following e-mail address: mail@ragazzo.net
My project is special because ...
Sometimes I get the feeling that we live in a world in which only capital interests count, territorial claims are asserted by force, the language used in politics and society is increasingly crude and environmental and climate protection is met with a shrug of the shoulders.
Nevertheless, the following is central for me and gives me hope: I have met many people who are committed to good coexistence, who are struggling for a sustainable future and who will not be placated by seemingly simple, populist ’solutions’. They are committed to a better world through their actions, point by point, quantum by quantum.
Since 2022, I have photographed these people in Switzerland and Germany with their consent. I used my 70-year-old Rolleiflex camera, which I inherited from my grandmother, to take the pictures. It has accompanied me in my art work for many years now. Analogue photographs have something truthful for me; the characteristics of my old camera can express the characters I am interested in more clearly (or perhaps differently) than is possible with modern cameras. The work in the darkroom also plays a special role here. Because the transfer of the photographs to photographic paper and their development seems like an almost magical process when the portrait subjects appear on the paper.
In addition to the photographs, ’.quantum’ also contains some pictures and graphics that were created last year in the artists’ village of Bussana Vecchia in Italy. I stayed there for a month and worked intensively on the subject with pencil and paint. The photos and pictures are supplemented by a few texts about my experiences and explanations of the context of the actions portrayed. These texts are written in Italian, German and English. And, because I am generally fascinated by old and analogue technology, I typed the entire text in the book on an old typewriter.
This is what I need backing for.
The book is self-published by ’Edizione RAGAZZO’. Apart from the production costs, namely printing and binding, and editing, translations and proofreading, I can realise everything myself. However, the production costs in particular are immense, totalling over 20,000 francs. This large sum should not be fully reflected in the price of the book. I want to make the book, my favourite project, available to as many people as possible and it has to be affordable. It should set a hopeful example.