Nino Paula Bulling’s graphic reportages are always political and leave plenty of room for the perspectives of conversation partners.
“Ach, you’re lookin’ for the refugee home! You sure you wanna go there?!” exclaims an elderly resident of Halberstadt in disbelief in response to Nino Paula Bulling’s request for directions to the Central Contact Point for Asylum Seekers. The comic Im Land der Frühaufsteher (In the Land of Early Risers) describes the lives of refugees in Saxony-Anhalt, their struggle against the residency requirement, run-down homes, everyday racism, and the threat of deportation. The graphic reportage also repeatedly problematises the perspective of the observer, who can return to their own uncomplicated and privileged life after visiting and talking to the residents of the homes. With this comic debut in 2012, Nino Paula Bulling made their mark in the German comics scene and popularised the graphic reportage genre.
Bulling retained this self-reflective perspective – thinking about their own position as an observer or speaker – in later works. They don’t aim to make things easy for the readers: The reports are always political, looking at the wounds of society. And these wounds are many: In Bulling’s debut Im Land der Frühaufsteher they show up in everyday racism in Germany, in Lichtpause (Blueprint) in the aftermath of colonialism in Algeria, in Bruchlinien (Fault Lines) in the NSU murders and the treatment of the victims’ relatives, and in the anthology Lampedusa on European border politics. Again and again, Bulling focuses on the facets of society that are ignored all too often and views them from a very personal perspective. This personal perspective is in turn flanked by engaging with the perspectives of the people who live in the places they visit as a graphic journalist, as an observer. They remember the month in Paris in 2012 mainly through the people and places they met. “I went out to eat with an insurance manager in the La Défense business district, attended a neighbourhood party in the demolished apartment blocks of Villiers-le-Bel, and walked with a historian along the remains of the medieval city wall. I was able to get to know the city from completely different perspectives.”
From the nameless crowd to the individual
A change of perspective is at the centre of their work on Paris; Bulling evolves from the role of an observer to chronicler. While they describe their arrival as a diffuse influx of impressions as Paris manifests itself as a nameless crowd – “When you arrive in the rain, you miss the faces” – individuals slowly emerge from the crowd by page two. Bulling approaches their accommodation near Gare du Nord, where they see a queue of people. Suddenly, realising the people are queuing for free meals, they’re confronted with poverty among people in a city like Paris.
Empathy and involvement
Looking back, Bulling remembers, “When I took another look at my drawings two years later, I noticed that many of them revolve around food.” Through food, they explain arrival, insights and contrasts in the city. Through food, they get to know people and neighbourhoods as well as people’s worries and problems. One of the people queuing at the Gare du Nord says to them, “Bon appetit, princesse!” and again we encounter the self-reflective gaze that characterises Bulling’s other works. For Nino Paula Bulling, graphic journalism doesn’t mean neutral, objective reporting on a situation, but always empathy with the people being portrayed. Drawing becomes political involvement. In the second half of the article about their stay in Paris, they portray Jonathan, who talks about the rising rents and the problems that these gentrification processes bring with them. In this case, Nino Paula Bulling withdraws completely, leaving the room fully to him.
