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Eric Fichtl
<p>A pair of hikers heading toward the Sas de Pütia / Peitlerkofel peak, visible during a brief clearing in the mists and clouds that were whipping around up there. </p>

Thanks for visiting. This website features my photography, writing, and a bit about me.

PHOTOS

Here is a random sample of my photos. Visit my galleries for many more.


<p>A graffito near the end of one of the innumerable Venetian alleys curtailed by a canal.</p>
<p>In Dili's Santa Cruz cemetery, a large cross commemorates the victims of the 1991 massacre by Indonesian security forces. On 12 November, a large crowd including many high school students marched to the cemetery in a funeral procession for a young activist killed by Indonesian forces two weeks earlier. Soldiers opened fire on the crowds, killing over 200 people at the cemetery and in the streets and hospitals after the march.</p> <p>The Santa Cruz massacre was a turning point, ramping up Timorese resistance to Indonesia's annexation of the former Portuguese colony. Smuggled footage of the massacre increased pressure on Jakarta from the international community, but brutal years still laid ahead. A long and ugly guerrilla war eventually led to Indonesia's withdrawal in 1999, a UN-administered transitional period, and Timor-Leste's independence in 2002. </p> <p>Studies suggest more than 200,000 Timorese were killed during the 24 years of Indonesia's occupation – a staggering figure made all the more disturbing when one considers that Timor-Leste's total population in 1975 was only 630,000 people.</p>
<p>A hillside of trees coated in snow just after sunrise.</p>
<p>A quiet afternoon at the market in the highland town of Ossu.<br /></p> <p>The rustic structure features a functional vaulted roof covering the main trading area (useful given the torrential rainfall in the country) with a facade that mixes shapes from vernacular local architecture with a tinge of art deco, fashionable with the then-colonial ruler.</p>
<p>An angular modern house plays with the slope of its plot near Bressanone. The large front windows overlook vineyards.</p>
<p>The rainforest canopy towers not all that far from Kuala Lumpur's skyscrapers.</p>
<p>A boy running somewhere in Marrakech.</p>
<p>Tango dancers captivate an audience.<br /></p>
TEXTS

A lot of what I write professionally carries no byline. Here are some of the works I have put my name to.

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On Jacobo Timerman's 'Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number'

A powerful memoir of the Argentine junta's crimes, ripe with lessons for our present period of strongmen and 'friendly fascism'.
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The Ambiguous Nature of “Collaboration” in Colombia

Most Colombians have done something that might result in them being labeled a collaborator or sympathizer by one of Colombia’s armed groups.
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On Laura Alcoba's 'The Rabbit House'

A unique exploration of a childhood interrupted by the onset of dictatorship and widespread repression.