Werner Bischof (26 April 1916 – 16 May 1954) was a Swiss photographer and

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (suc ...

. He became a full member of Magnum Photos in 1949, the first new photographer to join its original founders. Bischof's book ''Japan'' (1954) was awarded the Prix Nadar in 1955.

Life and work

Bischof was born on 26 April 1916, in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. At age six, the family moved to Waldshut, Germany, where he subsequently went to school. In 1932, having abandoned studies to become a teacher, he enrolled at the '' Kunstgewerbeschule'' in Zürich. While there he studied alongside . He graduated ''cum laude'' in 1936. From 1939, he worked as an independent photographer for various magazines, in particular, '' du'', based in Zürich. He travelled extensively from 1945 to 1949 through nearly all European countries from France to

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. His works on the devastation in post-war Europe established him as one of the foremost photojournalists of his time. He was pioneer of

color photography Color photography (also spelled as colour photography in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is photography that uses media capable of capturing and reproducing colors. By contrast, black-and-white or gray-monochrome ...

since 1939 in some rare technology and used it to document in a large number of color photographies the appealing ruins of former so called executioner and victim countries,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

(1946-1948) because their border it was the place where the last war broke out, in pionieering and rare technology of color photography described by photographers as the same process as

Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

but in photography, not in cinematography using his American ''Devin Tricolor'' (1934) camera with tripod. Most of the color photographies from Germany and Poland have not yet been published, but have been preserved in the archive in Zürich. Technology used by him was far better and accurate than Agfacolor used during the war in Europe. He was associated into Magnum Photos in 1948 and became a full member in 1949. At that time Magnum was composed of just five other photographers, its founders Robert Capa,

Henri Cartier-Bresson Henri Cartier-Bresson (; 22 August 1908 – 3 August 2004) was a French artist and Humanist photography, humanist photographer considered a master of candid photography, and an early user of 135 film, 35mm film. He pioneered the genre of street ...

, George Rodger, David Seymour, and Ernst Haas. The focus of much of Bischof's post-war humanist photography was showing the poverty and despair around him in Europe, tempered with his desire to travel the world, conveying the beauty of nature and humanity. Of photography, Bischof said - In 1951, he went to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, freelancing for ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'',Though never a staffer on ''Life'', he was a valuable contributor: and then to Japan and

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

. For ''

Paris Match ''Paris Match'' () is a French-language weekly gossip magazine. It covers major national and international news along with celebrity lifestyle features. ''Paris Match'' has been considered "one of the world's best outlets for photojournalism". ...

'' he worked as a war reporter in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. In 1954, he travelled through Mexico and

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

, before flying to

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, where he embarked on a trip through the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

to the Amazonas on 14 May. On 16 May 1954, his car fell off a cliff on a mountain road in the Andes, and all three passengers were killed.

Publications

Publications by Bischof

*''Japan.'' Zurich: Manesse, 1954. **''Japan.'' London: Sylvan, 1954. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1954. **''Japon.'' Paris: Delpire, 1954. * Indiens Pas Mort,(with Pierre Verger and Robert Frank), Zurich: Conzett & Huber, 1956. * Carnet de Route.Zurich: Conzett & Huber, 1957. *''Werner Bischof: Europa 1945 – 1950.'' Zürich: Tages-Anzeiger, 1990. *''After the War.'' Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian, 1997. . Foreword by Miriam Mafai. *''Werner Bischof.'' Phaidon 55's. London: Phaidon, 2001. . Text by Claude Cookman. *''Questions to My Father: A Tribute to Werner Bischof.'' London: Trolley, 2004. . Edited by Marco Bischof.

Publications about Bischof

*''Werner Bischof, 1916–1954 His Life and Work.'' London: Thames and Hudson, 1990. . By Marco Bischof and Rene Burri. With an introduction by Hugo Loetscher and text by Marco Bishof and Guido Magnaguagno.

Awards

*1955: His book ''Japon'' (Japan) won the Prix Nadar

References

External links

Werner Bischof Estate
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bischof, Werner 1916 births 1954 deaths Artists from Zurich Magnum photographers Road incident deaths in Peru Life (magazine) photojournalists Paris Match photojournalists Photography in Japan Photography in Korea Photography in Vietnam Swiss photojournalists Road incident deaths in Bolivia Zurich University of the Arts alumni 20th-century Swiss photographers Humanist photographers