The camera passes over black and white photos of what at first appears to be a desolate small town where the men still wear cowboy hats and where, judging by the proliferation of cattle on the photos, cattle raising is the main industry. We see the American flag, hear the local radio station, see parked pick-ups, hear the sounds of cattle, see photos of families at dinner, hear an old-fashioned dial telephone and see an occasional picture of the environs. The sounds clearly refer to what we see. For instance we listen to a mobile phone telling us how several people were injured while we are looking at photos of the police station. In 1995 Urech travelled about New Mexico and landed in the small town of Raton. At Hotel El Portal he got to know Scotty, who had been working at the hotel for the past years in exchange for room and board. Urech became fascinated by how Scotty, originally from Scotland, had ended up in a small town like Raton. When Urech returned to the town after a two-week trip, Scotty was dead. A good reason to put this small town under the magnifying glass by taking pictures and recording sounds that are singular to this place. Typically, most of the photos - even those with residents on them - radiate the same sense of lifelessness, which is not changed even by the accompanying sounds or music. After about ten minutes Urech slowly sweeps his camera round Scotty's simple room in Hotel El Portal. These images are varied with photos of some Raton residents Scotty probably knew. When it is over we know that in Raton there are few pedestrians, and that everyone drives a pick-up, with the radio tuned to the local station. And that Scotty has been long forgotten because only daily life is of interest here.
– Morene Dekker
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Production: point de vue/ Audiovisuelle Produktionen
Uri Urech ° 1949, Basel (Switzerland)
Lives and works in Basel (Switzerland)
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