As a Magnum photographer and reporter, René Burri (1933-2014) created iconic images in the history of 20th century photography. As a travelling photographer, he took viewers to all corners of the world with his vivid reports. His photographic works were always about people, committed, multi-layered and empathetic. He not only wanted to document the world, but to change it with his pictures. The ideal of humane, empathetic, and respectful photojournalism was the guiding principle of his work.
Burri attended the photography class led by Hans Finsler at the Kunstgewerbeschule in his hometown, Zurich. From 1953 to 1955, he worked as a documentary filmmaker and took his first pictures with a Leica during his military service. In 1955, Burri became a corresponding member of the Magnum Photos photography agency in Paris and New York. Burri had recommended himself with a sensitive photo reportage on deaf-mute children, Touch of Music for the Deaf, which was published in Life magazine. One of the four founders of the agency, Henri Cartier Bresson, was to become his most important mentor.
In 1962, after lengthy research and investigation, Burri published his great book, Die Deutschen, with a text by Robert Delpire. The book is considered one of the most influential photo books in history. This monumental work forms a unique portrayal and is still compellingly valid today due to its politically neutral perspective and successful depiction of divided Germany.
Burri portrayed famous personalities such as Picasso, Le Corbusier, Yves Klein, Patricia Highsmith and Giacometti for the Swiss periodical Du. His unique series of pictures of the revolutionary Che Guevara, taken in Havana in 1963 on a total of six exposed films, made photographic history. Especially the shot of Che Guevara with a cigar went around the world.
Burri received prizes and awards, including Les Arts et Lettres in 1991, the Dr. Erich Salomon Prize of the German Society for Photography in 1998, the Swiss Press Photo Life Achievement Award in 2011 and the Leica Hall of Fame Award in 2013. A major retrospective, which started at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris in 2004-2005, toured several European museums. In July 2013, Burri set up his own foundation in Switzerland, the Fondation René Burri. This is now housed in the Musée de l'Elysée in Lausanne. In 2014, his last exhibition entitled Mouvement opened in Paris at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie. For the occasion, Burri created triptychs from a large number of unpublished photographs around the concept of pictorial movement in black and white and in color.
Under the curatorship of Marc Donnadieu and Mélanie Bétrisey, the Musée de l'Elysée presented another major retrospective in 2020 entitled René Burri, Explosion des Sehens. Here, an intimate portrait of this persistently searching photographer was shown, illustrating his distinctive and diverse view of the world.