Werner Bischof Backstory

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 Post subject: Werner Bischof Backstory
Unread postPosted: Wed Jun 22, 2016 6:54 pm 
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I've been a fan of Magnum Photo for almost as long as I have been a photographer. What ignited my interest in a particular photo agency in my late teens? I'm not quite sure, although the fascinating photographs by Henri Cartier-Bresson certainly attracted me. I was always interested in history, and the Magnum Photo credit line always seemed to be associated with imagery of recent history and current history-in-the-making. As I became more involved in photography, I acquired more photographer's monographs, and a good portion of my library was the work of Magnum photographers.

As I matured, I started to think about the meaning and influence of photography, concerns which occupied Magnum's founders in the aftermath of World War II. I was - and remain - intrigued by their ideas: that a cooperative of photographers should retain ownership of their work, should be independent of media control and should be free to carry out long-term projects and to explore their subjects more deeply than might otherwise be possible.

One Magnum member I had read about was Werner Bischof. A Swiss photographer and artist whose early photo-reportage was published in Du, Match, and other post-war European illustrated magazines, Bischof was invited to join Magnum in 1948 and remained with them until his death in an auto accident in Peru in 1954. Although Bischof published several books of photographs during his life, and his work could be found in anthologies of Magnum's collective work, I could not truly say I was familiar with his work until now.

Aperture has just published a beautiful monograph featuring Bischof's photographs (some published for the first time), selected contact sheets, correspondence, drawings and layouts. Organized geographically according to Bischof's major projects (Europe, India, the far east, the USA, Mexico, Panama and Peru), the book provides a fascinating view into Bischof's creative process. It also reveals - through his correspondence with family, friends and co-workers, his struggle to reconcile his desire as an artist to show the world beautiful things, with his felt duty as a photographer facing terrible suffering caused by war, natural disaster, desperate poverty and international indifference.. Even the book's cover, a photograph taken by Bischof of a crush of press photographers during the arrival of General Ridgway in Kaesong, Korea in July 1951, illustrates the mass instinct of press photographers which he - in his search for human connection - found so troubling.

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Bischof's writings candidly tell of the severe internal conflicts he struggled with, and which continue to have dire importance today: what is the proper role for (photo)journalists in the face of such deprivation? Is selling images of human suffering exploitation? What impact do such images really have?

Published to coincide with the photographer's 100th birthday, Werner Bischof Backstory was edited by his son, Marco Bischof from materials compiled by the Werner Bischof Estate. In Marco's words, the materials collected in this monograph "illustrate [Werner Bischof's] carefully composed reflections, as well as his questions and doubts about a world overwhelmed by war, environmental disaster, and economic hardship." It concludes with an essay by Fred Ritchin, dean of the School at the International Center of Photography, a chronology of Bischof's tragically short life, a glossary of people, places and events, and an interview with Marco Bischof. The essay and interview illuminate Werner Bischof's place in the early history of Magnum Photo and in the "golden age" of illustrated magazines. With almost 400 photographs in black & white and color, Werner Bischof Backstory fills a significant gap in the history of photojournalism. Beautifully printed in Switzerland, the hardbound book is available through Amazon.


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 Post subject: Re: Werner Bischof Backstory
Unread postPosted: Thu Jun 23, 2016 8:46 pm 
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Another outstanding precis of a book about the life & work of an outstanding Magnum photographer. You are certainly putting your time to a wonderful use, but I don't know how you find more time to take your own photos! Excellent write-up & thanks for letting us know about it.


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