‘Divided we stand’ – Journey through a polarised United States

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"One minute with the president? My personal message to him would be: Chill the f*** out on abortion law, you got women going crazy for no-a** reason. You also need to motherf******get a grip and start treating women right, because we really run this country and you’re trying to oppress us in some way, like we’re gonna be extinct. No, women are gonna be around forever. So you’re gonna have to learn how to deal with us and give us rights that we deserve that we’ve had since before you were the president." Kealani Reyes, makeup artist. Las Vegas, Nevada Braschler / Fischer

"I love the United States. I’ve been all over the world, deployed, been to Haiti, been to Africa, I’ve been to Europe, Italy, Greece, Russia, phenomenally beautiful places, beautiful people. But it’s something about coming back home and being in America, with the opportunities that we have, the freedom that we enjoy, there’s nothing really quite like it." Staff Sgt. Nicholas A. Granter, US Marine drill instructor. MCRD Parris Island, South Carolina Braschler / Fischer

"And so now it’s reality that he’s leading this country, it’s almost kind of a slap in the face. It’s like we kind of as a society gave him a lot to build up to the point where he was like, I can be president. We kind of fueled him in a way and we can’t just like point a finger at him and be like, he’s a bigot. He’s a racist. He’s a terrible man. We also as a country built him up to become this person that thought that he had the ability to do this, and he did." Eileen Chou, Butcher at The Meat Hook. New York Braschler / Fischer

"The president before, he was all right. He was in the wrong party, but he was all right. But Trump, he’s in the right party and I think he’s doing a good job, especially with this wall they’re building in the southern border. Because we get in here in the summertime, I’d say ... I’m going to guess, anywhere between two thousand and five thousand immigrants, Mexicans. They come to get the jobs for the Americans here. People that could need to do would have some of those jobs, they come and get them. That wall is going to stop a whole lot of that." “Joe Eigie” José Ignacio Jaramillo, Barber Belen, New Mexico Braschler / Fischer

Malcolm: "We’re going to take over Hollywood. Martin: Yeah. Take over Hollywood." Malcolm: "Our names and our stars are going on the walk of fame, for sure." Martin Penton and Malcolm Penton, Teacher. Santa Monica, California Braschler / Fischer

"This day and age, this country is falling apart. And without Trump coming into office, I don’t know where we’d be because God has been pushed out of this country for too many years. Growing up, I remember people going to church and as time went on, less and less people believed in God, because the Democrats pushed that out of people’s lives. And we need him in our life. And I really believe that the devil is stepping in and trying to take over. And my heart and my belief, I really believe that God and him are at war. And God sent Trump here for a reason. There was no man they could stand up and put up with what he does to fight for the people in here, and he’s out for the little man." Brenda Chalette, Horse trainer. Whitley City, Kentucky Braschler / Fischer

"Humanity, culture, or society, whatever you want to call it. We could all be a lot further along, between eradicating homeless- ness, hunger, illness, just giving all humans an opportunity to thrive and to produce, to be awesome humans. There’s so much opportunity left there, and we could do a much better job. Do I think that in my day-to-day job I could fix all of that? No, but hope- fully in my interactions with individuals and kind of the quality of work that I do and the line of work that I do, I hope that I’m in some small part kind of moving the ball forward there. So yeah, I have a sense of responsibility, but I also have a sense of reality of how much I can actually change as one little individual." Ronald Lue-Sang, Software engineer for major Silicon Valley company. Sunnyvale, California Braschler / Fischer

"II don’t think the president would listen to me. That’s kind of an interesting thing with politics and democracy, isn’t it? Like we’re supposed to all have a voice, but only the really wealthy people have voices. Only the people in suits with important jobs. I am nobody, so I don’t think that I could make him listen to me." Alyce Jarred, Fremont Street showgirl and Denny’s waitress. Las Vegas, Nevada Braschler / Fischer

"Until injustices are dealt with, until we have equality for people and people are truly treated equally, there is no bridging the divide in this country. How does anyone think that that’s how society can get any better with no healthcare and no education, no funding for education except for the wealthy. There’s no way. There’s no way everyone can get better. But that is the way that the wealthy can stay wealthy and the poor can stay poor, and that’s who’s running things right now." Katie Anderson, Waitress. Mobile, Alabama Braschler / Fischer

