Lars Engström; Jorg Glascher - Värmland / Lutherland - 2017

Photobooks "Värmland" by Lars Engström (2017) & "Lutherland" by Jorg Glascher (2017)

"Värmland" by Lars Engström (2017)
Back cover text:
Värmland is a region in the Nordic region stretching across the sixtieth parallel, where I was born on a spring day in 1946. Without thinking much about how the landscape was shaped from the Ice Age to modern forestry and industrial history, I grew up in Torsby, the only child of a forester and his artistically gifted wife. After high school, I moved, like so many others, to Stockholm. I entered Konstfack, made friends and a place to live and enjoyed myself. But after fifteen years, I returned to Värmland and started a family. My mother was interested in photography at an early age. The first camera was purchased in the 1920s and during my upbringing, the camera was always with me. During my first years at Konstfack, I focused on sculpture, crafts and design. Over time, however, my interest in photography took over and I became a photographer. The pictures in this book were not taken on someone's behalf. They are moments captured in the moment. When the camera has always been there, there is a lot to sift through. What remains are the coincidences when the light, composition and movement are right. But that is not enough. The picture only lifts when there is another element. Something mysterious not clearly stated. Something I could never plan or arrange in advance. So here I am after fifty years with a pile of pictures. Each one was captured for a fraction of a second and together they hardly form a single second of a half-century that has been so eventful in the Värmland landscape. No comprehensive picture but scattered moments of light, movement and life, which when I lay them out form patterns. The pictures depict people with connections to Värmland. They often appear with a special presence. You just have to thank and accept. It is the people in the landscape that this book is about. As I have met them!

Publisher: Nirak
Pages: 96 pages
Cover: Harback
Measure 23 x 23 cm
Language: Swedish
ISBN 9789198015911
Year: 2017
Condition: light traces of usage


"Lutherland" by Jorg Glascher (2017)
500 years ago, Martin Luther shook the power of the Catholic Church with his 95 Theses and triggered a fundamental change in the Christian faith. However, the Reformation initiated by Luther did not remain an internal religious movement; rather, it has gained a social and cultural significance that continues to this day.
The Reformation not only shaped the coexistence of church communities, but also everyday life in all parts of Germany, Europe and many regions of the world.

The geographical starting point of this movement was the region of Central Germany, where religion no longer plays a role for large parts of the population: In "Lutherland" church buildings stand empty, church departures exceed the number of entries, Leipzig hosts the largest Wave-Gotik-Treffen in Germany, while secular xenophobic groups like Pegida march weekly through Dresden and other cities in the name of a Christian-Jewish West.

Against this background, Leipzig photographer Jorg Glascher has been traveling through the heartland of the Reformation, but also through other regions of Germany, since October 2015.
He set out in search of the presence of the Christian faith and encountered the people and landscapes where Luther's ideas have remained alive. With his camera he accompanied a Leipzig confirmation group as well as the Bishop of Magdeburg, a church service in the Port of Hamburg and the funeral of Helmut Schmidt, visitors to the Dresden Frauenkirche or the Christival in Karlsruhe and many other locations.
Glascher's photographs view the practice and everyday life of faith from an attentive distance and with cool sympathy. They capture moments of introspection and contemplation, but also situations of solidarity and community.

Publisher: Evangelical Publishing House
Publish Date: 2017
Pages: 128
Language: German
Type: Hardcover
Size: 28 x 22,5 cm
ISBN: 9783374049554
Condition: good with light traces of usage (small hole on the spine)