posted on 01 May 2016

Werner Bischof by Marco Bischof and Rene Burn

I feel slightly shamefaced in admitting that I knew hardly anything about Werner Bischof before I picked up this Thames and Hudson collection of his photographs. In my defence I did know two things - he was on the staff team at the legendary Magnum agency and he died young. Not much I have to confess.

The reality of Bischof's life and career is considerably more fascinating than those two snippets suggest but even that pales in comparison to the quality of his work. Born in Switzerland in 1916, Bischof went to school in Germany before returning home to be a teacher. He worked for a number of magazines as a photo-journalist throughout the war and by 1945 he was travelling Europe looking to record the devestation of the war and privations of the population. His reputation grew within the world of photography and by 1948 he became an associate of the Magnum agency before becoming a full member of the team in 1949 - the first one to join the original five photographers who established the agency.

Bischof travelled to India and then Japan - where I think he did some of his very best work - before ending up in Korea and Vietnam to record the wars that were breaking out in that part of the world. He planned a trip to South America with the intention of photographing the people of the Andes and it was here that he met his tragic and bizarre death. On a trip into the Andes in May 1954 the car he was travelling in swerved off the road and tumbled over the side of a mountain, killing him and three other passengers.

It is, of course, impossible to know what other great work he would have gone on to do - this collection maps his career progress and shows an artist maturing rapidly and beginning to show signs of genuine brilliance. As I have already indicated, I think his work in Japan is truly great - not only does he capture some of the desperation of that post-war civilisation, he still sees the beauty of the country. His landscapes echo the traditional print-making of the Japanese masters and his eye for composition is sublime.

This is an excellent collection with an introduction by Hugo Loetscher and some narrative text by Marco Bischof who I assume is related to Werner but I can't actually establish that. Good as this is, I really want to see more of Bischof's work because I feel I've unfairly neglected him - but his books are very hard to find and are not very affordable on the second hand market. This edition by Thames and Hudson published in 1990 will set you back a little over £30 but boy, is it worth it.

Terry Potter

April 2016