The 'With Love and Kisses' edition is a motif by Anne Waak. The cultural journalist and author lives in Berlin and writes non-fiction books in which she examines the phenomena of our time while making realistic, undogmatic pleas for the future. In recent years, she has also published two photo books dealing with the topic of childhood in the broadest sense.
What fascinates FROM about Waak is her boundless interest in our world. She looks into life with a sensitive eye and uncovers treasures that others might overlook. The precise, clear and elegant language of her texts also characterizes her photographs.
The author maintains an extensive photographic archive, including a series of motifs from 2009, which Waak took during her extended stay in Israel-Palestine. From that stay, we chose a motif of the wall in Bethlehem.
Many conversations about questions such as: “What do we want to say?”, “What can we say?” and “How will we say it?” lie behind this selection. In order to provide the edition with context and attitude, Anne Waak wrote the following text:
“In early 2009, I traveled to the West Bank, where I took this photograph in Bethlehem in the shadow of the wall between Israel and the occupied territories. The billboard greeting “Nothing lasts forever” can mean anything. It can be read as a slogan of perseverance to the people under occupation, as fierce self-assertion, as a threat in one direction or the other, or as a gesture of reconciliation. In light of the ongoing Middle East conflict and its recent, increasingly dramatic escalation, however, all I can think of in view of the motif is: Even something that doesn't last forever can last a very, very long time.”
None of us can remember a time when this conflict didn't matter. And it's no secret that we are both stunned and frustrated by the ever-increasing violence in the region. That's why we give a large part of the sales generated by the edition to the organization Standing Together.
Standing Together is a progressive grassroots movement that mobilizes Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel against the occupation and for peace, equality and social justice. As the largest Jewish-Arab organization, it campaigns for an alternative to the current status quo, political change and coexistence through peaceful demonstrations and events. (👁️ Read more about Standing Together.)
The 'With Love and Kisses' edition appears in the classic DIN A6 souvenir format. In order to come as close as possible to the looks and feel of a postcard, the motif was printed in high gloss on 400 g/m card. The edition is 100 prints + 5 APs and is numbered by hand.
