Anglo-American University Chris Lettner
Antiguo alumno 2012
Licenciatura en Periodismo y Comunicaci贸n
Conozca a Chris Lettner. Austriaco nacido en Alemania, fue al colegio en M煤nich y Salzburgo, y conoci贸 Praga cuando pas贸 un a帽o en el Instituto de la Iniciativa de Terez铆n. Empez贸 la universidad en Viena, pero se traslad贸 de nuevo a Praga, donde termin贸 su licenciatura en Periodismo y Comunicaci贸n en AAU en 2012.
Chris, que sigue afincado en Praga, trabaja como dise帽ador web y de comunicaci贸n, y como fot贸grafo, y sus fotos aparecen en la CNN, la BBC y VICE. Cada a帽o pasa unos meses en el extranjero, desmitificando nuevos lugares con el objetivo de su c谩mara, como Ir谩n, Cuba y Birmania.
I recommend checking out his .
驴Qu茅 has hecho desde tu graduaci贸n?
My idea is to spend a few months each yeartravelling, mostly to places that are changing rapidly and which might really defy expectations. More recently I spent time in Colombia, China,Burma and Cuba. I was in Tehran for the celebrations after the preliminary Nuclear Deal agreement was signed and my photos from Iran have been on CNN, the BBC and VICE.
驴Por qu茅 AAU?
My program at the University of Vienna was hopelessly overcrowded; the idea was to bore and frustrate people into leaving. In my first semester, I was in the middle of Austria’s student protests, it was an exciting way to start university but academically it was a waste of time. Plus I wanted to move back to Prague. AAU was the only option and it was extremely helpful with transferring credits from Vienna.
驴Recuerdas tu primer d铆a en AAU?
I remember President Krautstengl sitting down next to me on a bench in the garden when I had just finished my English proficiency test. He lit a cigarette and asked me how it went. He was wearing a bow tie.
驴Clases memorables?
Eva Eckert’s fiery, uncompromising passion for languages. Jaroslava Gajdo拧ov谩’s eye-opening introduction to Visual Culture. Douglas Dix’ school of life; I really wish I could have fit more of his classes in somehow.
AAU in 3 words?
Diverse 鈥� Personal 鈥� Surprising
Estudiaste periodismo y comunicaci贸n, pero 驴qu茅 te influy贸 para dedicarte al fotoperiodismo, aparte de otras ramas de periodismo?
Natalia Vasquez, in the first week of her photography class, said she expected us to carry a camera on us always. It seemed mad to me at the time plus I didn’t have a camera but this is how it started and I’m very grateful now.
Con el estado actual de la informaci贸n masiva a trav茅s de Internet y las redes sociales, 驴cu谩l es la importancia de la narraci贸n visual?
Media consumption has become atomized and divided, people tend to find the stories that fit with their preconceptions and dismiss everyone who disagrees. Maybe what’s important is to find ways to tell stories beyond ever repeating patterns and cliches, and to find the empathy to reach people across the aisle. Instead our stories tend to match our preconceptions.
驴Cu谩l fue tu tema de tesis en AAU?
The Mystification of the Cigarette. Initially I was interested in working out why people, myself included, buy something that says on its package that it will kill you and whether the warning labels on cigarette packages help. I learnt a lot about the history of advertising and how we came to smoke cigarettes. People tend to think we have smoked for thousand of years but really very few people had been smoking much before the Industrial Revolution. The rise of big tobacco is one of the big mistakes of the 20st centuries. As to the warning labels, at best they don’t work help much. They might help some people stop but in others, especially teenagers, they might trigger psychological reactance, thereby helping them start.
驴Qu茅 opinas de la prohibici贸n de fumar en restaurantes, caf茅s y bares que entrar谩 en vigor el mes que viene? 驴C贸mo crees que afectar谩 a Praga?
En fin, la subida de los precios de los cigarrillos es duro para las personas con bajos ingresos. Las etiquetas de advertencia no son realmente eficaces. Llevar谩 unas semanas acostumbrarse a la prohibici贸n de fumar en los bares y luego ser谩 buena para todos. La cuesti贸n es si realmente se har谩 cumplir.
Ahora que es primavera y Praga ha vuelto a la vida, 驴cu谩les son tus lugares favoritos?
I like to be close to the water: N谩plavka, Containall, the Letna beer garden.
H谩blenos de tus proyectos con Krymsk谩 Manufaktura
Krymsk谩 Manufaktura makes Czech maritime fashion. It aims to overcome the Czech Republic’s great flaw, the Absence of Ocean, conjuring up images of the Czechs’ great seafaring past, challenging advertising’s obsession with鈥� authenticity,鈥� the emptiest of words.
Empezamos la marca el oto帽o pasado trayendo de vuelta la m铆tica Original Czech Sailor Bag. Ahora a帽adimos gorras marineras, camisetas, zapatos, etc. Si la gente lo compra, esperamos que pronto, acercando cada vez m谩s Chequia al mar, hagamos ropa de playa checa. Tenemos grandes ideas para ello.
We ship for free worldwide and have a really nice, new聽website.
De los lugares ha donde has viajado, which place surprised you the most?
Although everyone who’s been will tell you about it, nothing prepares you for Iranians’ overwhelming hospitality. The image we get of the country, its culture and way of life really tends to be very one-dimensional. If you want shake the foundations of your world view go to Iran.
What鈥檚 your next planned trip?
I think I’d like to spend more time in China. I’ve been to one relatively remote province and seeing the pace of change and development was incredible. Obviously China is really big and diverse, there is a lot more to see and the country’s rise is sort of the story of our time.
驴Qu茅 te atrae de Praga?
Praga me mantiene en calma, la vida no es ingobernablemente acelerada.
驴C贸mo quieres mantenerte en contacto con AAU y con otros antiguos alumnos de AAU?
It’s been a few years since I graduated and I’ve really only been in touch with a few of students and two or three professors. It’s really great to see the school is making an effort to create more of an alumni community.