Anderswo / Elsewhere

Petra Barth grew up in a rural village in postwar Germany. She, her parents and her sisters lived on a small piece of land where nature was untamed. She climbed trees, floated on tires in big puddles of rainwater, picked wild blueberries in a nearby forest, and wandered along the giant furrows of a massive potato field. But, as evenings approached, she feared for the moment she had to go to bed. Recurring nightmares haunted her during the day and kept her awake at night. “I kept hoping that if I didn’t fall asleep, I could escape my dreams. Maybe that’s why I am captivated by illusions.”

Her mother would hang the clothes for Petra and her sisters to wear the next morning on the closet door. How was she to know that they threw ominous shadows that danced across the room, intensified by the light of the moon shining through the tiny bedroom window? “Maybe that’s why I am fascinated by shadow and light.”

Decades have passed and nightmares have been replaced by curiosity. Through the lens of her camera, Petra Barth was able to explore unfamiliar places and keep moments alive which otherwise would be forgotten. The Anderswo project started in 2004 with a trip to Nicaragua, followed by extended visits to South America, and continued through the rest of the world. What began as an intuitive process of exploring foreign countries and listening to the stories of the people living there, turned into a personal and deeply emotional experience – a photographer’s journey to learning more about herself.