Category: Art
Ezekiel 36:36 is the latest project from photographer Nick Ballon, who many a moon ago contributed a fantastic zoo story to Amelia's Magazine. This time he spent six months in Bolivia documenting Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano (LAB), one of the world’s oldest airlines. Here's what the press release has to say:
With only one plane now operational from a downed fleet of aircrafts, LAB is a crumbling empire which continues to survive solely through the loyalty and faith of its remaining 180 unpaid staff. Founded in 1925, it has played an important role in every stage of the country’s history. Since its privatisation in 1994, LAB has suffered at the hands of successive administrations, becoming gradually dismantled due to chronic mismanagement and corruption. The project has resulted in a dedicated book and exhibition which will both be launched at KK Outlet. The project title, Ezekiel 36:36 refers to the name of the only plane LAB currently has in operation, renamed after it narrowly avoided a tragic accident.
Ezekiel 36:36 has in many ways become a metaphor for the story of Bolivia and its people: resigned to look back at past glory and grandeur which is at once half-imagined and half-remembered. There is a paradoxical sense of loss and optimism, which resonates throughout the narrative. Featured in the Ezekiel 36:36 book is an extra booklet which showcases the airline in it’s heyday. There is archive imagery taken by staff, coupled with dynamic graphic design and typography that was created in house using a technique called Rubylith.
Sensitive to this poignant and transitional time, Ballon has created a series of images, which evoke a sense of dignity, allowing us to share intimate moments with the people and personalities still on the airline’s fragile payroll. Together with the Bolivian born writer Amaru Villanueva Rance’s narrative, this is the first time that LAB has been so extensively portrayed in both words and images, and the first time that the story has been told.