Jun 28, 2019 @ 11:15 CET

Kusters_jun28Dear Ivan,

Traveling, driving, chasing the sun here in Germany I can’t help but think about your Nelson image and the events that are unfolding as we speak. Having been trained as a political scientist in a past life, I’m deeply upset.

Yes, the cynics among us might tell you that self-serving manipulation is simply part of the human condition. But cynicism has never solved anything; it is an intellectually destructive position, and the weakest of all moral stances and attitudes.

I’m driving through a European landscape where the same nationalist fervor grew in the beginning of last century. Power-hungry political bullshitters, growing xenophobia everywhere, creeping into our societies, allowing unspeakable things to happen. Have we forgotten?

I literally fail to find my sunshine today. Driving towards the edge of the clouds I see the blue sky in the distance, yet I fail to reach it. The winds are not in my favour. As I visit the remains of the former Nazi concentration camp in Hinzert, I see today’s rain falling on history. Suddenly the work that I’m creating on this journey throughout Europe seems even more urgent to show.

I really hope we didn’t forget. As yours, my heart too, relentlessly pounding inside my chest as I drive home in silence. The distant hilltop trees my witness, as they must have been then.

/// #image_by_image is an ongoing conversation between photographers Ivan Sigal and Anton Kusters@ivansigal @antonkusters on Instagram ///