The man sitting across from me doesn’t look as though he has seen all the horrors of this world. Dominic Nahr speaks in a calm, half-quiet voice and seems deeply relaxed – a man at peace with himself. But his wide-awake, intense gaze signals that little escapes the 38-year-old. Nahr is a recipient of a World Press Photo Award and the Swiss Press Photo Award; his work has appeared in “Time”, “National Geographic”, “The New Yorker”, “The Wall Street Journal”, “Stern” and “Spiegel”. He is a founding member of the MAPS agency and, since late 2021, works part-time on the picture desk of the NZZ; he has also been on assignment in Ukraine.
Nahr is a cosmopolitan. Born in Appenzell, he spent his childhood in Hong Kong, studied in Canada and then lived for some 15 years as a nomad – always wherever the stories he wanted to tell drew him: East Timor, Somalia, Sudan, Congo, Iraq, Haiti, to name just a few. Rarely places where you go on holiday. With a force whose source he himself doesn’t fully grasp, he is drawn to the scenes of the great political, ecological and human dramas. He feels called to document crises for posterity.
“I don’t make pictures that end the war, I’m well aware of that,” he says. “But I make pictures so that the war isn’t forgotten.” Nahr isn’t naive enough to believe he can directly change the course of the world with photos. History is almost always processed, and at best understood, only years later – and that is where his pictures, as documents of their time, take effect.
Absolute Focus
As soon as Nahr is behind the camera, there is neither yesterday nor tomorrow – only the present moment and the story it should tell. “When I photograph, I’m completely in the moment. I don’t think about my career for a second. I make pictures because the stories interest me.” And although his photos are taken in crisis zones, by no means are all of them frightening: “Even in the grey zones of war you find beauty, if you can see it.” Indeed, many of his images move you with their sensitive aesthetic – without ever glossing over.
Nahr is a Leica ambassador – the first from Switzerland. When he speaks about the German company, it’s clear his relationship with the iconic brand goes far beyond that of a professional and his supplier: “Photography in crisis zones is a lonely and burdensome business. It gives me great support to know that the Leica family is there for me and believes in me – long before my career was even a career.” As a sign of his bond, he gives courses at the Leica Academy for passionate amateur photographers who want to improve their technique and sharpen their eye for the stories life offers.
This article appeared in MEN issue 1/22 (May 2022).
