Werner Bischof. Unseen Colour

Some 200 of Werner Bischof’s Devin Tricolor negatives have been restored and a selection of them is published for the first time ever in this book.

Swiss photographer Werner Bischof (1916–1954) is best known for his impressive black-and-white images, most of which were taken on expeditions as a reporter in postwar Europe and during the Indochina War (1946–1954), and on his travels in the Far East and South America. Far too little known are Bischof’s early color photographs, comprising studio work in fashion and advertising photography as well as reportage from war-damaged European cities. For these, Bischof used various types of camera, including a Devin Tricolor. This elaborate color-separation device exposed three monochrome plates in a single exposure, each of them equipped with a color filter so that a true color print was subsequently made by addition of the three monochrome negatives.

Texts by Tobias Bezzola, Clara Bouveresse, Luc Debraine & Peter Pfrunder.