Rene Groebli

René Groebli (born in Zurich, Switzerland in 1927) secured his place among the elite of Swiss post-war photographers with his 1949 portfolio MAGIE DER SCHIENE (RAIL MAGIC). In the early fifties Groebli worked as reporter for Life, Picture Post and other international magazines. During the following years he owned a studio for industrial and advertising photography. In 1957 the American Color Annual named him MASTER OF COLOR.

In the early 80s Groebli stopped working for advertising and rediscovered for himself the possibilities of expression that black & white photography offers. In 1999 the Zurich Kunsthaus (Art Museum) showed a representative selection of his photographs from the years 1946 to 1996.

1927 born on 9 of october in Zurich

1933-1939 primary school in Zurich

1939-1941 studies at the Gymnasium Zurich

1941-1943 Terminal classes in Zurich

1942 begins to photograph with the Rolleiflex that his father has just bought (romantic images, river in the fog...). He wants to be a cameraman of documentary films, because he doesn't have a specialized school, he starts an apprenticeship as a photographer at Theo Vonow in Zurich.

1944 his work goes in a direction of searching for emotion and atmosphere. He attended classes in the preparatory class at the Kunstgewebeschule in Zurich where he met his future wife, Rita Dürmüller (1923-2013)

1945 studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Zurich in Hans Finsler's class.

1945-1948 Cameraman's apprenticeship at Central Film and Gloria Film in Zurich (documentary films), diploma. Meeting with Jakob Tuggener. Produces images on the theme, Zurich between 9 and 12 o' clock. Movement research

1947 third prize in the competition of the monthly magazine Camera with his images of the series' Karussell'. Collaborates with the Victor-N. Cohen agency in Zurich

1948 first trip to Paris

1949 buys his first Leica. First solo exhibition and publication of his first book on the theme of the train. He spent three months in Paris where he met Brassaï, Robert Frank and spent a month in London.

1949-1951 freelance photographer, collaborates with the Swiss press and produces his first advertising and commissioning images.

1950 for 6 months photographer and editor at Züri-Woche. Diploma in the competition of the Swiss monthly magazine Camera

1951 Marries Rita Dürmüller, on the 13th of October.

1951-1953 works for the agency Black Star in London, Picture Post, Illustrated, Time, Life, Photography... travel in Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda. War Correspondent in the British Army Forces

1953 first job from the pharmaceutical industry with a colour series' Our Workshops as Seen by an Artist'. His advertising and industrial colour images earned him the title of' Master of Color' in 1957 by Color Annual at Popular Photography. Travels less and devotes himself to his research on color. Series' The Eye of Love', a poem for his wife after two years of marriage (the NZZ speaks of pornography!)

1954-1955 had a studio house built according to his plans in Zurich.

1954-1980 colour works (advertising, industry...) with various processes (Dye Transfer, Ektachrome, Anscochrome...), and in collaboration with an agent from 1965-1977.

1955 jubilee yearbook of Thomi & Franck in Basel, Switzerland. Special efforts to obtain good colours in the illustration, annual reports, brochures for Swiss, German, Italian and English companies. Participates in Edward Steichen's exhibition' The Family of Man' at MoMA, New York, which travels all over the world even today.

1957 50th anniversary report of Knorr, Switzerland

1959 together with Hanspeter Roth, they set up Turnus film company (films, commercials, TV spots) which in 1963 received the Palme d' or in Cannes (Volkswagen advertising)

1960 receives prizes and medals for « Beispielhafte Anzeigengestaltung » from Bayer Werbefachverbandes, Switzerland

1961 report for the 50th anniversary of Franke, Switzerland

1962 one of 24 award-winning posters:' Face with match' for the Office of Fire Prevention Bern, produced by W. Wermelinger, printed by Lithographie & Cartonnage S. A. Zurich

1965 judge with Rolf Winquist at the' A sign of our time' competition organised by the German Cigar Institute in Bad Godesberg. Produces the book' Variation I' (possibilities of colour photography)

1966-1967 receives the Graphic Design Award from « Deutscher Gebrauchs Grafiker », Germany

1967 annual report for the German company « Bauer Getriebe-Motoren » which receives the « Graphic Design Germany Award » from the « Grafischer Klub» in Stuttgart.

1968 produced « Carousel Vision » the first Kodak slideshow (40 projectors and 20 screens) for the Photokina in Cologne, Germany.

1969 realizes the multiplane « Vitamin A » for F. Hoffmann-La Roche in Basel, Switzerland

1971 book « Variation 2 » (possibilities of communication using colour photography). « Multivion Roche au travail » which received the 1972 Swiss Medal at the Tonbildschaufestival, Sweda Auszeichnung Multivision, Zurich.

1971-1972 travels nine months in the United States, Peru, Guatemala, Brazil

1974 receives the Award of Excellence in Typography from Type Directors Club, New York

1976 now uses only the Cibachrome process for its prints. First assembly tests (' Fantasies' series)

1976-1979 industrial reports for « Dresser Industries (USA) » on drilling platforms in the North Sea, Gulf of Mexico and the USA, in Germany, Holland, France and England as well as realizations of exhibitions in Moscow, Tehran, Warsaw, London...

1977 since then, he has focused his research on various photographic processes (grain effect)

1977-1978 is working on the Babylon-Babylon series.

1978 takes part with 10 photographs in the exhibition "Fantastic Photography in Europe" organised by Lorenzo Merlo (Canon photo Gallery, Amsterdam)

1980 produces 8 full pages of surrealistic illustrations (colour editing) for the book edition of the Nobel Prize for literature ELYTIS in Greece

1981 sells his house in Zurich, keeping the basement as his living quarters.

1981-1990 works to build his Borie (Traditional Stonehouse) in the South of France

1983 honorary member of the Swiss Union of Photographers

1984 series « Die Muschel » Dedication to the secret places of the female body.

1991-1992 prepares a retrospective exhibition and a book (graphic realization of the model) of his work, in collaboration with Michèle Auer and the Centre de la photographie à Genève.

1992 issues RTSR « Midi Public »

1993 works on the sorting of his archives

1994 creates prints of photographs never published on the themes of America, Ireland...

1995 beginning of the series' Paris re-visited'.

1995-1996 prints the series "The Eye of Love" with the platinum process

1997 takes care of printing his negatives from Ireland and the United States

1998 living between the Vosges in France and Zurich

1999 begins the series of female nudes

2004 starts making high quality digital prints

2006 receives the « Schweizer Fotoschaffen Photo 06 » Lifetime Award

2007 film "Magic from the Darkroom" from Phil Dänzer

2013 his wife, Rita Groebli-Dürmüller, dies on 10 January

2015 receives the Lifetime Award from the Swiss Photo Academy