Artist talk and photo book presentation: „Morocco – Encounters“ with photographer Bettina Meister

– Empathetic photographs and anecdotes –

 Dates:

Saturday, 05.04.2025, 12:30-13:30 and 15:30-16:30 p.m.:
CalumetPhoto, Alte Poststraße 3, 70173 Stuttgart

Friday, 11.04.2025, 17:00-18:30 p.m.:
Galerie Nieser, Große Falterstraße 31/3, 70597 Stuttgart

Thursday, 24.04.2025, 18:30-20:30 p.m.: (fully booked)
Leica Galerie Düsseldorf, Königsallee 60, 40212 Düsseldorf

Friday, 16.05.2025, 18:30-20:30 p.m.:
Ernst Leitz Museum bei Leica Wetzlar, meetingrooms of Ernst Leitz Museum, Am Leitz-Park 6, 35578 Wetzlar
registration and info: https://leicawelt.com/veranstaltungen/vortrag-bettina-meister

Thursday, 05.06.2025, 19:00-20:30 p.m.:
Leica Galerie Frankfurt, Großer Hirschgraben 15, 60311 Frankfurt am Main
registration and info: https://www.eventbrite.de/e/artist-talk-bettina-meister-tickets-1255776173339?aff=oddtdtcreator&utm_source=CRM&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20250506_LOC_DE_CNL_all_StoFFM

Friday, 17.10.2025: 18:30-20:00 p.m.: 
Leica Store & Galerie Nürnberg, Obere Wörthstraße 8, 90403 Nürnberg
Entrance fee: 15 Euro
registration and info: www.eventbrite.de/e/artist-talk-buchprasentation-mit-bettina-meister

In the presentation of her photo book ‘Marokko - Begegnungen/Encounters’, Stuttgart-based photographer Bettina Meister shows people and landscapes in the south of Morocco. With empathetic photographs and friendly anecdotes, Bettina Meister brings Morocco to life away from the tourist crowds. The book was inspired by Sara, whose encounter the photographer recounts in one of the short stories.

Norbert Nieser, gallery owner from Stuttgart: ‘With her photo book “Morocco - Encounters”, photographer and journalist Bettina Meister takes us to a country that fascinates, challenges and at the same time touches us deeply. Morocco - a country where the Orient meets Europe, a country of breathtaking diversity and enchanting beauty. Bettina Meister has fallen in love with this country and captured its soul with her camera. From the alleyways of Marrakech to the majestic mountains of the High Atlas and the endless expanses of the Sahara desert - her pictures tell of a love story with this fascinating country. In every picture you can feel the pulsating energy of the bustling cities, the tranquillity of the landscapes and, above all, the people whose character and way of life are revealed through Bettina Meister's sensitive lens.

Her photographs are a tribute to the beauty of a country that is often hidden from view and to the people who bring it to life. She gives a voice to those who might otherwise be overlooked and shows us the world from a new perspective with her pictures and short stories - full of appreciation and respect.’

If you would like to experience Morocco live with the photographer, you can take part in a photo workshop with Bettina Meister in Morocco or find out more at one of her lectures.

More about the photo trips at fotoworkshops-individuell.de

Press reviews of the book ‘Morocco - Encounters’:

Peter Carstens, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung: ‘ ... the Stuttgart photographer Bettina Meister is repeatedly drawn across the country [Morocco]. Her pictures from the High Atlas, Marrakech or the desert landscapes in the south around Erg Chebbi reflect the traditional aspects of the country, handicrafts, mud houses, durable and simple machinery. ... The many Moroccans photographed in this opulent book make it a special work: young and old people, craftsmen, farmers, musicians, schoolchildren and shop assistants, all of whom are masterfully portrayed, testifying to their interest and affection. The photographer tells anecdotally how this came about ...’

Rolf Mauer, evidare magazin: "... There are books that you open - and suddenly you're sitting in a bazaar in Marrakech, hearing the shouts of traders, smelling mint, spices and desert dust. “Morocco - Encounters/Encounters” is just such a book. In this work, Morocco is not a vacation destination, but a resonating space for human encounters. Meister dispenses with the postcard-like and prefers to point her camera where life has its own rhythm: in the alleyways, in the fields, in faces that tell stories. From the High Atlas to the Sahara, she shows landscapes of archaic beauty - but it is always the people who take center stage. Her approach is never touristy, but almost ethnographic: observant, open, reserved. The book was triggered by an encounter with a woman called Sara - one of those small stories that can be found in Meister's texts and that touch on the big picture. These are experiences that quietly inscribe themselves: a conversation on the side of the road, a glance into an open door, a quiet moment in the sandy wind of the desert. In a world of visual sensory overload, Meister's photographs have an almost decelerating effect - as if we had briefly forgotten that the world keeps on turning. ..."

Josef Schunder, Blättle Stuttgart-West: ‘... Marokko - Begegnungen’ is the title of the volume, or ‘Morocco - Encounters’, as the short texts are also available in English. Bettina Meister wanted to pass on experiences and impressions of people who are normally forgotten; the pain and dignified aura of Sara, the woman who is overlooked, but also the friendliness of the other people she met in Morocco. The grandiose scenery of the landscape and the cities anyway. However, the photographer does not leave the viewer alone with her photos, but traces her route through the south of Morocco - and categorises it. ...’

photo book ‘Morocco - Encounters’:

Book size: 31 x 31 x approx. 3.4 cm, 260 pages, 2.4 kg.

Hardcover, clothbound with dust jacket, thread stitching.

With over 180 photographs and many emotional anecdotes.

Bilingual (German and English).

Photography and text: Bettina Meister

Graphic design: Lars Edgar Roth

Publisher: buch.one Verlag Offsetdruckerei Grammlich GmbH

ISBN 978-3-947198-93-1

79,- Euro incl. VAT

Where to buy:

Available from 13 December 2024 in local German bookshops, via the online bookshop https://buch.one/buchhandlung, in im Leica Ernst Leitz Museum-Store in Wetzlar (Am Leitz-Park 6, 35578 Wetzlar), in the Leica Gallery Stuttgart (Calwer Straße 41, 70173 Stuttgart), in Souk Arabica (Schlossstraße 57 B, 70176 Stuttgart) and at the book presentations. 79,- Euro incl. VAT.