Hugues
de Wurstemberger

Hugues de Wurstemberger

biography

Swiss photographer, born in 1955, member of Agence VU’ since its creation in 1986 and represented by Galerie VU’, lives in Brussels where he teaches photography.As a former member of the Swiss Guard, Hugues de Wurstemberger first made a name for himself thanks to the photographs he took of the Swiss Guard daily life, which were brought together for an exhibition in 1985 at the Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne. From then on, he devoted himself to photography and developed his own style, preferably in black and white and medium format: “What interests me above all is the real thing. A photo is in any case only a flattening of reality, so it’s better to keep it simple. And if it’s more than that, it’s because there’s a little something – that doesn’t always happen – a kind of grace”.

Usually on the fringes of current events, he has “got into the habit of dealing with subjects that are rather unsaleable, betting on in-depth work rather than on preconceived ideas”. In this way, he looks at the daily life and intimacy of forgotten populations, endangered or struck by the loss of their territories: in Morocco, with the Saharawi populations, but also in Mauritania, El Salvador, Zambia or Ethiopia. It also collaborates with humanitarian organisations and associations: with Pestalozzi Children’s Foundation for “From Addis to Dimtu”, or with Les amis de l’atelier for “Persons”, a series of portraits of people with disabilities. With the photographers Jane Evelyn Atwood, Jean-Marc Bodson, Gaël Turine and Michel Vanden Eeckhoudt, he documented Belgian prisons in 2006 as part of the collective project “L’enfer-me-ment” (ed. Husson).

It is still in this perspective of transfiguring the banality of the ordinary by the grace of a fair distance, between tenderness and smile, that he also devotes himself to subjects that are closer to him. In 1995, he photographed the farmers in the Swiss mountains, who are a “counterpoint to the Switzerland of banks and cleanliness”, fighting against the modernization and standardization of lifestyles. In 2005, “AOC, une identité retrouvée” (Infolio) was published, as well as “Pauline et Pierre” (Quo Vadis), a family album that brings together over 18 years the “little white pebbles” of his two children’s youth.

His work was granted in 1990 by the Niépce Prize, in 1991 by the World Press Photo, and in 2002 by the Silver Prize.

Series

Sahrawi People, 2009

Serie | During several stays in Western Sahara, Hugues de Wurstemberger shared at length the daily life of the Saharawis.

Cantal, 2005

Serie | I contact by phone Mrs Delrieux, president of ADAVEMIC, who is aware of the project, she still has to talk to the people receiving home help and get their agreement.

The Identity Found Again, 2004

Serie | Hugues de Wurstemberger travelled all over Switzerland to discover the different Swiss AOC cheeses and their production areas. He became immersed in the work and sensibilities of the producers and transcribed them through landscape photographs and a few portraits.

Pauline et Pierre, 2001

Série | Hugues de Wurstemberger has been exploring the territory of time and family memory for eighteen years through his work on his own children, Pauline and Pierre, which deals with everyday life in a delicate and discreet way.

Persons With Disabilities, 2000

Serie | This work was carried out in the Paris region with & in the establishments of the association "Les Amis de l'Atelier"

Ethiopia, 1998

Serie | In the North, deaf a dirty war with Eritrea. The government raises troops in the countryside. Recruiters shout in their megaphones. Young people hide in the forests.

Zambia, 1997

Serie | From Misisi, a soggy township in Lusaka, past crater-sized potholes, we arrived in Navabunga on the Zambezi River.

Canne Film Festival, 1994

Serie | Cannes is a dream coming true for two weeks every year. And as in every dream, there are always people in the shadow to make it exist.

Cannes Film Festival - portraits, 1994

Serie | Cannes is a dream coming true for two weeks every year. And as in every dream, there are always people in the shadow to make it exist.

The Peasants, Switzerland, 1994

Serie | This work on peasants comes from afar. It is an opportunity for Hugues de Wurstemberger to recall how much his work is determined by his childhood, his family, the land of the mountain pastures with which he has an almost carnal relationship.

François Mitterrand's Huge Building Sites, 1989

Serie | These images from 1989 come from a reportage on François Mitterrand's major construction sites.

The Swiss Guard, 1981

Serie | The Corps of the Pontifical Swiss Guard as part of the Military of the Vatican City is an exception to the Swiss rulings of 1874 and 1927.

Sahrawi People, 2009

Serie | During several stays in Western Sahara, Hugues de Wurstemberger shared at length the daily life of the Saharawis.

Cantal, 2005

Serie | I contact by phone Mrs Delrieux, president of ADAVEMIC, who is aware of the project, she still has to talk to the people receiving home help and get their agreement.

The Identity Found Again, 2004

Serie | Hugues de Wurstemberger travelled all over Switzerland to discover the different Swiss AOC cheeses and their production areas. He became immersed in the work and sensibilities of the producers and transcribed them through landscape photographs and a few portraits.

Pauline et Pierre, 2001

Série | Hugues de Wurstemberger has been exploring the territory of time and family memory for eighteen years through his work on his own children, Pauline and Pierre, which deals with everyday life in a delicate and discreet way.

Persons With Disabilities, 2000

Serie | This work was carried out in the Paris region with & in the establishments of the association "Les Amis de l'Atelier"

Ethiopia, 1998

Serie | In the North, deaf a dirty war with Eritrea. The government raises troops in the countryside. Recruiters shout in their megaphones. Young people hide in the forests.

Zambia, 1997

Serie | From Misisi, a soggy township in Lusaka, past crater-sized potholes, we arrived in Navabunga on the Zambezi River.

Canne Film Festival, 1994

Serie | Cannes is a dream coming true for two weeks every year. And as in every dream, there are always people in the shadow to make it exist.

