Werner Bischof, the renowned Swiss photographer, became world-famous in the mid-20th century for his predominantly black-and-white photojournalism from distant lands. Now, the Leica Gallery in Frankfurt is presenting rarely exhibited color photographs that reveal a lesser-known side of his artistic work.
Bischof's photographs taken in Japan and other Asian countries, captured in just a few short years, are now over 70 years old yet have lost none of their visual power. Despite his tragic, early accidental death at age 38, the photographer born in 1916 is considered one of the most important photographers of the 20th century.
After gaining recognition in photojournalistic circles with his images from war-torn Europe, Bischof became a member of the newly founded photo agency Magnum Photos in 1949. Commissioned by major magazines, he subsequently traveled throughout Asia and the rest of the world, bringing distant lands home to those who stayed behind. Bischof's predominantly black-and-white photographs were style-defining for the travel photography genre. He was not interested in grand visual staging, instead recognizing poetry in the seemingly unspectacular, ordinary life.
The noteworthy exhibition "Between Color and Black-and-White" at the Leica Gallery in Frankfurt now presents a less familiar side of Bischof's photographic work. Alongside some black-and-white classics, the exhibition displays a surprising variety of color works created between 1939 and 1947, which Bischof captured with a rarely used, legendary camera called the Devin Tri-Color.
The camera's unique feature is that each shot exposes three fragile glass negatives simultaneously, each preceded by a red, green, and blue filter respectively. Only when properly layered in the correct sequence do the three negatives produce a color photograph.
Marco Bischof, Werner Bischof's son, has been working with his father's estate for more than 30 years and manages his archive. In an interview with F.A.Z., he explains that these negatives were always stored in special steel cabinets, but for decades they received little attention – partly because everyone assumed they were also black-and-white images. A few years ago, Bischof discovered with the help of experts that three negatives belonged together and that the coloring of the individual plates created a natural, colorful frame for the subjects.
The exhibited works gain an almost painterly quality through these negative frames and unusual colors. Marco Bischof sees a connection here to his father's earlier career aspiration, who initially wanted to become a painter and later often approached his photographic subjects through drawings first.
After the images were first exhibited in Switzerland in 2023, it is fortunate that the still lifes, abstract compositions, and fashion photographs, alongside impressive color images of war destruction, can now be seen in Frankfurt, completing the picture of Werner Bischof's work with this artistic component.
The exhibition features various works including orchids photographed in Zurich, Switzerland in 1943, a model with fabric from studio photography in Zurich in 1939, the Reichstag in Berlin, Germany from 1946, an apple with shadow created for the art magazine Du in Zurich in 1943, scenes from the inner courtyard of Meiji Temple in Tokyo, Japan from 1951, world press reporters in Kaesong, Korea from 1952, penguins from the zoo on their weekly walk through the city in Edinburgh from 1950, and a self-portrait of the photographer in his studio from 1940.
The Werner Bischof exhibition "Between Color and Black-and-White" at the Leica Gallery Frankfurt runs until August 28, 2025, offering visitors a comprehensive look at both the well-known black-and-white masterpieces and the newly discovered color works that add depth to understanding this master photographer's artistic vision and technical innovation.
