TEXT :　SAYAKA YAMADA
TRANSLATION :　AOI ITO
PHOTOGRAPHY :　SHINYA FUKUDA

Anne Schwalbe is a photographer who’s based in Berlin. In this story, we visited her atelier and asked her about the style of her working process and her daily life.

About her works

—　When did you become interested in photography?

Anne Schwalbe (Anne) :　I was interested in Photography already in school. After school I studied german literature and cultural studies. During that time I had a part-time job as a florist, which was very important because I could work with my hands. Also I liked flowers and learned a lot during that part-time job. I worked part-time for some years. Finally I started studying Photography in 2003 at Ostkreuzschule in Berlin. In 2011 I started working as a freelance photographer.

—　When did you start self-publishing your photobooks?

Anne :　Since 2010. I can’t believe it’s been 7 years already. Recently I published “There is a white horse in my garden”. At first I thought about ordering the boxes for this book but then I started making them myself, I realized it was really fun and I like the rough edges. This way you can reduce the costs as well. I get tired if I’m always by my desk, so I was able to make something with my hands. That is so important!

—　Do you have a favorite photographer?

Anne :　Well, this is a tough question. I don’t have a favourite photographer. There are some who I like. But I just get inspired by so many other things: fabric, ceramics, nature, wooden things, things that are in my garden. I am really interested in many other crafts or trades.

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Anne demonstrated the process of bookmaking while answering our questions. It is difficult to mass-produce as the process is all done by hand, but it was clear that each and one of them were made very carefully.

“There is a white horse in my garden”

In this story Anne introduced us to her work “There is a white horse in my garden”. Up until now, all her photographic books are made through self publishing, and the works can be seen in her official website here.