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A new Swiss generation, captured on an old camera

Swiss journalist and photographer Jean-Claude Péclet uses his trusty 1938 Rolleiflex black and white camera to highlight young people with a passion and a purpose. 

Among his portraits: young farmers, climate activists, elite athletes and video game enthusiasts. But this generation Z is often taken aback by Péclet’s ancient and unfamiliar camera, with its weird-looking external casing.  

Péclet started the series a few years ago. His subjects mainly come from the western part of Switzerland and are avid athletes, gaming enthusiasts, gifted apprentices or lovers of “parkour” and other urban sports. The journalist also found himself in the middle of the first youth climate event in Lausanne in 2019, surrounded by a young generation that is passionate about climate change.  

Empathy is the common thread running through the portraits. “I like people who have a passion – whether it’s sports, music, a political cause, their profession or bringing a community together,” said Péclet.  

Jean-Claude Péclet is a Swiss journalist who lives in Lausanne. He is a former editor-in-chief of the (now defunct) news  magazine L’Hebdo and the 2007 winner of the Jean Dumur  journalism award. He now devotes himself entirely to his passion: photography.   

More from the series can be seen at the Camera Museum in Vevey, until August 23. 2020.