My father is the boss – Those are the words with which a short school essay from 1974 begins. The writing is neat, even if there is still some uncertainty in the handling of the pen. The theme which the school teacher had set the pupils was “My father”. Christoph Burtscher was eight years old at the time. My father is the boss. That he knew. Other things he knew included: He sells curtains. They are not all nice. He has lots of helpers. Uncle Erwin and Uncle Werner are employees. My father has so many keys he doesn’t know which ones are which. He also sells nappies.” This short text from the 1970s takes us straight to the heart of Christoph Burtschers eponymous photography work. He names some of the protagonists. And he also sets out the perspective: a child is starting to appropriate the world, using writing, but even more so photographic means. There are many links between the school texts, in which the child describes and explores his immediate surroundings, and the photos taken at around the same time. Christoph Burtscher has interwoven both media in his photo book. (Excerpt from the text by Anton Holzer)

Christoph Burtscher, *1964 in Schruns, Austria; lives and works in Berlin, Germany.

nominated: Deutscher Fotobuchpreis 2010