Quote: "I felt compelled to venture forth and explore the true face of the world. Leading a satisfying life of plenty had blinded many of us to the immense hardships beyond our borders."
Werner Bischof joined Magnum Photos as a full Member in 1949.

Swiss, b. 1916 – d. Peru, 1954

Werner Bischof was born in Switzerland. He studied photography with Hans Finsler in his native Zurich at the School for Arts and Crafts, then opened a photography and advertising studio. In 1942 he became a freelancer for Du magazine, which published his first major photo essays in 1943. Bischof received international recognition after the publication of his 1945 reportage on the devastation caused by the Second World War.

In the years that followed, Bischof traveled in Italy and Greece for Swiss Relief, an organization dedicated to post-war reconstruction. In 1948 he photographed the Winter Olympics in St Moritz for Life magazine. After trips to Eastern Europe, Finland, Sweden and Denmark, he worked for Picture Post, The Observer, Illustrated and Epoca. He was the first photographer to join Magnum as one of the founding members in 1949.

Disliking the 'superficiality and sensationalism' of the magazine business, he devoted much of his working life to looking for order and tranquility in traditional culture, something that did not endear him to picture editors looking for hot topical material. Nonetheless, he found himself sent to report on famine in India by Life magazine (1951), and he went on to work in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Indochina. The images from these reportages were used in major picture magazines throughout the world.

In the autumn of 1953 Bischof created a series of expansively composed color photographs of the USA. The following year he traveled through Mexico and Panama, and then on to a remote part of Peru, where he was engaged in making a film. Tragically, Bischof died in a road accident in the Andes on 16 May 1954, only nine days before Magnum founder Robert Capa lost his life in Indochina.

