Gaijin – 2009

David Favrod – Gaijin – 2009

“For a Swiss, I am a Japanese and for a Japanese I am a Swiss or rather a gaijin.» My name is David "Takashi" Favrod. I was born on the 2nd of July 1982 in Kobe, Japan, of a Japanese mother and a Swiss father. When I was 6 months old, my parents decided to come and live in Switzerland, more precisely in Vionnaz, a little village in lower Valais. As my father had to travel for his work a lot, I was mainly brought up by my mother who taught me her principles and her culture. When I was 18, I asked for double nationality at the Japanese embassy, but they refused, because it is only given to Japanese women who wish to obtain their husband’s nationality. It is from this feeling of rejection and also from a desire to prove that I am as Japanese as I am Swiss that this work was created. “Gaijin” is a fictional narrative, a tool for my quest for identity, where self-portraits imply an intimate and solitary relationship that I have with myself. The mirror image is frozen in a figurative alter ego that serves as an anchor point. The aim of this work is to create “my own Japan”, in Switzerland, from memories of my journeys when I was small, my mother’s stories, popular and traditional culture and my grandparents war narratives.“

Diploma project (2009) by David Favrod

PHOTOGRAPHY, Gaijin, David Favrod
PHOTOGRAPHY, Gaijin, David Favrod
PHOTOGRAPHY, Gaijin, David Favrod
PHOTOGRAPHY, Gaijin, David Favrod
PHOTOGRAPHY, Gaijin, David Favrod
PHOTOGRAPHY, Gaijin, David Favrod
PHOTOGRAPHY, Gaijin, David Favrod

Projets similaires

Adel Debabéche – Ouled El Bahdja

BA PHOTOGRAPHY

Adel Debabéche – Ouled El Bahdja

by Adel Debabéche

Ouled El Bahdja offers an intimate glimpse into Algerian youth, caught between waiting and the desire to leave. This project explores the mental and physical space of a generation dreaming of elsewhere, in a country where the future feels suspended. It is a portrait of a fragmented daily life, where time stretches into boredom, yet a quiet tension remains—between resignation and hope. An attempt to capture those in-between moments, those gazes turned toward Europe—a collective fantasy, a promise of recognition, but also an uncertain path... Ouled El Bahdja sheds light on a youth that, despite sociopolitical constraints, seeks to build a meaningful existence. A gesture to make visible the dreams and desires for emancipationborn in the shadows.

Belinda Kiela – Bana Ya Mbòka

BA PHOTOGRAPHY

Belinda Kiela – Bana Ya Mbòka

by Belinda Kiela

The images in this edition are fragments of an immersion at the University of Kinshasa : a glimpse into student life in a vibrant, ever-moving capital. Through laughter, doubts, and encounters, the photographer has learned to anchor herself in a daily life far removed from the one she knows in Europe. Bana ya Mbóka — children of the country — gives a face to the youths who study, dream, and resist on this campus. Founded in 1954, UniKin aimed to be a leading African institution, but instability slowed that vision. Despite strikes, power cuts, and limited resources, the students she has met exude strength and clarity. This project reveals moments of connection, gestures of resilience, and hopes that persists through it all.

Delio Testa – Partenopei

BA PHOTOGRAPHY

Delio Testa – Partenopei

by Delio Testa

Naples is a vibrant expression of a people’s deep love for their land. This passion lives on despite the weight of daily chaos and hardships that run deeper than it appears. To understand it, a person must enter Neapolitan life, where devotion to figures from religion, culture or everyday life is everywhere. These icons give strength, inspire creation and sustain a constant desire to celebrate. Neapolitans do not just endure struggle. They turn it into energy and a powerful source of hope. This book reflects that spirit through portraits and documentary work.

Cedric Zellweger – If life is a video game, the graphics are great, but the plot is confusing & the tutorial is way too long.

BA PHOTOGRAPHY

Cedric Zellweger – If life is a video game, the graphics are great, but the plot is confusing & the tutorial is way too long.

by Cedric Zellweger

The project centers around Elon Musk’s life—his career, family, and global influence—viewed through a critical lens. Musk perceives the world as an immense playground, a glossy surface full of contradictions, where his ambiguous ties to Trump further complicate world events. Influenced by Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights, the clear American dichotomy between good and evil dissolves; heaven and hell blur into an indistinguishable spectacle. In this context, Texas—where Musk and members of the photographer's family reside —embodies the expansive, protective, hyper-consumerist “American way of life”, fascinated by stars yet anchored beneath a paradoxically unreachable sky. The installation-based project employs various media: 4x5 film photography, a video game, photograms and different objects.

Eliot Pizzera – Tarèinâ

BA PHOTOGRAPHY

Eliot Pizzera – Tarèinâ

by Eliot Pizzera

Tarèinâ is a dystopian short film that explores the melting of snow and the impact of climate change on the Swiss Alpine landscapes. Global warming is pushing the snow line higher, leaving lower-altitude ski resorts deserted, littered with ruins and the skeletons of useless infrastructure. In this post-tourism setting, a lone skier glides like a ghost, trapped in an absurd ritual. Inspired by the landscapes of Valais and local myths, the film blends silence, organic sounds, and visual poetry. It incorporates the mythical figure of the Tshaggatta, masked guardians seen in Blatten before the climate disaster of 28 May 2025. Symbols of mystery and resilience, they raise questions about our relationship with the mountains and our desire to shape them in our own image.

Related courses