A fresh look at Senn's oeuvre
Paul Senn Photojournalist
Who has not seen them, these photographs of country people at work and while celebrating, of demonstrating workers, of the persecuted and the afflicted, of the deprived and the marginal, these "Senn pictures", pictures of people in war and crisis that have become legendary? The direct expression and unadorned manner of composition have made Paul Senn's photographs icons of Swiss life.
Since 2004, within the framework of the Paul Senn Project, the Museum of Fine Arts Bern has been preparing and making available the reporter's archives. At the same time, an image databank has been created - something unique of its kind in the history of Swiss photography - at www.paulsenn.ch, offering access to all Senn's reports from twelve magazines.
What has resulted from the preparation of the Senn archives and the inspection of over 1,500 reports is surprising, aesthetically as well as with regard to content. In contrast to what had been assumed, Senn did not merely document Swiss conditions but also worked abroad throughout his whole career. First of all in Europe and later in North and Latin America. His reports on Switzerland do by no means satisfy themselves with an idyllic depiction of farmers and workers. They also deal with problems of the times that are only now becoming the subject of public discussion. Among these unknown aspects are, for instance, his commitment to involvement in the framework of the Intellectual National Defense, his efforts on behalf of institutionalized and Verdingkinder ("discarded" children) or the disclosure of child abuse.
A sensational discovery in Senn's work was the colour photography. After WWII he started to travel again, but did not leave it at that. He began to make more and more coloured slides. He took pictures in Italy, North America and Canada that show a heretofore unpublished cosmos of pictures which are astounding in their modernistic aesthetics.
The exhibition and publications deal first and foremost with the better-known Senn pictures and also question their often iconic representation. In addition to this, some lesser-known aspects are presented that throw a spotlight on new topics and a new aesthetic.
The retrospective exhibition in the Museum of Fine Arts presents over 300 vintage prints, secondary prints and colour photographs in addition to a rich fund of documentary material. The presentation of the photographs is complemented by glass cases displaying reports from magazines and newspapers. Explanatory wall and case texts offer information on overall contexts as well as on the objects and pictures.