Cannes Film Festival - portraits, 1994

Serie | Cannes is a dream coming true for two weeks every year. And as in every dream, there are always people in the shadow to make it exist.

The Peasants, Switzerland, 1994

Serie | This work on peasants comes from afar. It is an opportunity for Hugues de Wurstemberger to recall how much his work is determined by his childhood, his family, the land of the mountain pastures with which he has an almost carnal relationship.

François Mitterrand's Huge Building Sites, 1989

Serie | These images from 1989 come from a reportage on François Mitterrand's major construction sites.

The Swiss Guard, 1981

Serie | The Corps of the Pontifical Swiss Guard as part of the Military of the Vatican City is an exception to the Swiss rulings of 1874 and 1927.

Sahrawi People, 2009

Serie | During several stays in Western Sahara, Hugues de Wurstemberger shared at length the daily life of the Saharawis.

Cantal, 2005

Serie | I contact by phone Mrs Delrieux, president of ADAVEMIC, who is aware of the project, she still has to talk to the people receiving home help and get their agreement.

The Identity Found Again, 2004

Serie | Hugues de Wurstemberger travelled all over Switzerland to discover the different Swiss AOC cheeses and their production areas. He became immersed in the work and sensibilities of the producers and transcribed them through landscape photographs and a few portraits.

Pauline et Pierre, 2001

Série | Hugues de Wurstemberger has been exploring the territory of time and family memory for eighteen years through his work on his own children, Pauline and Pierre, which deals with everyday life in a delicate and discreet way.

Persons With Disabilities, 2000

Serie | This work was carried out in the Paris region with & in the establishments of the association "Les Amis de l'Atelier"

Ethiopia, 1998

Serie | In the North, deaf a dirty war with Eritrea. The government raises troops in the countryside. Recruiters shout in their megaphones. Young people hide in the forests.

Zambia, 1997

Serie | From Misisi, a soggy township in Lusaka, past crater-sized potholes, we arrived in Navabunga on the Zambezi River.

Canne Film Festival, 1994

Serie | Cannes is a dream coming true for two weeks every year. And as in every dream, there are always people in the shadow to make it exist.

Cannes Film Festival - portraits, 1994

Serie | Cannes is a dream coming true for two weeks every year. And as in every dream, there are always people in the shadow to make it exist.

The Peasants, Switzerland, 1994

Serie | This work on peasants comes from afar. It is an opportunity for Hugues de Wurstemberger to recall how much his work is determined by his childhood, his family, the land of the mountain pastures with which he has an almost carnal relationship.

François Mitterrand's Huge Building Sites, 1989

Serie | These images from 1989 come from a reportage on François Mitterrand's major construction sites.

The Swiss Guard, 1981

Serie | The Corps of the Pontifical Swiss Guard as part of the Military of the Vatican City is an exception to the Swiss rulings of 1874 and 1927.

Interviews

Regardez voir
France Inter
—
Interview by Brigitte Patient, 2019

Hugues de Wurstemberger is a teacher at the famous photography school in Brussels on 75. Winner of the Prix Niepce in 1990, he begins a long term work on the Swiss Alps and the farming world.  It is this series that is exhibited in the Carmelite Chapel in Libourne.

Listen

L’atelier de la création
France Culture
—
Interview by Élise Picon and Véronique Lamendour, 2019

Hugues de Wurstemberger, photographer at the VU’ agency, speaks as he photographs and photographs as he breathes. He puts on his boots to climb the mountains of Fribourg, stops for a long time with the Swiss peasants, follows in the footsteps of the Swiss Guard to the Vatican, approaches the Saharawi populations, bears witness to fifteen years of his children’s lives and captures the fragile plant matter, the simple ones as he calls them.

Listen

Un mur au Sahara
Belladone
—
Interview by Élise Picon, 2014

Black and white grains, the horizon, the hot breath of the desert, we are in Western Sahara. Hugues de Wurstemberger tells us about his experience of the desert, the sand, and above all the wall that prevents nomads from moving. While we see close-ups of cinder blocks that hide our view, we discover this 30-year-old story.

Exhibitions

Sète #21
—
Centre photographique documentaire – Images Singulières, Sète (FRANCE)
—
From July 3 to September 5, 2021

More information

Pauline et Pierre
—
Nuithonie, Villars-sur-Glâne (SWITZERLAND)
—
From January 21 to June 30, 2021

More information

Pauline et Pierre
—
Galerie Le Lieu, Lorient (FRANCE)
—
From February 27 to May 10, 2015

More Information

books

Sète #21

CéTàVOIR, Le bec en l’air éditions - 2021

L’enfer-me-ment

Husson - 2006

Pauline et Pierre

Quo Vadis - 2005

AOC, une identité retrouvée

Infolio - 2005

D’addis à Dimtu

Théâtre de la photographie - 2001

Personnes

Jones Borgers - 2001

Paysans

La sarine / Hazan - 1997

Sète #21

CéTàVOIR, Le bec en l’air éditions - 2021

L’enfer-me-ment

Husson - 2006

Pauline et Pierre

Quo Vadis - 2005

AOC, une identité retrouvée

Infolio - 2005

D’addis à Dimtu

Théâtre de la photographie - 2001

Personnes

Jones Borgers - 2001

Paysans

La sarine / Hazan - 1997

Sète #21

CéTàVOIR, Le bec en l’air éditions - 2021

L’enfer-me-ment

Husson - 2006

Pauline et Pierre

Quo Vadis - 2005

AOC, une identité retrouvée

Infolio - 2005

D’addis à Dimtu

Théâtre de la photographie - 2001

Personnes

Jones Borgers - 2001

Paysans

La sarine / Hazan - 1997

awards

Wold Press Photo Award (Netherlands)

For his project: “Haute Couture at shows in various fashions houses”

1991

Niépce prize

1990