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Linard Baer
@linard_b
Landscape photographer based in Switzerland
My passion for photography started years ago but was probably put in my cradle. I grew up in the Swiss alps in the little village of Bergün where my father, a former journalist and national radio presenter, and my mother, a bookseller, own a hotel. His former profession made my father travel a lot which was a first trigger for my fascination of traveling. Based on our hotel’s vacation close-down, we only had the spring to travel together with the whole family. Already at that time, I was always on the road with an (incredibly bad digital) camera. Also, each fall we used to do city trips with my father which was another great occasion to let the camera run at full speed.
"I guess that growing up in a hotel with guests from all over the world contributed to my wanderlust, though the true origin lies within my grandfather Emilio, I believe."
Always open-minded, positive and eager to learn, not even once did I hear him complain. Over and over again he taught me the importance of humanity, tolerance and respect for all fellow human beings. All these traits accompany me every day and form the basis for my cosmopolitanism, the curiosity to discover new countries and the interest to get to know new people and their diverse cultures.
"This must be the origin of my wanderlust and therefore my biggest passion associated with it, photography."
Traveling – even a short day trip – without a camera is absolutely inconceivable to me. There is not a single day that I do not hold my camera in my hands or spend my evenings in Lightroom improving my pictures or editing skills. Nevertheless, until 2019, photography and film was always a passion that I pursued in my spare time. After high school I left my home to study business and economics at the University of Zurich. During my studies and after my degree I used to work in the financial industry, but somehow I always thought that there should be more.
"I did not want to spend the rest of my life in a big company climbing the career ladder."
Thus, I took my chances and tried to pursue my passion. From job offers in finance to an internship in the creative industry (at Shining Pictures, one of Switzerland’s leading film production company in advertising). A huge change in a variety of aspects but even so, I do not regret a single second. After the short traineeship, I got a fantastic offer I could not refuse. My former boss and the three managing partners of a renowned Swiss creative agency (SiR MaRY) founded a new company (@andywasright), sort of a social media agency, with a business model that did not yet exist in this country. Working like publishers and acting as ghostwriters, we take over some of Switzerland’s largest companies’, manager’s and politician’s social media channels.
"I got the honor to become part of the executive board and manage the creative and content department. In one fell swoop the passion became a profession."
"I believe that the best way to improve your skills is just trying – and not being afraid of failing."
My new job, for instance, was a job I was not ready for yet. And my boss knew it, and even so he was confident that I could do it. I had to grow into this role. As a result of the trust and the responsibility I got, I have developed much faster than I ever thought would be possible. Of course, on the sideline, I read and watched a lot to learn and improve. My favorite source is Youtube; you can find everything you need. I have acquired all my Adobe skills through this channel and I got much of what I know about photography and filming from there too. However, it is crucial to separate the wheat from the chaff. You have to be able to recognise important content and classify the relevance. Otherwise, you spend your whole life on Youtube watching tutorials or reading books without ever trying anything.
"The same applies to social media; it’s a huge source of inspiration, however, it requires focus not to get lost in it and not to be overwhelmed with stimuli."
The amount of content is gigantic. This abundance carries the danger of overstimulation. It is therefore of utmost importance to filter the content for the own relevance. What do I admire? In which direction do I want to develop? What is my target group? These are just a few questions that help me finding my way through this content jungle. Besides, a lot of ideas, pictures and videos already exist and that makes it seem as if the whole world has already been invented. But that won’t let me down.
My goal with photography vacillates between saving the world and simply expressing my creativity. But seriously, I want to tell stories, eliminate prejudices and sometimes just show the beauty of this planet. While traveling through central america – especially Guatemala – I realized how many people at home were still so afraid of this place, “one of the world’s most dangerous countries”. They have heard so many bad things and suddenly they saw my pictures challenging all their prejudices.
"Much more can be achieved through photography than one might think. The stories hidden behind photos is what fascinates me the most."
From the very beginning I connected traveling with great freedom. Taking my backpack and just go, leaving everything behind, just living in the moment. When I was younger, I always thought that I would have to fly for hours – even leave the continent – to really get the travel bug, to see the beauty of this world. That is absolute nonsense. Europe, even Switzerland itself has so much to offer. Also due to the climate debate, traveling has become a big issue. On the one hand I want to be a globetrotter and discover new places all the time. On the other hand it is utterly irresponsible to fly several times a year. It is important to look for alternatives and explore nearby places.
"I do not think that traveling has to be completely abandoned and I sincerely hope that soon alternative engines in air traffic will conquer the markets and will make it completely CO2-neutral."
"Traveling has taught me several extremely important lessons."
First, on my journeys, I have seen so much poverty but it did never correlate with the perceived satisfaction or kindness of people. On the contrary, the less the people had, the more they were willing to share and help. I hate people saying they feel way better now they know that there are people out there being worse off. The attitude, in my opinion, should be more like enjoying the little things in life and do not making the problems bigger than they are. I have learned, and daily force myself, to do so.
"When I travel I like to connect with people rather than looking at them, judging and finding thoughts that make me feel better about myself or my situation."
I like to have interesting talks with strangers, experience foreign cultures, eat unfamiliar food and go out in local bars. As you only move from hostel to hostel, you find yourself in some kind of bubble. It can be fun and valuable too, but for me it is essential to spend time traveling with locals. This is exactly what I did in Guatemala. First, I stayed three weeks with an old friend of mine in Panajachel at the wonderful Lake Atitlan. Since I did my community service with Max Havelaar (Fairtrade Switzerland) before this trip, I had direct contacts to small farmers and cooperatives throughout Central America. These visits were by far the most interesting experiences during my trip. For example, I spent a whole day in the forest and on endless coffee plantations with Jose, a small coffee farmer from San Juan La Laguna. At dawn I chugged with a small motor boat – surrounded by three volcanoes, a simply amazing view – from Panajachel across Lake Atitlan to San Juan. Jose picked me up at the harbour with his little yellow motorbike.
"On the back seat (kind of, it was not really a seat), we drove up the mountain and disappeared in the forest above the lake that is home to countless coffee fields."
Then in Semuc Champey – a tiny village in the jungle of Guatemala – I was fortunate to accompany a local to go even further into the woods and up the mountains, leaving any form of civilization behind. We met indigenous people living isolated from the outside world, without electricity, without modern sanitary facilities and without any motorized vehicles. Only a few of the elderly people speak Spanish. The kids who only speak their indigenous language have never seen a white person before. Their surprised faces looked at me as if I came from another planet. They had so much fun with my camera and the pictures I took of them. We played football and they showed us their homes. These families have so little and yet we were welcomed with open arms and generosity.
"This is an experience I will never forget in my life."
"In Costa Rica I also had such impressive experiences."
Besides a cocoa farmer I was able to visit a fairtrade certified pineapple cooperative (Probio). Once more I had the privilege to accompany a farmer and spend a day on the field. Witnessing a pineapple harvest, eating pineapples all day long and visiting the factories in which the fruits are packed and labeled for the Swiss retailers was both a delicious and fascinating experience. Through such experiences – even if it is just one day with a local – you learn more about the life in this country than if you travel from hostel to hostel for weeks. Though I do really love going to hostels and enjoy the exchange with other travelers too, spending time with locals teaches and fulfills me more than any hostel or hotel.
"Respect for people, their cultures, traditions and religions is always at the top of my list. And traveling has always helped me to get rid of my own prejudices and fears."
It would be a lie to say that I did not have great respect for my Guatemala trip. According to statistics, it is one of the most dangerous countries in the world. The listings of foreign affairs’ travel recommendations are frightening. I do not want to play that down at all, an unimaginable number of things are going wrong in this country (corruption, poverty, lack of education, bad infrastructure, gang wars, a huge gap between rich and poor, discrimination against the indigenous population etc.). However, if you follow the locals’ recommendations, stay in safe areas and behave respectfully, you have very little to fear.
"The Guatemalans are incredibly open and affectionate. I experienced this every day. And apart from the armed security services on the streets, in shopping areas and at gas stations, I have seen nothing of the crime."
"Traveling and photography gave me self-confidence."
If we are constantly afraid that everything has already been invented or created, and do not dare to just do it, we have already lost. If we always play safe because people say the world is a dangerous place, and not just discover it ourselves, prove things to be wrong, we lose too. Photography showed me that it is worth following my passion and not the path of materialism. If you pursue your dreams with enthusiasm and motivation, one day you will hopefully be successful – but in any case happy and never have to feel like you missed out on something.
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