Rudolf Lichtsteiner, born in Winterthur in 1938, first caused a stir in the photography world when he was awarded the prestigious Nicéphore Niépce Prize in 1966. At the time, Lichtsteiner was part of a European avant-garde who liberated the medium of photography from its purely reproductive function and reflected on its complex relationship to reality. “Photography is so difficult because it’s so simple,” is one of Lichtsteiner’s claims, and is indicative of his philosophical leanings. Rudolf Lichtsteiner mistrusts the visible and questions our seeing habits by enabling totally new image experiences through precise multifaceted concepts. Everyday objects and situations – a table, a tree or his own room – provide him with an ideal field of reference by means of which he is able to look from the outside to the inside and discover symbols that express a peaceful, haunting and sometime dreamlike poetry. The exhibition at the Fotostiftung Schweiz, where Rudolf Lichtsteiner’s oeuvre is preserved, is the first comprehensive retrospective show and clearly illustrates just how consistently this conceptual artist adheres to his chosen path.