Education

1932/36 Photography, Kunstgewerbeschule, Zürich, Switzerland

Exhibitions

2006 Der Bewegte Mensch - IG Halle, Rapperwil, Switzerland
2006 WernerBischofBilder - C/O Berlin, Germany
2006 WernerBischofBilder - Helmhaus Zürich, Switzerland
2005/06 Retrospective: Werner Bischof – Municipal House, Prague, Czech Republic
2005 Réflexions de Vie 1916-1954: Photographies de Werner Bischof - FNAC,
Paris, France
2005 Werner Bischof Exhibition in Kaposvár, Hungary - Vaszary Képtár
(Vaszary Gallery), Kaposvár, Hungary
2004 Werner Bischof 1916-1954 - Casal Solleric Gallery, Palma de Mallorca,
Spain
2004 Werner Bischof: A Retrospective 1932-1954 - Bruce Silverstein Gallery,
New York, USA
2004 Werner Bischof Photographs 1932-1954 – Minneapolis Institute of Arts,
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
2003 Chiostri di San Domenico, Imola, Italy
2002 Fotografisk Center, Copenhagen, Denmark
2001 The Compassionate Lens-The Photographs of Werner Bischof 1945-1954 –
Greenwich, Connecticut, USA
2001 Umjetnicka Galerija Bosne i Herzogovine, Sarajevo, Bosnia; Palazzo ex
Monte die Pieta, San Daniele, Italy; Théatre la Passerelle, Gap, France
2000 La Filature, Mulhouse, France
1999 National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe; National Gallery of Bulawayo,
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe; City Museum, Skopje, Macedonia; National Art Gallery,
Sofia, Bulgaria; Balabanov Museum, Piovdiv, Bulgaria; Alliance Fran?ais,
Varpa, Bulgaria; Ilia Bechov Gallery, Pleven, Bulgaria; National Gallery of
Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia; University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa;
The Castle Good Hope Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa; French Cultural Center,
Nairobi, Kenya
1998/99 King George VI Gallery, Port Elisabeth, South Africa
1998 Musée Suisse de l’Appareil Photographique, Vevey, Switzerland; Durban Center
for Photography, Durban, South Africa; Tatham Art Gallery, Pietermaritzburg,
South Africa; Museum Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa
1996 Casa de la Cultura Alcaldia Municipal, Sucre, Bolivia; Casa de la Cultura Casa
Dorada, Tarija, Bolivia; Casa de la Cultura, Asuncion, Paraguay; National Art
Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; State
Art Gallery, Penang, Malaysia; Museo National de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires,
Argentina; City Gallery Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia
1995 Sarjeant Art Gallery, Wanganui, New Zealand; James Wallace Charitable Trust
Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand; McDougall Art Gallery, Christchurch,
New Zealand; Aigantighe Art Gallery, Timaru, New Zealand; Rotorua Bath House,
Rotorua, New Zealand; Manawatu Art Gallery, Palmerston North, New Zealand;
Museo de Arte, La Paz, Bolivia; Centro Cultural Simon Pati?o, Cochabamba,
Bolivia; Casa de la Cultura Raul Otero Reich, Santa Cruz, Bolivia; Centro
Cultural de Vi?a del Mar, Vi?a del Mar, Chile; Universidad de Conception,
Conception, Chile; Museo Arqueologico de la Serena, La Serena, Chile;
Centro Municipalidad Miraflores, Lima, Peru; Escuela Superior de Formation
Artistica, Lima, Peru; Banco Continental, Cuzco, Peru
1994 Historic Museum, Lahti, Finland; Kiek in de K?k, Tallinn, Estonia; Narva,
Estonia; New South Wales Art Gallery, Sydney, Australia; High Court of
Australia, Canberra, Australia; Westpac Gallery, Melbourne, Australia; Dowse
Art Museum, Wellington, New Zealand; Banco Continental, Arequipa, Peru
1993/94 Fotografie Museum, Helsinki, Finland
1993 Museo Franz Meyer, Mexico City, Mexico; Instituto Cultural Cabanas, Guadalajara,
Mexico; Museo de Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico; Museum of Arts, Santa Barbara,
California, USA; Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela; Festival of Arts,
The Altamont School, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
1992/93 National Museum, Wroclaw, Poland
1992 Museo de Arte Universidad National, Bogota, Colombia; Fotomuseum im
Münchner Stadtmuseum, Munich, Germany; Museum foor Fotografie,
Antwerpen, Belgium; Kunst und Gewerbemuseum, Hamburg, Germany; Museo
de Arte Moderno, Medellin, Colombia; Museo de Arte Moderno, Cali,
Colombia; Galeria National de Arte Contemporano, San Jose, Costa Rica
1991 Photographers’ Gallery, London, UK; - Museo de Bellas Artes, Havana, Cuba;
Aoyama Bell Commons, Tokyo, Japan; Casa da Fotografia Fuji, Sao Paulo, Brasil;
Palazzina della Promotrice delle BelleArti, Turin, Italy; Pacific Place, Hong
Kong, China
1990 International Center of Photography, New York, New York, USA; Palais de Tokyo,
Paris, France
1988 Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain
1987 Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland
1986 Kunsthaus, Zürich, Switzerland

Collections

Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
International Center of Photography, New York, New York, USA
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York, USA
Museum of Decorative Art, Prague, Czech Republic
Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York, USA
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Rose Art Museum, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
Fotostiftung Schweiz, Winterthur, Switzerland
Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, California, USA
Fotomuseum, Winterthur, Switzerland

Books

2006 WernerBischofPictures, Steidl, Germany; (WernerBischofBilder), Benteli, Switzerland
2006 Der zugewandte Blick, Verlag Pestalozzianum, Switzerland
2004 Questions to My Father, Trolley, UK
2001 55: Werner Bischof, Phaidon, USA
1997 After the War, Smithsonian Books, USA
1990 Werner Bischof 1945-1950, T.A. Media, Switzerland
1990 Europa, Conzett & Huber, Switzerland
1989 Photofile, Thames & Hudson, UK
1986 Photo Poche, Centre National de la Photographie, France
1976 Werner Bischof: Photos and Drawings, Amphoto, USA
1974 Werner Bischof 1916-1954, Grossman Publishers, USA
1966 Werner Bischof 1916-1954, Paragraphic, USA
1961 Japan, Bantam Books, USA
1959 The World of Werner Bischof: A Photographer's Odyssey, Dutton, USA
1957 Unterwegs, Manesse, Switzerland
1957 Carnet de Route, Delpire, Switzerland
1956 Indiens Pas Morts (with Robert Frank and Pierre Verger), Delpire, France;
(From Incas to Indios), Universe Books, USA
1950 Mother and Child, Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund, Switzerland
1946 Werner Bischof: 24 Photos, L.M. Kohler, Switzerland