Photography in Switzerland

Swiss photography

There is no such thing as typically Swiss photography. But many renowned Swiss photographers have one thing in common: they have made their careers abroad. "Typically Swiss" would be an apt way to describe the focus of the Swiss Camera Museum in Vevey, which provides a scientific overview of the mechanical elements in photography, with explanations of apparatus and techniques.
Swiss Camera Museum

Photography and tourism

Panoramic photographs of the Alps are one of the principal motifs for Swiss photography. Some unique visual documents are on show in the collection of the Swiss National Museum. They include items marking major innovative breakthroughs in panoramic photography by figures such as Adolphe Braun, Emil Ganz and Emil Schulthess as well as the revolution initiated by Matthias Taugwalder, the Valais mountaineer and IT specialist. In an earlier exhibition, Taugwalder used the stitching process to link his photographs, creating a spectacular walk-through panorama with breathtaking all-round vistas. Jean Gabrell published Gaberells Schweizer Bilder: Erster Band (Gaberell's Swiss Images: Volume One) in 1927. This photographer travelled constantly in Switzerland, often in the mountains. His travels established him as a specialist in mountain photography. He was also very successful at selling his views as postcards. Swiss National Museum

Photography as art

In Switzerland, photography only became established as an art form at a rather late stage, with the first galleries appearing in the 1980s. In the absence of any institutions, photographers had to earn their keep somehow, so artistic photography was – at best – a hobby. Opportunities to combine photography and earning a living increased from the 1920s onwards thanks to the advertising industry and, starting in the 1930s, by working for illustrated magazines.

Objective photography

Especially in the advertising industry, the 1920s saw the emergence of a demand for the perfect reproduction of photographic subjects: objective product shots that achieved their effect neutrally, with no context. In Switzerland, where precision is king, objective photography was to some extent on "home ground". Objective photography reached new heights with the blossoming of the Swiss Style, a pioneering graphic design style that was developed in this country in the 1950s; its emphasis was on criteria such as clean-cut lines, ease of reading and an objective approach – a style that usually preferred photographs to drawings. Well-known representatives of Swiss objective photography include Hans Finsler, Werner Bischof, René Burri and Herbert Matter.

Photojournalism

As circulation figures for the illustrated press soared in the 1920s and increasing numbers of tabloids and illustrated magazines were established, press photographers moved from the sidelines of journalism to a more central position. The end of the 1920s saw the emergence of photo-reportage with a modern design that presented subjects in continuous picture narratives; this trend began in the press metropolis of Berlin. Suddenly, photographers were no longer suppliers of images but narrators who told stories with pictures. As a result, they were often credited with equal status to copywriters at the start of a reportage. Renowned Swiss press photographers include Walter Bosshard, Hans Staub, Gotthard Schuh, Jakob Tuggener, Paul Senn and Theo Frey .

Subjective photography

Subjective photography also spilled over from Germany into Switzerland in the 1950s. This movement explicitly advocated artistic photography. The main interest was in experimental photography. Subjective photography never did (and never intended to) reproduce the objective reality of a situation, but only to convey its pictorial interpretation. It often includes monochrome shots, abstract forms, graphic structures, and lines of light and shadow. Other features include high-contrast prints, radical cut-outs and situations that seem surreal, as well as negative prints or solarisations. The best-known representatives of subjective photography in Switzerland include Robert Frank, Henriette Grindat and Kurt Blum.

Experiencing photography

Winterthur Museum of Photography

Collecting contemporary photography was stipulated as a key aspect of the activities undertaken by the Winterthur Museum of Photography ever since it was established in 1993. So far, about 4,000 photographs have been added to the collection: some have been purchased, while others are gifts and items on permanent loan from private sponsors and foundations. Every year since 2003, parts of the stock have been exhibited as curated collections, each accompanied by a collection brochure (Sets 1, 2, 3, 4 …). The museum contains photographs by various contemporary artists such as Lewis Baltz, Hans Danuser, William Eggleston, Hans-Peter Feldmann, David Goldblatt, Nan Goldin, Paul Graham, Andreas Gursky, Roni Horn, Loretta Lux, Urs Lüthi, Boris Mikhailov, Arnold Odermatt, Gilles Peress, Pipilotti Rist, Annelies Štrba and many more. The collection can be viewed online at the website of the Winterthur Museum of Photography.
The Winterthur Museum of Photography is not only a gallery for works by contemporary photographers and artists (with exhibitions by Lewis Baltz, William Eggleston, Nan Goldin, Andreas Gursky, Roni Horn, Boris Mikhailov and many others). This institution is also a classical museum for masters of the 19th and 20th century (with exhibitions of the work of Eugène Atget, Karl Blossfeldt, Bill Brandt, Dorothea Lange, Lisette Model, Albert Renger-Patzsch, August Sander, Charles Sheeler, Edward Weston, Weegee and others). Finally, it is a museum of the cultural history and sociology of applied photography in industry, architecture and fashion, etc. (with exhibitions on police photography, industrial photography, dam-building photography, medical photography, subject photography and other specialities). The exhibition programme and the accompanying publications and events reflect these three aspects.
Museum of Photography

Swiss Foundation for Photography

The Swiss Foundation for Photography (or Swiss Photo Foundation for short) in Winterthur was established in 1971 for the purposes of preserving, presenting and opening up access to photographic works.
It maintains a collection that now comprises over 50 bequests and some 50,000 original prints. Every year, it organises three or four exhibitions on its own premises in Winterthur, issues publications on the history of photography in Switzerland and purchases new photographs. The foundation's collection is complemented by items on permanent loan from the Federal government and the internationally oriented collection of the Friends of the Swiss Photo Foundation. The Swiss Photo Foundation and the Winterthur Museum of Photography jointly manage a specialised public library focusing on photography.
Swiss Foundation for Photography

Musée de l'Elysée

The Musée de l'Elysée is a museum of photography in Lausanne, Switzerland. The four storeys of the building currently contain eight different exhibition spaces where permanent displays as well as alternating subject-specific exhibitions are shown. The Musée de l’Elysée owns more than 100,000 original photographs dating from the 19th and 20th centuries, including works by Francis Frith, Robert Capa, John Phillips and Marco Giacomelli, as well as a unique collection of the first colour photographs by Gabriel Lippmann. Another focal point is the presentation of works by Swiss photographers such as Nicolas Bouvier, Adolphe Braun, Ella Maillart and Hans Steiner.
Musée de l'Elysée

photo

photo is is the largest showcase for works of Swiss photography. Every year, over 125 Swiss photographers and a few of their international colleagues exhibit their latest works. The event takes place in five industrial halls on the Maag site in Zurich, with over 3500 m2 of exhibition space. Year after year, photo provides a representative, up-to-date overview of photographic work in Switzerland.

Gallery Focus 21, Zurich

Contemporary artistic photography

Further links

Fotoagenda.ch The independent Swiss online events calendar for photography
Swiss Photo Collection The photo database for contemporary Swiss photography
Photographic Institutions of Switzerland The main photographic institutions and exhibitions
Online Lexicon of Swiss Photographers Online work about photography in Switzerland: