Monday 23 April 2012

Esaias Baitel. Zonen.

Untitled Document
Baitel, Esaias. Zonen. Stockholm: Bokomotiv, 1982. First Edition. Oblong 4to, 144pp. Printed boards as issued. First and only edition. Numerous Black & White plates. Introduction and afterword in Swedish. Boards a little rubbed to edges. More images available on request. VG+. Hardcover.

Scarce. From Bokomotiv: "In the nineteen seventies, photographer Esaias Baitel lived in France, in the Parisian suburb of Aubervilliers, for five years, which, among other things, resulted in a book and an exhibition that has toured the world... ...The Zone describes a neighborhood where motor bikes, rock and roll, and swastikas go hand in hand. In order to get close to these "Rockers", Esaias had to tell them that he was a Swede of Walloon origin. To introduce himself as a Jew in this environment would not have been cool. The photos do not show lost or mislead youths, but take us very close to a integrated subculture, with entire families and small children. / There are a lot of films and documentaries about the problems that immigrants encounter in France. Here we get to see the pictures of the other side. Confrontations are not hard to imagine. Esaias Baitel's photos pointed towards the future. In the nineteen seventies, he documented something that later was to erupt throughout Europe: the different forms and shapes of neo nazism. The photos are accompanied by Esaias Baitel's texts, describing his experiences living among the Rockers." An important, intimate and chilling work.