Photographer Thomas Kern (b.1965) has for many years visited the island of Haiti to document its turbulent history. Reserved yet intimate, Kern鈥檚 images capture scenes of everyday life in one of the world鈥檚 poorest countries; his work a testament to the individual efforts and moments of happiness that glimmer within a nation marked by natural catastrophes, political instability and ecological disaster. Looking to the past, his pictures also hint at Haiti鈥檚 history of slavery and its connection with the spiritual world.听‘s upcoming presentation showcases 15 years of the photographer’s work, highlighting his most extensive project to date.
Co-founder of Swiss Photo Agency Lookat Photos, Kern made a name for himself in the 1990s with reportages on the impacts of war and conflict in locations across Northern Ireland and the former Yugoslavia. Following his first encounter with Haiti in 1997, his relationship with the Caribbean island has provided Kern with an expansive oeuvre of documentary works; all of which remain sensitive to the common clich茅 that he too is an outsider who can never really do justice to the country鈥檚 complexities.
By utilising basic equipment 鈥 a Rolleiflex and analogue black-and-white film 鈥 Kern鈥檚 images radiate an instantaneous and spontaneous effect, whilst maintaining a stable and carefully composed fa莽ade. The interrelationship between standstill and dynamism becomes a central theme, and effortlessly draws viewers into the everyday events occurring in Haiti.听The Haitian writer Yanick Lahens comments on Kern鈥檚 photographs: 鈥淚n Haiti you have to accept it all: the shade and the extremely beautiful lights. They continually guide us back again to the shadow and light in ourselves. The creativity keeps us alive; it is our oxygen.鈥
Thomas Kern, Haiti. The Perpetual Liberation, 17 September 2016 – 29 January 2017, Fotostiftung Schweiz, Winterthur.
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Credits
1.听Thomas Kern,听Vor der Eisfabrik, Rue des Ramparts, Port-au-Prince, 1997 漏 Thomas Kern.
