Humans of Switzerland

Humans of Switzerland is a photoblog featuring street portraits and interviews collected in Switzerland. Started in February 2014 by photographer Alexander Beck, the collection of photographs and videos is steadily growing. Humans of Switzerland has been received very positively and has developed a steady following including national online media coverage.
Beck, who is British by birth and has - for the greater part of his life - lived in Germany and Switzerland, grew up in the Hanseatic City of Hamburg. Having studied photography, photo-media, printing and the history of photography at the tertiary Wiltshire College and holding a degree with honours from the Humanities Department at , Beck started his career as a recruitment consultant in the year 2000 in London, then worked in Frankfurt for a couple of years, until settling in Zurich and Bern from 2002 onwards when he also started working as a part-time commercial reportage and headshot photographer.
History
After a near fatal tram accident in the summer of 2013, which left Beck much debilitated and having to learn to walk again, his never ceasing interest in the human condition led him in search of a photographic social documentary project picturing Swiss people and society he encounters in daily life. While reading an article in the journal entitled "A 'Photographic Census' Captures New York's Characters", about Humans of New York photoblog, Beck took it upon himself to undertake a similar such project in Switzerland.
Major Differences to Humans of New York
In contrast to Stanton's Humans of New York photoblog, Beck doesn't always interview his subjects or ask permission to take their photograph. Instead, Humans of Switzerland focuses on people from a much more candid and dynamic perspective, more akin to the traditional genre of street photography. In a further stark contrast to Humans of New York, which is photographed entirely in colour, Beck prefers monochrome photography, depicting most of his subjects in black and white.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu