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In the heart of Rhineland Palatinate is the largest US air base outside the United States – Ramstein AirBase. Around 50,000 US citizens currently live in the region around Kaiserslautern. The presence of the Americans has an enormous impact on the region. Many people are directly or indirectly financially dependent on the airbase. There is also a strong influence on culture and infrastructure.

In 2013, German media reported for the first time about the importance of the airbase in the global drone war, which is highly controversial under international law. In 2015, documents were published proving Ramstein’s essential role. 

The German government refuses to act and refers to the statement USA – Ramstein is not involved in the drone war. How does it feel for a region that is economically dependent on a military base to know that without this base the killing of civilians by drones would not be possible? In my work, I combine images of everyday life in the village with clips of images documenting the AirBase from the outside to visualise the tension between these two worlds.