For the recently released special issue of mare magazine, “Captain's Dinner,” the editorial team came up with a unique collaboration: graduates from the Günter Dahl Zeitenspiegel School of Reportage in Reutlingen wrote all the reports for the issue, and photography students from the Hannover University of Applied Sciences took the accompanying photographs. The collaboration between the six young reporter teams took place on four continents. Anke Lübbert and Felix Seuffert were sent to Japan, Ulf Schubert and Henning Bode to Canada, Markus Wanzeck and Verena Müller traveled to Iceland, Selina Byfield and Franz Bischof to Peru, Sara Mously and Lucas Wahl to Israel, and Julia Rommel and Michael Hauri to France.
The reports tell stories about fishing.
The reporting teams returned with many good photos and full notebooks. But also some experiences. Things didn't always go as planned on site, so photographers and reporters had to improvise here and there and also show staying power. For example, in Iceland, where the photographer on the redfish trawler became seasick in the waters off the Icelandic Westman Islands as the fishing vessel was just leaving the harbor. Photographer Seuffert and reporter Lübbert even had to do underwater research, as the mare editorial team expected underwater photos and “hands-on” experiences for their report on the female sea urchin divers from the island of Iki. For Seuffert, these were the first underwater photos of his life.
There were also problems in Marseille: the reporters found that bouillabaisse was no longer a poor person's dish, contrary to their expectations, and is hardly ever served in ordinary households due to the high prices of ingredients and the considerable effort involved in cooking it. Their report on bouillabaisse therefore takes place mainly in the kitchens of upscale restaurants.
In contrast, the experiences Henning Bode and Ulf Schubert had during their reportage on Canada's east coast are rather amusing. When they talk about the bizarre anecdotes from the small lobster fishing town of Souris, it sounds like passages from Annie Proulx's world bestseller “Shipping News,” which is also set in a small fishing town on the Canadian east coast.
But all the reporters learned a great deal from the mare reports. “Precisely because not everything is predictable on such a reporting trip,” says Henning Bode, “you have to be flexible and agile as a photographer.” And Selina Byfield finds: “Making such a magazine is simply a dream for many journalists. For us, this dream became a reality right after graduating from the reporting school.”
The idea for this student publication project came from mare editor-in-chief Nikolaus Gelpke. Eleven years ago, the Swiss marine biologist created one of the most remarkable new publications in the print scene with his magazine “mare.” Lavishly praised and showered with awards, “mare” has since become a recognized mark of quality in print journalism. All the more significant, therefore, is the distinction that editor-in-chief Nikolaus Gelpke, who otherwise commissions the crème de la crème of journalism, gave six graduates from Reutlingen and photography students from Hanover a chance for the special issue “Captains Dinner.”.