athias Braschler was born near Aarau, in Switzerland in 1969. In 1992, he began studying geography and modern history at the University of Zurich. After two years, he broke off his studies to start working as a photographer. He worked as a freelancer for various newspapers and magazines in Switzerland before moving to New York in 1998, where he realized his first book, Madison Avenue. For the next few years, he lived and worked in New York. Monika Fischer was born in Switzerland’s St. Gallen Rhine valley in 1971. While studying romance languages and German literature at the University of Zurich, she began working at the Zurich Opera House as assistant dramaturgist and assistant director. She worked together with various renowned directors over the course of several years. In 2006 she completed a postgraduate study in scenography with an executive master of art degree. 2003 was the start of a close collaboration between Mathias Braschler and Monika Fischer as a photography team on the occasion of the portrait project About Americans, which led the occasion of the portrait project About Americans, which led the two straight across the United States, shooting portraits of Americans.
The following year the two survived a near fatal car crash on the Interstate outside of Zurich. In 2005/06 they realized the project Faces of Football with the ideological support of FIFA, a collection of close up portraits of the 30 biggest football stars. For this work they won a World Press Award and an ADC Bronze Award in Germany.
One year before the beginning of the Beijing Olympic Games, they started an epic seven month journey, through all of China. On their 30000 kilometres road trip, they shot portraits of Chinese of various social backgrounds in all areas of this vast country. Their China work will be published as a book by STEIDL in 2009 and will be shown in several exhibitions.
Braschler and Fischer have published several books with their work and their photographs have been shown in many galleries and museums in Europe and the United States.
Today, they live in Zurich and New York. Along with their regular work as a team on their own projects, they also carry out commissions for various international magazines and clients. Monika Fischer and Mathias Braschler travelled to South Africa’s cities, townships and remote rural areas, and found a people in love with the beautiful game. In townships, it is the favourite pastime. In middle-class suburbs, it is a common sight on plasma screens. And on Robben Island during the long night of apartheid, prisoners said it kept them alive. Football touches the lives of millions of South Africans. Now they hope it will change their lives, too. The World Cup was the most important moment for the country since the dawn of multiracial democracy in 1994. Jacob Zuma, the president, says it is “the single greatest opportunity we have ever had to showcase our diversity and potential to the world”. And Sepp Blatter, president of Fifa, describes the first World Cup on African soil as “a love story”. Fertile territory, then, for Swiss photographers, who spent March 2010 visiting cities, townships and remote rural areas to capture South Africans’ fascination with football. The result is an extraordinary glimpse of a nation about to become the centre of the sporting world. “We took pictures wherever we saw football played. People in Africa really love football.” The exercise challenged some preconceptions about South Africa. Braschler explains: “We have equipment worth about $50,000 and were going to townships. People said we were crazy. But everyone was very welcoming, and made sure we were OK. They were delighted when they learned we wanted to photograph their favourite game.” Football, unlike those other colonial games cricket and rugby, is played mainly by black South Africans. It became woven into community culture, just as in working-class Britain, and gained such mass popularity in townships that it was inevitably aligned with political resistance during white minority rule. Soweto, the heart of the liberation struggle, gave birth to the clubs Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs, while at Robben Island inmates formed an association with its own rules, disciplinary committee and leagues; many said it gave them hope and purpose. What is less well remembered is that in the 70s white South Africans turned out in huge numbers to watch teams with guest stars such as Geoff Hurst and Kevin Keegan. But social and political changes led a simple, persistent division: football is a black sport, rugby a white one. As Braschler says, “We saw only one white person playing football.” Yet it is hoped that this World Cup will unite the country. In April, when tickets went on sale, people queued for up to 20 hours. Fears persist that it will benefit politicians, tourists and Fifa, and ultimately exclude the poor black majority living in the shadow of new stadiums, but there is no doubt that a South African World Cup will conjure an atmosphere like no other. “People are very excited and proud that South Africa is hosting the World Cup,” Braschler says. “Many of those we met won’t be able to afford to go to a game, but they’re very happy it’s there.” For more information or contact Mathias and Monika just visit their websie at the link at the end of this pictures.
www.braschlerfischer.com