Werner Bishop

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Werner Bischof on the timeline of the exhibition “Modern Times: Photographs of the 20th Century” at the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam 2014

Werner Bischof (* 26. April 1916 in Zurich ; † 16th May 1954 in Trujillo , Peru ) was one of the most famous reportage - photographers of the 20th century and member of the prestigious agency Magnum Photos .

Life

Bischof, the son of a businessman, grew up first in Zurich and Kilchberg , but spent his school days in Waldshut , where his father had managed the branch of a Zurich pharmaceutical factory since 1922. This time was overshadowed by the early death of the mother. He had a sister, Marianne Fiechter-Bishop (1915-2014), who later became a doctor at the first anthroposophical clinic in Arlesheim, Switzerland . Then he moved to the Schiers teacher training college to become a drawing and sports teacher. At the age of 16, Bischof switched to studying at the Zurich School of Applied Arts with Hans Finsler and Alfred Willimann. In 1936 he received his diploma with distinction as a photographer and opened a studio for fashion and advertising photography after completing the recruitment school in Zurich . After intermezzi as an employee at a Zurich publishing house, freelance artist for the Swiss National Exhibition in 1939 and graphic artist in Paris, he was drawn to military service in Switzerland in 1939. In short phases between military operations, he devoted himself to the innocent beauty of nature's motifs. In 1942, Bischof published his first photos in the new monthly magazine Du .

Then came the war and with it the destruction of my “ivory tower”. The face of the suffering person became the focus. In autumn 1945 he toured southern Germany, France and the Netherlands and was deeply impressed by the hardship he was facing. On behalf of the Swiss donation , he reported on the aid for the war victims and the destroyed Europe.

In 1948 he was for Time at the Winter Olympics in St. Moritz . In 1949 his documentary recordings were published in Life magazine, and he joined the newly formed Magnum Photos group . From 1951 he was traveling in the Middle (famine in Bihar ) and the Far East. He was a war correspondent for Paris Match magazine during the Indochina War . In 1953 he began a long-term journey through the American continent. The following year, on May 16, his off-road vehicle crashed down a slope on the Peña de Aguila in the Peruvian Andes , killing Bishop.

He was married to his wife Rosellina (1925–1986) since 1949 and had two sons Marco (* 1950) and Daniel (* 1954). Rosellina Bischof published publications about her late husband and later married the photographer René Burri .

In 1955 Werner Bischof was the first photographer to be awarded the Prix ​​Nadar .

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Bischof made a name for himself early on as a studio and advertising photographer with fascinating compositions of light and shadow. But when he was able to travel to devastated Europe after the end of the Second World War, his pictures depicted the suffering and destructiveness of the war with oppressive urgency. His motto now became: It is not a question of turning photography into an art, as in the old sense, but of the deep social responsibility of the photographer who does a job with the given elementary photographic means that cannot be done with other means would. This work must become the unadulterated document of temporal reality. In this sense, Bishop created pictures that show bitter poverty and deep suffering, but are also documents of the inner strength and willpower of the people depicted. The superficiality and sensationalism of the editorial business repelled him, but he was mostly sent to crisis areas. Despite the external circumstances, however, the love for people and the love for the cause are always visible in Bishop's photographs. Aesthetic feeling, elementary formative power and human commitment combined with him to form an inner unity.

His most famous picture shows a poor Peruvian boy who is serene and serene and yet deeply absorbed in himself and plays a song on the shepherd's flute, evenly striding along an abyss in front of him.

Werner Bischof set new standards for quality and ethics in photography in the few years of his activity :

It drove me out to see the true face of the world. Our good, saturated life made many people lose sight of the immense hardship outside our borders.

Only deep, complete, whole-hearted work can have value.

Publications

Books
  • 24 photos. Kohler, Bern 1946.
  • Japan. Manesse, Zurich 1954.
  • On road. Text by Manuel Gasser . Manesse, Zurich 1957.
  • WernerBischofPictures. Benteli-Verlag, Bern (German) / Steidl Verlag, Göttingen (English), 2006. (Exhibition Helmhaus Zurich, February 11 to April 17, 2006)
Movie
  • René Baumann and Marco Bischof: On the way - Werner Bischof Photograph 51/52. 1987, b / w. 50 min.
CD-ROM
  • Marco Bischof and Carl Philabaum: Werner Bischof - life and work of a photographer 1916–1954. 2003.

literature

  • Manuel Gasser : The World of Werner Bischof. A Photographer's Odyssey. Dutton, New York 1959.
  • Marco Bischof (ed.): Werner Bischof 1916–1954, life and work. Benteli, Bern 1990, ISBN 3-7165-0714-8 .
  • Marco Bischof (Ed.): WernerBischofBilder. Photographs. Benteli, Wabern 2006, ISBN 3-7165-1441-1 .
  • L. Fritz Gruber (Ed.): Great Photographers of our Century. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1964, p. 156 ff.
  • Marco Bischof (Ed.): Viewpoint for the 100th birthday. Scheidegger & Spiess, Zurich 2016, ISBN 978-3-85881-508-8 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Manuel Gasser: Werner Bishop. Cross-sections. Publishing house Die Arche, Zurich 1961.
  2. ↑ Guido Magnaguagno: Bishop, Werner. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  3. ^ Antonia Schmidlin: Burri [-Bischof], Rosellina. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
personal data
SURNAME Bishop, Werner
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss photographer
DATE OF BIRTH April 26, 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH Zurich
DATE OF DEATH May 16, 1954
Place of death Trujillo , Peru