Dimitri Burkhard
Switzerland is a country of hobby clubs and leisure organizations. There is even a saying that all Swiss belong to at least one club. Two Swiss artists have spent the better half of seven years uncovering the "hobby" side of Switzerland, documenting at least 50 such clubs.
The result of all this work is an ingenious collection of photographs. Ursula Sprecher and Andi Cortellini are both based in Basel. Their project started with the essential question: "How do the Swiss spend their free time?"
I feel that in return, they have found out more than they had asked for. They have portrayed Swiss people from all walks of life. So of course, there was the oh-so-typical coffee-cream-lid trading club. But they also found the kind of things you and I will never know existed.
Take the butchery enthusiasts club, for instance. Or the legion of Star Wars fans - or dare I say, geeks? I love realistic photographs, so I immediately fell in love with these authentic depictions of Swiss hobby clubs.
A selection of quirky Swiss hobby clubs from the book:
Pipe Smoking Club
Pool Billard Club
Firefighters Club
Cheerleading Club
Diving Club
Chess Club
Friends of Butchery Club
Swiss Poodle Club
Tram Enthusiasts Club
Swiss Garrison (Serving the 501st Legion)
HobbyBuddies - Freizeitfreunde - The Collection
Sprecher & Cortellini have released the entire collection of photographs in a book: HobbyBuddies - Freizeitfreunde. We think it is a must-have book for anyone striving to better understand Swiss culture and society:
(All photographs copyright by Sprecher & Cortellini)
Christian
is that a pisstake? butchers club? if, then professionals are members and its like a “zunft”, no?
Actually, the original name of the club (in German) is “Freunde der Metzgerschaft”. According to the photographers, this club even has its own certification (“Meisterprüfung”) and club song… ^Dimitri
exactly what i was saying: professional butchers run their own ‘club’…unlike the other clubs here just interested people cant apply and become members. sounds like a ‘zunft’ to me.
Swiss Garrison (Serving the 501st Legion) is the best by a far. I just looked though all 60. There were a couple of surprises, but why does everybody look so serious??