There was a bunch of steel mills, pipe mills, and all that here when I was a kid. A lot of steel mills and stuff shut down and there’s not too many big ones coming up again. Rich Filipcich, Welder. Niles, Ohio Braschler / Fischer

Kala: "In this country we have freedoms, and we’re able to do things that in other countries you may not do. But that does not mean we’re free. And that does not mean this country is built on free- dom. There’s a lot of ignorance and that happening is how they take it away. And that’s also how we enslave ourselves. Have you looked at American history for the past two hundred years? None of this is new. I mean a rich white guy, who doesn’t care about ethnic people, running the country. That is nothing new. We have an electoral college that serves a capitalist system. We’re not a democracy, man, we are a business." Gary Washington and Kala Chandra Musicians, Musicians. New Orleans, Louisiana Braschler / Fischer

"My biggest hope for this country is that eventually we’re going to have a leader in there that helps everybody. I really hope that one day we will have a president in there that doesn’t make this country divided." Courtney Kincaid, Waitress. Marlinton, West Virginia Braschler / Fischer

"I kind of just vote for “Make Berkeley Turn into Amsterdam” or something beautiful like that. I want to surf more. That’d be cool." Isa Eagleson, Drifter. Highway 1, Ventura Beach, California Braschler / Fischer

I think Donald Trump’s policies are fantastic. I think his behavior and his personality are not attractive. So I constantly deliberate in my mind what’s more important: how he acts, the fact that he’s a jerk or he pisses people off, or what he does, which seems to be excellent and really benefiting the US. It really comes down to: I can deal with him being a jerk and being obnoxious and being mean-spirited and possibly being a liar as long as his policies continue to be what they are. Henry Siegel, Investor. New York, New York Braschler / Fischer

"I don’t see the divide in front of my eyes. I’m surrounded by, I think, what’s called like the liberal bubble. I’m just surrounded by people who are thinking like me, progressive people. And I’m not in the state or a city where I can really meet the other side. So it’s like we’re divided, but we don’t really mesh with each other. We don’t interact with each other. We don’t see each other. So I think that’s why it feels more like each other, like we’re enemies. Like it feels more like we feel more foreign and fearful of each other because we don’t see each other." Doyi Lee, YouTuber. Chicago, Illinois Braschler / Fischer

"We hope for a government that cares more about the Hispanos, the immigrants, because we are also human beings, and as human beings and as immigrants we have rights, not least because we can work properly. That is why we demand that our rights be respected because we work". Patricia and Abraham, Field workers. Providence, South Carolina Braschler / Fischer

"I think our country has always been somewhat divided. That’s what our political system is made of. So that doesn’t overly concern me. We have a president who is somewhat controversial, but that’s not all bad either. I mean, if you’re going to fix problems, sometimes it causes controversy." Al Hinrickson, Chief of police. Pocahontas, Iowa Braschler / Fischer

Colt: "My biggest hope for the country would be that we get back to our grandparents’ generation that won World War II. You know, that group, they were awesome. Like when they were storming the beaches at Normandy, they weren’t doing it identifying as Democrats or Republicans, they were doing it as Americans. So, but I think my biggest hope for this country is we just start loving one another again. You know? And instead of being Democrats, Republicans, libertarians, whatever, we just start being Americans again and start loving each other." Hadley Tate and Colt Cunningham, Team roper and bareback rider at Cody Nite Rodeo. Cody, Wyoming Braschler / Fischer

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Last year, Swiss photographers Mathias Braschler and Monika Fischer travelled across the United States to meet people, hear their stories and take their pictures. Ahead of this year’s presidential contest, we talked to them about what they found and learned along the way.

During the 2016 election, the couple was living and working in New York. They could sense the stark divisions among the American population.

In 2019, Braschler and Fischer went on a four-month road trip across the US, travelling through 40 states, passing through suburbs and housing projects, big cities and small towns. They converted their van into a mobile photo studio and invited people they met along the way to be photographed.

Braschler/Fischer

swissinfo.ch: What inspired you to go on this journey?

