"In my romantic nature i don't primarily seek factual image documentation. I try (again and again) to capture and convey moods and perceived emotions in my photos; and to reinforce a mood, if necessary also by manual intervention in the dark room."- René Groebli
The work of Zurich-based photographer René Groebli (born October 9, 1927) is a constant change of ideas - a result of the tireless desire to experiment, the expression of emotions and a personal statement that goes beyond the photographic craft.
Early self-commissioned photography meets classic reportage in Groebli's oeuvre. After the war, like many photographers of his time, he went to distant countries to devote himself to photo journalism, which took him across Europe, the Middle East and America. International magazines such as Life, Illustrated or the Picture Post, but also national magazines, show his classic photographic works in black and white.
In the meantime, following his work as a press photographer, he created his own photo books, such as the book “Magie der Schiene”, published in 1949, which Groebli pays homage to traveling by train. The project was realized around the east station in Paris. This work, which lives from an industrial dynamic, is now considered a milestone in Swiss post-war photography. Probably the best-known self-commissioned work by the photographer appeared in 1954 with the series "The Eye of Love" with his wife Rita as the main subject. René Groebli records these private insights and emotional moments as a kind of souvenir and, as he says, "photographic love poem". With this subjective photography, he is a milestone ahead of his contemporaries, who also devote themselves to their own topics years later.
With the coming color photography in the 1960s, Groebli emerged the idea of expanding his repertoire of technical possibilities. He sees himself both as a commissioned photographer, but equally as a self-directed artist who masters his craft and is fully committed to the magic of chemical photographic processes.
René Groebli implement his ideas with the help of new photographic techniques and reinvent himself again and again. He is an "artist on the move", whose mind is restless and expression is visionary.
Photo Prints by René Groebli
