How do you feel about hunting in Africa?
so this is the picture of your sick whore of a mother… i truly disgust belonging to the same species with people like you. “artists” like you disgust me. not only you are not disturbed by your psychopathic fetishes of your mother, you are proudly trying to sell them as artwork to the communities. this is not a documentary project, this is porn. and a really sick, twisted one. you should be ashamed for your horrendous crimes against love and nature. i would like to pay everything to see your mom hunted down and killed like that for justice.
393
Dear Mum,
Dear Julia,
I want to backtrack to that time in 1997 when I was walking Mille (our dog at the time) in The Deer Park
It’s difficult to start a letter to tell you what your hunting has meant for my life.
and saw all the animals in the snow and wondered what I had missed out on
At first glance maybe not so much.
because I didn’t know anything about nature.
It was annoying at first when you had to take your hunting license and go to class,
Fast forward, with a hunting license in my wallet,
because we had to cook dinner ourselves.
I was able to recognize shoveler and sika deer
But wow, you learned so much from those classes.
— the world grew and so did I.
And I learned so much, because you learned so much.
I know that with hunting a big change occurred within me.
But at first, I didn’t even consider what that experience meant to you in your life.
I found my space and my confidence was strengthened.
I just thought that this first trip to Zimbabwe led to a lot of self insight on my own part.
And that’s what happened —mum grew, the whole family has benefited from that, I believe.
That I should be doing something in life that made me want to become an early morning riser.
I found something that I was good at, to be in nature, the jargon on the hunts
That I never again wanted to occupy myself with something that gave me that horrid Sunday-feeling because the day tomorrow was Monday.
—the cold, the heat and the big moments.
And yes, it was photography.
Hunting has meant everything to me, it has developed me and made me braver and mentally stronger.
I don’t make any money, but I love my freedom and creativity.
As a starting point it was a great pleasure when you went with me to Zimbabwe in 2012.
As I have grown older, of course I have made other realisations —like how important it is to find your passion, whether it’s photography or hunting.
And the many trips after that have only contributed to giving you a more profound understanding of hunting.
It has been the same experience for you, as it was for me.
Especially big game hunting!
So, my photography has been a direct consequence of your hunting.
It’s so obvious and exciting to tell about it through pictures and text, it means I won’t be forgotten.
If you hadn’t been hunting, and if you hadn’t invited me inside your world,
The many exciting hunts have equally affected you and you can talk about them, together with me, in a very convincing fashion.
I wouldn’t have taken a chance on photography.
I am happy and proud of your long process with this project. Mum’s legacy.
Thanks for your bravery. You are a courageous woman and a big role model.
Kisses from Mum ( 01.10.2021 )
Kisses, Julia ( 10.12.2021 )
My mother once said that hunting her first animal and giving birth to her first child felt alike.
concept, images, research Julia Mejnertsen editorial direction Sergio Valenzuela Escobedo ( double dummy )
editorial concept & design Ricardo Báez
typefaces in use Italian Plate No2 Extracondensed ( playtype ) Stanley ( optimo type foundry ), Monument Grotesk ( abc dinamo ) drawings (pages 1 – 15 ) Ellen Vangkilde Mejnertsen
digital cut-outs (pages 237 – 266 ) Eddy Reinoso illustrations (pages 277 – 325 ) Mauricio Vivas
archival photos Kate Elvira Rasmussen, Finn Mejnertsen and Julia Mejnertsen cameras used by author Julia's father's Olympus om-1 Nikkormat gifted to Julia by Frank Schauz on a hunt in Zambia
scanning pre-press printing & binding
isbn 978 - 980 - 1234 - 567 - 8 © 2022 . all rights reserved. Julia Mejnertsen
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
tak mor, far, maria, jacob og ellen. thank you sergio and ricardo, margot and jh, atelier smedsby and lise, katherine, nina, alan, maplan, martin and bernard.
hun by Julia Mejnertsen
9 780692 834787
