In 1990 Verner Soler born in the Swiss village of Vrin in the Canton of Grisons and
educated as a primary school teacher traveled to Los Angeles. His intended six-month stay
turned into thirty years and counting. He studied photography and creative advertising in
California married and raised a child and became a Creative Director with Saatchi & Saatchi
in Los Angeles where he leads campaigns for major global brands such as Toyota. His native
alpine village of 250 inhabitants could not be more different from the metropolis of 3.8
million that has become his new home. Against the odds Soler has tried for more than three
decades to maintain a connection to the place and the people he left behind. Vrin: Home
Through an Emigrant's Lens presents Soler's intimate exploration of an emigrant's emotions when
confronted with the accelerated changes in the village and its people which he experiences as
if captured in a time-lapse. His authentic powerful images exude an uninhibited candid
reality. At the same time they are full of meaning and longing. Combined with long narrative
captions they invite viewers to experience this place of power for themselves.
