East of Nowhere

Book excerpt: A poetic and empathetic vision of human perseverance, East of Nowhere captures, in stunning photographs, the reality of everyday life in central and Eastern Europe before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1987, Fabio Ponzio embarked on a photographic odyssey across Central and Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. Starting in Istanbul, and making his way to Poland, Ponzio found little food in the shops and long lines to buy bread. With supplies dwindling in the shops and immense crowds to buy necessities, the countries along his route were on the verge of collapse. And in the autumn of 1989, as the various regimes of communist countries from Budapest to Bucharest began to crumble, everything changed. Equipped with a Leica, three Nikons and 100 rolls of film, Ponzio continued his travels across this immense territory, documenting lives marked by pain and sacrifice, now joined by a new energy, full of hope. For two decades, he returned to capture the traditions, faith, humility, courage, and strength of the people of the East. From a previously unpublished archive and an award-winning talent, East of Nowhere is an exquisite collection of photographs that illuminate the physical and ideological divisions between Western and Eastern Europe, while offering a sympathetic and hopeful vision of the human condition.