Jürgen Escher: “Tshukudu – Transporters between the worlds” (as part of the Photoszene Köln 2019)
If you own a tshukudu, you don’t need an engine or gasoline to transport goods. The 150-kilo wooden scooters are robust load carriers that are steered over the bumpy roads of eastern Congo by daring drivers. Here, in the province of Kivu, which has been ravaged by decades of war, the archaic machines defy modern trucks because the roads are poor, the security situation is unstable and labor is cheap.
Over a period of 15 years, authors Jürgen Escher and Christian Frevel repeatedly visited the Tshukudu drivers in Congo and listened to their stories. Tales of war, displacement, the tropical timber species in the Congo and the chance to win a girl’s heart as the owner of a tshukudu.
Vite
Jürgen Escher, born in Herford in 1953, trained as an advertising designer, studied photography at the University of Applied Sciences in Bielefeld from 1977-1983. Graduated in 1983 under Prof. Jörg Boström. Father of two children, Leif and Lena. Since 1983 he has worked as a freelance photojournalist and photo designer for various aid organizations, publishers and editorial offices worldwide. He has been working with Christian Frevel since 1990. Jürgen Escher taught photojournalism at the Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences from 1987-1992. In 1989 he was appointed to the German Photographic Academy (DFA). In 1995 he was a founding member of Freelens e.V., Hamburg, and from 2010-2015 he was a member of the Freelens board. In 2003, 2007 and 2011, Jürgen Escher received grants from the Stiftung Kulturwerk of VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn. He has realized numerous book and exhibition projects.
