Olivia Heussler (born 1957 in Zurich, Switzerland) is a Swiss photographer known for her photos of major political, historical and cultural events.

Life and works

Olivia Heussler (*1957) was trained as a medical technician before becoming a photographer. She studied at Zurich art school, ZHdK as a guest student and lived in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

on an art grant for a while. She lived in

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

during the 1980s and worked in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, East and Western Europe, East-and North Africa and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. Her photo essays have depicted the Youth Movements in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

, Nicaragua during war and peace, the situation of the

Kurds ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ir ...

in Turkey and the

Human Rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

. Her work on the Palestinian Union of Medical Relief Committees was published in Out of Jerusalem (Berne 1993), about labor in Schichtwechsel (Zürich and Bellinzona 1996), about the Gotthard mountain in: Gotthard: Das Hindernis verbindet (Zürich 2003), about Nicaragua from 1984 to 2007 in The Dream of Solentiname (Zürich 2009), about the Youth Movements in Zürich, Sommer 1980 (Zürich 2010), and El sueno de Solentiname (Nicaragua 2010). She is author of several photoessays and her work is present in public and private collections and has been exhibited widely in international Art exhibitions. She instructs students of photography and participates in forums. She lives with her daughter in Zurich,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Political views and activism

: ''"One doesn’t have to photograph the battlefield to show what war is. I document what these movements provoke and can depict that. Most clearly, through those concerned, on whose side I am. "'' (Olivia Heussler) : ''"As a Photographer it was also my duty to teach my subjects to take pictures themselves. … That is what I understand as development aid: give people a craft and instruction so they can work independently. And, given widespread illiteracy, photography is ideal for promoting

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ...

."'' (Olivia Heussler) Olivia Heussler’s philosophy is to do

photojournalism Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

as human rights work inspired by one’s own impulses, e.g. going where one feels one has to go to do one’s work. With her choice of regions and localities, Heussler does not go by media attention, but travels independently, often joining colleagues of other professions, be they foreigners or local activists. This is the method followed in her most acclaimed photojournalist series from

Kurdistan Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, Kurdish la ...

and

Solo exhibitions

1986 ''Nicaragua'', Produzentengalerie, Zurich
1987 ''Nicaragua'', Galería Fernando Gordillo, Managua
1988 ''Nicaragua'', Nikon Live Galerie, Zurich
1991 ''Von Zeit zu Zeit'', Galerie Mitte, Dresden
1991 ''Bildbruchbild'', University of Zürich
1993 ''Out of Jerusalem'', Photoforum PasquArt, Bienne
1994 ''Occupied women'', Saint Gervais, Geneva
1995 ''Occupied women'', Months of Photography, Bratislava
1996 ''Peoples in Zones of Conflict'', Zafta Municipality, Haifa 1996 ''From time to time'', Galleria La Rada, Locarno
2002 ''Vie de femmes'', Federal office of migration, Berne
2002 ''Vie de femmes'', Segment gallery Hofburg OSCE, Vienna
2002 ''Vie des femmes'', United Nations Office, Vienna
2003
Via Gottardo
', Leica Galerie, Bienne
2003 ''Via Gottardo'', Museo nazionale, Ospizio San Gottardo
2009 ''Der Traum von Solentiname'

br /> 2010 ''Zürich, Sommer 1980''
messagesalon downtown, Perla Mode
Zurich]
2014 ''Zurich''. Photobastei Zürich
2017 ''Contres Pouvoirs'', Halle au Blé, Altkirch, France
2019 ''Zurich, the 80s'', Swiss Embassy, Belgrade, Serbia

Books published in English

''Jenseits von Jerusalem
, Out of Jerusalem''">Jerusalem">''Jenseits von Jerusalem
, Out of Jerusalem'' (Exhibition in Photoforum Pasquart in Biel, 7–20 June 1993), Texts: Martin Woker, Ruchama Marton, Sumaya Farhat Naser. Translation into English: Evan Scott Porter. Ed. Esther Woerdehoff. (Text in both English and German) Bern: Benteli, 1993. * ''25 Years Rebuilding Lives: United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture'', Kälin, Walter. Photos by Olivia Heussler. Geneva: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2006. (English), (French.), (Spanish)
''Der Traum von Solentiname/The dream of Solentiname''
Photography Nicaragua 1984-2007, Texts: Sergio Ramirez, Martin Heller and Olivia Heussler in German, English and a textbooklet in Spanish. 220 b/w and color pictures. Edition Patrick Frey, Zürich 2009
''Zürich, Summer 1980''
over 100 b/w photographs. With an essay by Stefan Zweifel, in German and English, Edition Patrick Frey, Zürich 2010
''El sueño de Solentiname/The dream of Solentiname''
Photography Nicaragua 1984-2007 Texts: Sergio Ramirez, Martin Heller and Olivia Heussler in Spanish and English, 220 b/w and color pictures. UCA-IHNCA, Managua Nicaragua 2010

Examples of photojournalist work by subtitle

I
''The Face of Human Rights''
ref>''The Face of Human Rights'', edited by Walter Kälin, Lars Müller, Judith Wyttenbach. Baden: Lars Müller Publishers, 2004. 720 pages with about 500 photos, the following photos by Olivia Heussler can be found: Prohibition of discrimination: Czech Republic, Brno, 1992: "Death for Gipsies!" (p. 109 above right), Guatemala, 1985: During a campaign by a women’s group (''Grupo de Apoyo Mutuo''), formed to help one another (p. 143 above), Honduras, Tegucigalpa, April 1984: Honduran military generals during a meeting (p. 143 below), Switzerland, Zurich, March 1993: Refugees from Sri Lanka learning German (p. 149), Protection of private life: Italien, Brindisi, 1992: Police raid in the quarter ''il Paradiso'' (p. 339 above), The right to work: Pakistan, Quetta, 2001: Three Hazara boys work as carpet weavers 10 hours a day, seven days a week and for $30 a month (p. 511), Nicaragua, Mulukukú, 1994: Women of the MLO (''Maria Luisa Ortiz'') Women’s cooperative are instructed in their carpentry workshop (p. 516), The Protection of property: Switzerland, Zurich, 1988: Allotment garden (p. 531 above), Fair trial and prohibition of torture: Turkey, Ankara, December 1990: Judge Muhittin Mihcak during a trial against three Kurdish lawyers (p. 584 below), Guatemala, Guatemala City, 1985: People standing in a public place in front of a list of missing persons (p. 605 below), Political rights and freedom of expression: Romania, Sibiu, 20 May 1990: The Roma family Mihai going to vote for the first time (p. 646), Romania, Sibiu, 20 May 1990: Romani woman Mrs Mihai is going to vote for the first time in 40 years (p. 653 above). Some more contributions in
"Kurdistan. In the Shadow of History"
by Susan Meiselas, New York

External links

online photoarchive for download

Heussler biography

Heussler’s scholarships

Heussler’s group exhibitions

Heussler cooperated on

Material on Olivia Heussler

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heussler, Olivia 20th-century Swiss photographers 1957 births Living people Artists from Zürich Swiss artists Swiss women photographers 21st-century Swiss photographers 20th-century women photographers 21st-century women photographers