Shane Lavalette - Still (Noon)

In May 2017, the Fotostiftung Schweiz commissioned American photographer Shane Lavalette to photograph a dozen Swiss towns with a view to piecing together a portrait of the country as a whole, away from the usual stereotypes of mountain panoramas, lakes and fondue pots. He shot Carona, Gais, Rüderswil, Saignelégier, Saint-Saphorin, Sainte-Croix, Schwyz, Stammheim, Vicosoprano, Visperterminen, Wil and Zuoz. About eighty years ago this was the itinerary of Theo Frey, one of the leading figures in early Swiss photojournalism. Regarded as the European pioneer of long-term documentary projects and a “subtle chronicler of village life” (NZZ 1997 obituary), Frey photographed the same villages for the Swiss National Exhibition in 1939. Still (Noon) juxtaposes these old and new views of rural life in Switzerland to offer up an unusual and moving portrait of a nation. Thanks to Edition Patrick Frey (Zurich). 

156 pages, 32 x 26.7cm, hardcover, Edition Patrick Frey (Zurich).