Coinciding with 99 Photographs, a text volume is published that traces the Fotostiftung’s winding path from its founding to the present. What has become of the vision of a small group of photography enthusiasts who recognized the importance of photography at the right time and created a first place of preservation and mediation in Switzerland? 

The history of the Fotostiftung is also the story of the rapid transformation of a medium that plays a central role in communication in our visual age. From reportage to artwork, from trivial to meaningful images, from snapshots to arranged scenes: the Foundation’s long-time director and curator, Peter Pfrunder, combines the history of an institution’s development with the cultural history of the dazzling medium and complements it with reflections on visual memory and the value of archives.