After the photoSCHWEIZ had to be postponed again and again in recent years due to the pandemic, it will be back in full glory this year as photoSCHWEIZ 22 from Friday, 13 May to Tuesday, 17 May 2022 in Hall 550 in Zurich-Oerlikon. In addition to the selected Swiss photographers, all will have the same exhibition space to show their pictures. In addition, the five-day exhibition will include special exhibitions on socio-political topics, the varied photoSCHOOL course programme with renowned course leaders, an exhibition area with the latest photographic products – both hardware and software – in the photoINDUSTRY and the photoFORUM with talks by and discussions with national and international star photographers.
photoSCHWEIZ is by far the largest and most important photography exhibition in Switzerland, where over 250 national and some international photographers show their latest work. Year after year, the exhibition provides a representative and up-to-date overview of photographic work in Switzerland.
Who exhibits and how are the exhibitors selected?
Participation in photoSCHWEIZ is open to all photographers – professionals and amateurs – from the press, advertising and art sectors. Free works or commissioned works can be submitted. An important criterion is that the work must either have been created in the last 3 years or published for the first time. A team of curators will make the difficult selection of who may participate in the exhibition based on the submitted work and portfolio. This year’s curatorial team consists of Daniel Billiger, Neomi Gamaliel and Joshua Amissah.
One of the editors of the WüstundWüst magazine, Werner Mäder, who is an ambitious photographer in his spare time, is participating again this year. He has dedicated himself to the theme of devotion in his series entitled “Decisive Moments of Devotion”. The pictures in this article stem from this series.
Decisive Moments of Devotion – Clerical Street Photography at photoSCHWEIZ 22 by Werner Mäder, © Werner Mäder
Numerous special exhibitions complement the exhibition
The exhibition of works is complemented by numerous spectacular special exhibitions, such as the work MSF – Médecins Sans Frontière, in which the Turkish artist Uğur Gallenkuş creates parallel worlds with his photo collages – and thus shows how close joy and suffering are to each other. Or the result of photoDUELL, in which two young talents take photos with a celebrity at one location for one hour. And as part of Hasselblad Heroines, Hasselblad once again presents a select group of different female photographers on the occasion of Women’s History Month. Since the series’ launch in 2019, women from around the world have been recognised for their creativity and commitment to the arts. An overview of all special exhibitions you can find here.
Decisive Moments of Devotion – Clerical Street Photography at photoSCHWEIZ 22 by Werner Mäder, © Werner Mäder
First time: photoNFT
NFT (Non Fungible Token) is the new megatrend in the art world and soon it will be impossible to imagine photography without it. photoSCHWEIZ also wants to offer a platform for NFT. Artists can be present with images in the exhibition and a virtual space shows a lot of content from the constantly growing NFT world.
Decisive Moments of Devotion – Clerical Street Photography at photoSCHWEIZ 22 by Werner Mäder, © Werner Mäder
And last but not least: the photoFORUM
The photoFORUM is a series of focal events in which renowned photographers from Switzerland and abroad present their work, talk about their working methods or show how their pictures were taken. The speakers include prominent names such as Augur Gallenkus, Cyril Matter, Iris Bösch, Jens Krauer, Martin Bissig, Alberto Venzago and Dominik Bauer.
Decisive Moments of Devotion – Clerical Street Photography at photoSCHWEIZ 22 by Werner Mäder, © Werner Mäder
Practical tips for photoSCHWEIZ
Opening hours
FR 13 May to DI 17 May 2022 from 11:00 to 20:00 h each day
Admission fee
CHF 25.- (Youths up to 18 years free of charge, no reduction for students and AHV)
SEMINARS, WORKSHOPS, PHOTOFORUM
CHF 35.- per standard seminar 1h (incl. admission)
Free seminars: ADMISSION TO WERKSCHAU COMPULSORY
CHF 85.- for Hands On Trainings in the computer room (incl. admission)
WORKSHOPS individual (incl. admission)
photoFORUM free of charge (some with voluntary donations), ticket reservation obligatory, ADMISSION TO THE WORKSHOW OBLIGATORY
