The photo library in the passage displays the work Geschichten wo der Volksmund schrieb, 1972 (Stories written by popular saying) by Frauenfeld filmmaker Friedrich Kappeler (1949–2022). ‘Es Hundeläbe’ (A dog’s life) is told in 53 picture panels, 36 of which can be seen in the passage. The poor dog stumbles through the world and from one proverb to the next. Friedrich Kappeler encapsulates the life story in pictorial interpretations of Swiss folk sayings.

Life is short: no sooner has the protagonist ‘s Liecht vo de Welt erblickt’ (seen the light of day) than the difficulties begin. He literally has ‘Schüblig i de Ohre’ (sausages in his ears) and ‘d Hoor uf da Zäh’ (hair growing on his teeth), which is horrifying. Soon he is ‘isch er uf em abstiigende Ascht’ (on the downward slope) and in the end he just has to ‘müesse is Gras biisse’(bite the dust). End of story.

Friedrich Kappeler became known as a documentary filmmaker. In 2002, he presented Mani Matter – Warum syt dir so truurig?, one of the most successful documentaries in Swiss film history. Even as a young man, Kappeler knew that he wanted to become a filmmaker. However, as there were no training opportunities in Switzerland at the time, he attended the photography class at the Zurich School of Applied Arts, like Fredi M. Murer and other filmmakers, with the assurance from the course director that film works would also be possible. It was only later that he studied film directing in Munich.

In Walter Binder’s photography class, he learned the craft of photography and discovered his second lifelong passion. Even still images can tell stories. Es Hundeläbe is the earliest example of Kappeler’s combination of the two media of film and photography: the photographic sequencing of the individual phrases reveals that Kappeler had envisaged from the outset that it would develop into a four-minute animated film with a soundtrack.

Years later, Kappeler made a documentary film about three photographers. Der schöne Augenblick, 1986 was based on an idea by Hans-Ulrich Schlumpf. Kappeler wrote the screenplay together with cameraman and photographer Pio Corradi.

While Kappeler’s cinematic work is well known, he has yet to be discovered as a photographer. An opportunity to do so is provided by the recently published publication Friedrich Kappeler. Im tiefen Thurgau, edited by his sister Simone Kappeler, who is also a photographer.

Fotostiftung Schweiz is delighted to have acquired Friedrich Kappeler’s entire photographic archive and to be able to preserve it for the future. The photographic works of Hans-Ulrich Schlumpf and Pio Corradi are also archived by Fotostiftung Schweiz.