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Naval Boliviana - war navy without sea

Frank Schultze

Introduction

In this edition of Photostory Weekly we pay some attention to the work of Frank Schultze. The German Photographer won an honorable mention of the photostory 2009 with his photo-series 'Naval Boliviana'

'Naval Boliviana’ - war navy without sea.
In 1879 Bolivia lost the saltpeter war against Chile and consequently its entrance to the Pacific Ocean. Stubbornly the poor country maintains a war navy. The Admiral Jose Luis Cabas Villegas sees the sea only on paintings in his office. From there he commands its 5000 sailors, cadets and officers. Approximately 60 boats are distributed on five locations of the navy at the Titicaca Lake and the border rivers in the jungle of Bolivia.

By Frank Schultze

Dortmund, Germany
Documentary photographer, part of the agency Zeitenspiegel. http://www.frankschultze.de

In Context

"The spectator hears the roaring sound of commands and smells the sweaty strain."

By Ernie Buts

The photo report 'Naval Boliviana’ is captivating, but in the first place not because of its navy subject, since a lot of photographers treated this topic already. The series attracts attention because of its remarkable photos. The colours in the picture flicker around and non-straight horizons give a dynamic view. But there is more in this series than only the esthetical part. Looking at his photographs you can tell Frank Schultze was really able to get inside of the Bolivian navy. With his camera and wide-angle lens he approached the subject very closely and pulls the viewer with him into the liveliness of the pictures. The spectator does not only see the Bolivian navy but also hears the roaring sound of commands, smells the sweaty strain and feels the waves of.. exactly… the Titicaca Lake.

‘A war navy without sea’ When the context of this story gets through, the understanding why this photo-series distinguishes itself from all the other navy-photos is obvious. The context changes the admiration that came at first while seeing these hard-working marines. Suddenly there is another feeling; the spectator is tossed to and fro between respect and a pitiful feeling. Looking at the pictures there slowly grows a consciousness. It’s an awareness of something bigger; these photos not only tell us a story about the Bolivian navy, but it tells all about a strong belief. It shows perseverance and I can imagine Frank Schultze recognized himself in this.


Ernie Buts

Ernie Buts is a Dutch documentary photographer based in Amsterdam. She is specialized in portraits and photo reportages and has a special interest in social topics. Besides commissions in photography and web-journalism, she works on her own artistic projects. http://www.erniebuts.nl


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Creation - About the idea and process

"A journalist needs to get close to the people, you have to understand."

Frank Schultze is a German photographer. Born in 1959 in Daun in the Eifel region. Schultze studied photojournalism in Dortmund. Since completing his studies in 1992, he has worked for important German and international magazines and newspapers.

Frank Schultze joined Zeitenspiegel in May, 2000. This agency is a cooperative and democratic organization. No better description of their intention is defined on its own site: 'We became journalists because we want to tell stories. Sometimes those stories are right outside our door, sometimes they require weeks of arduous travel. But no story can be researched in a day, or from behind a desk. A journalist needs to get close to the people who make things happen, and to the people who feel their effects. Understanding requires sharing people’s joy – being frustrated by them – suffering with them. And to tell people’s stories, you have to understand.’

And wherever Frank Schultze will be, photographing HIV-children in Romania or visiting refugees from Macedonia or taking pictures of Chinese workers in his own residence Dortmund; Frank Schultze understands their stories, shows them and is making their reality ours.

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