Kurt Blum (1922-2005), who was born in Berne, was one of the outstanding Swiss photographers of the post-war era. In addition to numerous reportages for illustrated magazines, as of the 1950s he also did free artistic and experimental works which were presented to a wider public in exhibitions and publications. The focal points of his oeuvre were the artists’ portraits he took as of the late 1940s, larger work groups on the themes of dance and opera, and an intense involvement through photography and film with the world of industry and labour. Blum always regarded himself as an artist, however, and strove for photography to be recognised as an independent art medium. Above and beyond the documentary aspect, he sought subjective expressiveness, the atmospherically dense moment, the consciously composed photographic print. Blum thus belonged to the avant-garde of Swiss photography, so it is not surprising that he also played a role in the “subjective photography” circle around Otto Steinert in Germany in the early 1950s.

The exhibition “Back Light. Kurt Blum – Photographs”, curated by Martin Gasser, will show, in addition to a small number of new prints from original negative, exclusively vintage prints from the Kurt Blum Archive, including a series of large-format prints which Blum made for the exhibitions “Photographie als Ausdruck” (Helmhaus Zurich 1955) and “Fotoexperimente” (Kunstmuseum Solothurn, 1997). Furthermore, contact sheets, book maquettes and other documents will provide insight into the Kurt Blum Archive, of which the Fotostiftung Schweiz has been in charge of since 2008.

With the support of: Bundesamt für Kultur, Migros-Kulturprozent, Lotteriefonds des Kantons Bern, Ernst Göhner Stiftung, Memoriav, Stanley Thomas Johnson Stiftung, Landis & Gyr Stiftung, Stadt Bern, Burgergemeinde Bern, Sandoz-Familienstiftung, Stiftung Erna und Curt Burgauer.

Exhibition leaflet