| October 5, 2021 | | | | | | One of my first memories of photography is the sound of the slide projector when we watched our family holiday pictures at home on a silver screen Before I became a photojournalist I started to learn photography when I was 16 years old and did a four-year apprenticeship as an advertising photographer at a studio in Bern I’m still not done learning - it carries on every day My first assignment for Reuters was covering a news conference at the Federal Palace in Bern I was very excited to be there and to see it all happening I was even more excited when I saw the first picture I had published with my name in a newspaper The London riots and the Paralympics were the two assignments that left the biggest marks on me The London riots affected me because it was frightening to see how easily a city can get out of control and how people can act as a crowd The Paralympics also made a big impression because it was very impressive to see the true meaning of: “The most important thing is not to win but to take part.” when I take a picture I don’t have any particular audience in mind but sometimes taking a step back is the best way to move forward Her support gives me lots of energy to do the best job in the world This article was originally published by Mennonite World Review April 1, 2019 Switzerland is a land of beauty and Anabaptist history Many North American Mennonite and Amish people visit to get in touch with their faith’s roots Most Swiss hosts are too gracious and polite to offer feedback to Mennonite visitors who seem to come with a sense that the nation owes them something for being an Anabaptist today a bad guest is far more memorable than a good one And guests end up being representatives of entire faiths and cultures One bad apple can wipe out the rest of the bushel’s positive actions Preacher and farmer Hans Haslebacher was imprisoned in Trachselwald Castle on a hill above Sumiswald multiple times He was the last Anabaptist executed in Bern Today direct descendants live in his house in Sumiswald and open their home to visitors interested in seeing where he lived but uninterested in paying to stay the night in a guest apartment The Haslebachers who live there now are not Mennonite but understand their ancestor’s significance to Mennonites and Amish people They open their home to strangers who desire a peek inside The Kambly cookie factory and store in Trubschachen is a popular destination for Mennonite tourists who are probably drawn more by the free samples than the company founders’ Anabaptist ties When the Mennonite World Conference General Council met in Switzerland in 2012 a bus of participants from around the world visited the factory on a tour of Anabaptist sites Anabaptists were imprisoned and tortured as heretics in its jail cells The centuries-old thick wooden walls might have been used by some of the earliest Mennonites to count the days and weeks with tally marks or to etch their names in a simple memorial moments before becoming martyrs but it’s impossible to tell today due to their descendants defacing any surface they can find with their own scrawled names If I had a dollar for every Mennonite who has vandalized that space I would give it to the Swiss Mennonite Historical Society to preserve the fortress and make it a museum the people who left behind their graffiti should give even greater amounts directly Vandals seem to take pride in identifying themselves Some individuals and couples record their hometowns and the date Visit the castle if you want to know just who they are It is reasonable to assume these people wouldn’t do the same thing on a pew in their church They probably wouldn’t even do it in a gas station bathroom that people want to leave a marker of their ancestral or spiritual connection with people who were literally tortured for their faith in these spaces These modern visitors haven’t suffered the hardships to earn the right to such defacement Weekly worship in peace and security would have been a nearly unthinkable luxury for a Swiss Mennonite 400 years ago It counts as a sacrifice in today’s society Holding the chains in a jail cell during my visit I tried to summon the will to reflect somberly on profound sacrifices my theological predecessors made All those “good Mennonite names” made me too angry A Swiss railway station clock being produced at the Mobatime Swiss Inc factory in Sumiswald Switzerland's national rail company is accusing Apple of copying the look of its station clocks for the iOS 6 operating system used by iPhone and iPad mobile devices Both designs have a round clock face with black indicators except for the second hand which is red An SBB spokesman says the rail company is "proud" the tech giant chose to copy the 68-year-old design But Reto Kormann told The Associated Press today that Apple had not asked for permission before doing so Kormann says SBB will seek an amicable agreement and compensation from Apple An Apple representative in Germany declined to comment immediately on SBB's claim design and trademark claims against rival companies in the past Join the Irish Independent WhatsApp channel