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Eric Fichtl
<p>'Memory' and 'vote blank' – two slogans summarising popular exasperation with the post-dictatorship Argentine political landscape. <br /></p>

Thanks for visiting. This website features my photography, writing, and a bit about me.

PHOTOS

Here is a random sample of my photos. Visit my galleries for many more.


<p>Portrait of Dave at campsite after a day's hike.</p>
<p>A view of Jakarta's very modern Istiqlal Mosque, one of the largest in the world. It dates from the late 1970s and its style is very much of its era.</p>
<p>Guitarists Joel Paterson (at right) and Andy Brown with drummer Alex Hall performing at Chicago's legendary Green Mill. <br /></p> <p>They play a mix of jazz, blues, and pedal-steel guitar pieces just about every Monday night and are well worth catching if you're in town.<br /></p>
<p>A plaque in the pavement commemorates Maria Claudia Falcone, a 16-year-old high school student and activist disappeared by the Argentine military dictatorship of 1976-1983. The plaque is an example of Argentina's active memory culture. It reads, in part:</p> <p><em>Kidnapped in La Plata during the 'Night of the Pencils'.<br />1999 – EMEM 7 school renamed after her. <br />Educational Community of the EMEM Schools and Neighbourhoods for Memory and Justice.</em></p>
<p>In Buenos Aires, a stencil proclaims 'The dingo ate my baby' beside a sticker of a local variant of Shepard Fairey's 'Obey' giant. That is, an Australian mother's cry of despair from a real-life case in 1980, channeled by Meryl Streep in a 1988 US film and amplified to absurdity in 1990s TV series from <em>Seinfeld</em> to <em>The Simpsons</em>, appears alongside a sticker riffing on a US street artist's work (itself a rendering of Andre the Giant, a deceased pro wrestler, paired with a line from a 1988 John Carpenter film, <em>They Live</em>) while invoking the arcane Spanish verb form barely used outside Iberia or churches – and they somehow come together on an electric box in Argentina's capital in 2015. It sort of makes sense. Or not. No idea.</p>
<p>Imperial Chinese architecture frequently featured porcelain figures arranged in rows atop the gabled roofs. The large dragon is said to represent imperial power, driving away a menagerie of evil spirits. These were shot in the Forbidden City.</p>
<p>A boy cycling through town.</p>
<p>Lago Escondido at dusk.</p>
TEXTS

A lot of what I write professionally carries no byline. Here are some of the works I have put my name to.

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On Laura Alcoba's 'The Rabbit House'

A unique exploration of a childhood interrupted by the onset of dictatorship and widespread repression.
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When Disaster Strikes: Considerations for Helping Relief Efforts

The decision to head to a disaster area is not one that should be taken without first considering the complexities of the situation.
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On Jacobo Timerman's 'Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number'

A powerful memoir of the Argentine junta's crimes, ripe with lessons for our present period of strongmen and 'friendly fascism'.