Werner Bischof found his way to photography through his studies at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Zurich. As a student of Hans Finsler, who was considered a pioneer of the New Objectivity, he learned the technical and creative craft of a photographer. In his early works Bischof composed with careful selection of form, light and shadow images of numerous objects.
Studies such as the image "Sedentary Female Nude" emphasize his artistic inclination by emphasizing the shape. After completing the School of Applied Arts in 1936 and the Rekrutenschule, he initially maintained this artistic focus in order to work as a freelance fashion and advertising photographer.
In 1942 he found his passion for reportage photography, influenced by Arnold Kübler, the founder of the Swiss magazine Du. The end of the war allowed Bischof journeys through Europe between 1945 and 1949, especially to Germany, Italy, Greece and Hungary. In England he published for Picture Post, Illustrated and Observer. In the same year he became the first Swiss member of the Magnum Photos agency.
In 1951 Magnum sent him to India to shoot a picture story for LIFE Magazine about the "hunger in India," his first international success. Immediately he moved on to Japan, Korea, China and Indochina, where he captured people and landscapes in lasting impressive pictures.
The image of the "Shinto priest in the Meiji Temple in Japan" describes Bischof's sense for poetic atmospheric scenes. After two years absence, he returned to Switzerland in late 1952. A year later follows the departure to the USA. Through lucrative contracts, he created reserves for his long-awaited journey through Central and South America. Only a few days before his fatal car accident on 16.05.1954, the world-famous image of the flute player, symbolizing the life and work of the photographer, emerged: the flute-playing boy shows himself in harmonious symmetry as he walks along a canyon with a bag.