Monika Fischer & Mathias Braschler: The United States has captivated us for many years. We travel a lot for our work, but we haven’t spent this much time in any country besides our homeland, Switzerland. When we witnessed the election of Donald Trump in New York on November 8, 2016, we were as surprised as many Americans. How was it possible that a man like Trump was elected the 45th president? What had led so many people to elect a populist who had very few qualifications for this high office? We wanted to find out what moves people between New York and Los Angeles, what their concerns and hopes are. So we decided to explore the country once again to get a deeper insight into the soul of the United States.  

swissinfo.ch: What draws you to the country?

Fischer / Braschler: The nature as well as the cities are really beautiful! The fascination also lies in the contradictions of this nation, the extremes, the vastness, the openness and spontaneity of the people. Of course, it hasn’t been true for a long time now that this is the land of unlimited possibilities, but when you want to do something, you’re free to pursue it.

swissinfo.ch: How did you decide which people to ask to sit for portraits?  How many portraits have you done altogether?

We only researched and arranged portraits with a few people ahead of time. They were people from the military, the navy, or public service. The other portraits were taken spontaneously during the trip. Of course, we took care to feature people from different backgrounds, regions, professions, and social classes. In total we made 115 portraits.

swissinfo.ch: Was it difficult to get people in front of the camera and to get them to talk to you?  

Fischer / Braschler: No, not at all, we received practically no cancellations. As soon as people realise that you are honestly interested in them, they are fully involved. Some of them talked about themselves for up to three hours. 

swissinfo.ch: Have you / would you ever do a project like this in Switzerland?

Fischer / Braschler: Yes, we did. We made a book called “Die Schweizer”- The Swiss. We also planned a road trip, but there you come up against certain limitations. In Switzerland it’s completely different, there people are much more timid and have to pull out their schedules to arrange a portrait session ahead of time. As soon as an appointment is made, it doesn’t have the same spontaneity anymore; people think about what to wear, what to say. Especially the women in Switzerland are reserved. There is a different kind of modesty, where they say “Why are you asking me to do this? There are much more exciting people.” That doesn’t occur to Americans at all.

swissinfo.ch: Back to the US – You decided to take your photos in a studio. Wouldn’t it have been even more meaningful to show the people in their real surroundings? At work, in their homes, or on the street? 

Fischer / Braschler: No, that’s exactly what we didn’t want. The intention was to visually democratise the people. As soon as you see them in their environment, for example in a small, untidy apartment, a different picture immediately emerges. We were concerned with the fact that everyone should be treated equally so that the viewer can concentrate on the person.

swissinfo.ch: How did you react to people you met who thought differently than you, made racist statements, got particularly close to you or maybe needed help?

Fischer / Braschler: We completely withdrew ourselves. We were spectators and listeners. This work is absolutely not about our point of view. We wanted to capture and portray exactly these extremes.

swissinfo.ch: What social issues came up when you talked to people? 

Fischer / Braschler: The nation’s deep division caused by the president is very much on people’s minds. Both Trump opponents and supporters alike regret this division. People also work a lot and still have meagre incomes. The American Dream has given way to hopelessness. Drugs are a huge problem, which is completely underestimated [by observers] in Europe. Opioid addiction is incredibly widespread, it varies from region to region, but the extent of the problem is enormous. Homelessness has also increased dramatically.

swissinfo.ch: Do you think that this division will deepen or do you have hope that people will become willing to talk to each other again?

Mathias Braschler: That depends on what happens in the elections. If Donald Trump is re-elected, this division will deepen even more, since his policies are based on the sides playing off each other. I am quite sure that Trump will lose. He has angered so many centrist voters with his coronavirus policy. If Biden wins, he will work to soften this polarisation. For me, Biden is the right man for the job. Because he is a bit boring and moderate, he has this chance.

swissinfo.ch: You have lived in New York and Switzerland for a long time. Now you have given up your apartment in the US. Do you miss it? 

Monika Fischer: We had to give up our apartment because of coronavirus. At the moment nobody wants to live in New York and it is a good year to be in Switzerland. Our son Elias and I miss the city, for the first time we are living in a very rural area. Right now it only exists in our minds, because we can’t travel there. Before, [when we were away], we knew that there was still the apartment in New York.

Mathias Braschler: Right now I don’t want to live in New York. I would immediately take a road trip through the country [though]. The vastness and openness are wonderful! 

“Divided we stand” will be shown at the Stapferhaus Aarau until November 19 and at MASILugano until November 22.