by Olivia Heussler with texts from Sergio Ramirez Mercado and Martin Heller
Spring 1984, Zurich-based photographer Olivia Heussler travelled to Nicaragua for the first time. She wanted to experience at first hand how the various political factions would turn the 1979 Sandinista revolution into a success story. During the civil war with the Contras, she lived in Managua and worked as a photographer, after a while also receiving assignments from the local press. Some of her pictures have become icons of the international press history.
Olivia Heussler has succeeded in putting together an enormously impressive and multi-faceted portrait of Nicaragua covering almost 25 years. The book, marking the 30th anniversary of the revolution, presents her collection in its entirety for the first time. Her commitment to the people and her aspiration to provide an unembellished view of the war, its background and its aftermath are reflected in the diary-like texts that accompany the images. Martin Heller and Sergio Ramirez have contributed two exclusive texts with background information. After the overthrow of the dictatorship in 1979, Sergio Ramirez was one of five members of the ruling junta and subsequently served as Vice-President from 1984 to 1990. In 1995, after disagreements in particular with the former and current Sandinist President, Daniel Ortega, he started up a party of his own.
»...Her photos are probably the most extensive chronicle of political events; showing the ups and downs of human society in Nicaragua during the past 25 years...«
Neue Zürcher Zeitung, June, 16th 2009
Spanish-english version available at:
http://www.ihnca.edu.ni/publicacion.php/186
Edition Patrick Frey Zürich
