Olivia Heussler is a Swiss photographer known for her photos of major political, historical and cultural events.
Life and Works
Olivia Heussler 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 on an art grant for a while. She lived in Nicaragua during the 1980s and worked in Israel, Palestine, Turkey, East and Western Europe, East-and North Africa and Pakistan. Her photo essays have depicted the Youth Movements in Zürich, Nicaragua during war and peace, the situation of the Kurds in Turkey and the Human Rights in Latin America. Her work on the Palestinian Union of Medical Relief Committees was published in Out of Jerusalem, about labor in Schichtwechsel, about the Gotthard mountain in: Gotthard: Das Hindernis verbindet, about Nicaragua from 1984-2007 in The Dream of Solentiname, about the Youth Movements in Zürich, Sommer 1980, and El sueno de Solentiname. 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.
Political Views & Activism
Olivia Heussler’s philosophy is to do photojournalism 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, Palestine and Nicaragua.
Solo Exhibitions
1986 Nicaragua, Produzentengalerie, Zurich
1987 Nicaragua, Galería Fernando Gordillo, Managua
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
over 100 b/w photographs. With an essay by Stefan Zweifel, in German and English, Edition Patrick Frey, Zürich 2010
, 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 Heussler’s photojournalist work by subtitle
In the following photos by Olivia Heussler can be found: Prohibition of discrimination: Czech Republic, Brno, 1992: "Death for Gipsies!", Guatemala, 1985: During a campaign by a women’s group, formed to help one another, Honduras, Tegucigalpa, April 1984: Honduran military generals during a meeting, Switzerland, Zurich, March 1993: Refugees from Sri Lanka learning German, Protection of private life: Italien, Brindisi, 1992: Police raid in the quarter il Paradiso, 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, Nicaragua, Mulukukú, 1994: Women of the MLO Women’s cooperative are instructed in their carpentry workshop, The Protection of property: Switzerland, Zurich, 1988: Allotment garden, Fair trial and prohibition of torture: Turkey, Ankara, December 1990: Judge Muhittin Mihcak during a trial against three Kurdish lawyers, Guatemala, Guatemala City, 1985: People standing in a public place in front of a list of missing persons, Political rights and freedom of expression: Romania, Sibiu, 20 May 1990: The Roma family Mihai going to vote for the first time, Romania, Sibiu, 20 May 1990: Romani woman Mrs Mihai is going to vote for the first time in 40 years. Some more contributions in: by Susan Meiselas, New York
