About the Museum
Since its inauguration in 1993, Fotomuseum Winterthur has devoted its energies to contemporary photography and visual culture. It stages between three and five exhibitions a year, examining photography from different angles and showing works by a mix of emerging and established international photographers and artists. The exhibitions are accompanied by a diverse programme of events and workshops. The museum also delves into photography on its digital platforms, which host online events and a range of multimedia posts.
Focus on Today
Fotomuseum Winterthur investigates the role that photography plays and the influence it exerts on a social, political, economic and cultural level. Its focus is on current developments and topical debates.
Guided by an awareness that life today is permeated by digital media, the museum engages with photographic phenomena that are influenced by digitally networked media and new technologies. These include screenshots and drone images, selfies and Instagram filters, as well as images generated by algorithms and artificial intelligence. The speed with which photography has changed as a medium in recent decades is quite incredible. Fotomuseum Winterthur is mapping this process and engaging in critical – and animated – discussion of the transformation that has taken place and the effects this has had.
Imparting Image and Media Competences
The exchange of ideas and informed dialogues are of crucial importance for Fotomuseum Winterthur. The varied programme it offers for school classes – in the museum itself or in classroom settings throughout German-speaking Switzerland – encourages a creative and considered approach to visual content. Our educational activities include
- guided tours and workshops relating to current exhibitions,
- workshops and teaching materials on image-based digital phenomena like fake news or online (self‑)presentation, and
- workshops in the photo lab on historical photographic techniques.
Collection
The collection of Fotomuseum Winterthur comprises some 9,000 photographic objects – prints and copies, moving images, documents and installative works. It covers the period from the 1960s right up to the present.
Fotomuseum Winterthur’s Approach Is…
Research-centred
The projects and topics that Fotomuseum Winterthur presents are intensively researched. Background information is compiled and the subject matter is looked at from different angles.
Critical
Photography is subjected to critical examination at Fotomuseum Winterthur. Research is conducted and critical scrutiny applied to individual works and to photography as a medium to examine the impact it has on people.
Discursive
Fotomuseum Winterthur puts images and content into context, reveals linkages and promotes discussion on the topic. The museum fosters image and media competences.
Interdisciplinary
Fotomuseum Winterthur looks at photography from a variety of angles, focusing on different disciplines. The team and the partners we work together with constitute a group with a range of expertise and different approaches.
Committed to media reflection
Fotomuseum Winterthur sheds light on the role that photography plays in our everyday lives and analyses how it influences us and where and how it operates.
Ethical and values-based
Fotomuseum Winterthur has a clear position, adopting a feminist (equality-oriented), anti-discriminatory, anti-racist stance. This applies to the museum’s curatorial and educational programme and characterises the team’s approach.
More information about the Fotomuseum Winterthur team can be found here.
Annual Report 2023
Annual Report 2022
Annual Report 2021
Annual Report 2020
Annual Report 2019
About the beginnings of Fotomuseum Winterthur: Urs Stahel in conversation with Nadine Wietlisbach
Participation and Diversity
Fotomuseum Winterthur is working not only on programming (exhibitions, events, educational services, publications, etc.) but also on organisational development at various levels with a view to establishing a form of institutional practice that is sensitive to the issue of discrimination and geared to diversity and sustainability. For the sake of transparency and as a token of our commitment, we want to be open about the process of development we find ourselves in.
Fotomuseum Winterthur Foundation
Fotomuseum Winterthur is governed by a Foundation. The Board of Trustees is composed of:
Martin Bölsterli (Vice President)
Philipp Brunnschweiler
Lisa Fuchs
Monica Glisenti (Co-President)
Oliver Hagen
Eugen Haltiner
Ines Pöschel
Tanja Scartazzini
Jan Schoch
Madeleine Schuppli (Co-President)
Leopold Weinberg
Center for Photography
Launched in 2002, the Centre for Photography is a joint undertaking by Fotostiftung Schweiz and Fotomuseum Winterthur. Fotostiftung Schweiz is an institution focused on remembrance and committed to preserving, researching and mediating photographic works. Its collection focus is on historical and new works with a Swiss connection. It takes into account artistic modes of expression as well as documentary and applied forms of photography.
The center for photography is part of the Art Museums of Switzerland: eleven world-class museums that guarantee the enjoyment of art at the highest level.