ANYWAYINAWAY is a documentary photography project created by Olga and Errol from Switzerland. Born from a shared curiosity about the world and its people, the project explores cultural traditions, ethnic minorities, indigenous people and communities whose ways of life are undergoing profound change.
Our images and stories offer a window into people’s lives shaped by distinctive histories, beliefs and relationships with the land. We seek to reveal the remarkable diversity of human experience and the many ways in which people understand and inhabit the world.
The project grew from years of travel and fieldwork in remote regions. Reaching isolated communities has sometimes meant landing in small aircraft on grass airstrips, travelling for days by canoe or crossing rainforests and steep mountain terrain on foot. These journeys are not the subject of our work, but they have made possible encounters, relationships and stories that might otherwise have remained beyond our view.
Across the world, traditions are being transformed – or disappearing altogether – under the pressures of globalisation, migration, economic change and modernisation. When cultural practices vanish, we lose more than ceremonies, objects or forms of dress: we lose knowledge, memory and distinct ways of understanding the world.
Yet many communities continue to preserve and reinterpret their cultural identities. Our project pays tribute to the people who sustain these traditions and pass them from one generation to the next. We document customs, ceremonies and rituals while listening to the personal stories behind them. This work is possible only because people welcome us into their communities and homes, and trust us to represent aspects of their lives.
Although our work has taken us to some of the world’s most remote regions, meaningful stories are not defined by distance. They can also be found in our home, Switzerland, wherever people maintain a connection to their history, community and environment. We seek to look beyond the obvious, find significance in everyday life and offer a different perspective on places that may appear familiar.
ANYWAYINAWAY is an ongoing documentary project. If you know of a tradition, community or story that may be relevant to our work, we would be pleased to hear from you.
This project is dedicated to all the people we have met, who welcomed us into their homes, shared their stories and entrusted us with a glimpse into their lives.
Olga is a Swiss documentary photographer and writer who uses images and written narratives to explore people’s lives, cultural identities and traditions. Her search for compelling visual stories and fascination with the world’s cultural diversity have taken her to communities around the world.
Looking beyond the visible expressions of culture, Olga explores their meaning, memory and place in everyday life. Her work examines how traditions connect individuals to their communities and how cultural heritage is preserved, adapted and passed from one generation to the next.
Through her photography and writing, she seeks to bring greater visibility to traditions undergoing profound change and to the people who sustain them.
Errol co-founded ANYWAYINAWAY and shaped its visual identity, communication and digital presence. With his expertise in IT and graphic design, he played a central role in bringing the project to life.
Curious, imaginative and open to new perspectives, Errol was fascinated by the world and its cultures. His imagination made him an endless source of original – and sometimes wonderfully unconventional – ideas. His creativity, humour and vision remain an essential part of ANYWAYINAWAY.