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Black Helvetia (Swiss Stories 2019, by Dom Smaz) - Swiss Press Award

The Krull brothers, Domingos Krull de Souza and Ednilson Krull de Souza. Their grandfather (Walter Krull) was a German descendant and their grandmother (Bela Sofia Krull) was of African descent, at a time when the Krulls were still one of the richest landowners of the colony. The first members of the Krull family (brothers Ernesto and Francisco) to arrive in the area were nephews and heir to the land of the Hamburg consul in Bahia, Peter Peycke. Mr. Peycke used his "Leopoldina" plantation and his export business to sell a large quantity of coffee in Europe under the name "Café Caravelas". Helvécia, Bahia, Brazil. December 2015.
Dom Smaz
The Krull brothers, Domingos Krull de Souza and Ednilson Krull de Souza. Their grandfather (Walter Krull) was a German descendant and their grandmother (Bela Sofia Krull) was of African descent, at a time when the Krulls were still one of the richest landowners of the colony. The first members of the Krull family (brothers Ernesto and Francisco) to arrive in the area were nephews and heir to the land of the Hamburg consul in Bahia, Peter Peycke. Mr. Peycke used his "Leopoldina" plantation and his export business to sell a large quantity of coffee in Europe under the name "Café Caravelas". Helvécia, Bahia, Brazil. December 2015.
Photo / Swiss Stories
2019

Black Helvetia

Dom Smaz

Helvécia, is an old colony founded by Swiss and German immigrants in northeast of Brazil, 200 years ago. It was an important coffee production with the strength of 2000 slaves, until the abolition in 1888. Some colons descendants still lives in this mixed village, where 80% of the population are of African descendants. However, evangelicals still point black culture as evil in their speech.

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Black Helvetia

Neue Zürcher Zeitung

Photo / Swiss Stories
2019

Dom Smaz

Helvécia, is an old colony founded by Swiss and German immigrants in northeast of Brazil, 200 years ago. It was an important coffee production with the strength of 2000 slaves, until the abolition in 1888. Some colons descendants still lives in this mixed village, where 80% of the population are of African descendants. However, evangelicals still point black culture as evil in their speech.

Author
Dom Smaz / Swiss Press Award

Dom Smaz

Photographer, Lausanne, 1983

DOM SMAZ is a Swiss-Brazilian photographer who is based in Lausanne (Switzerland), although he often works in Brazil. He won six Swiss Press Awards and for some ten years now has regularly contributed to both the national and international press, including The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Die Zeit, Le Temps, Neue Zürcher Zeitung and Tages Anzeiger. His photographs often deal with themes of colonial heritage, social differences and marginalization. In 2022, his first book Helvécia. A Swiss Colonial History in Brazil was published by Lars Müller Publishers, followed by a monographic exhibition at the Musée d Ethnographie de Genève (MEG), attended by over 13,000 visitors. In 2023, his book was one of three shortlisted for the prestigious English Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards. Then Smaz was rewarded again by the Swiss Press Photo for his work about Helvécia, winning 2nd place in the Swiss Stories category. Since 2019, Smaz is a member of the French photographic agency Hans Lucas.

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