Stylist of Reality

• Alberto Venzago: Clear roads for the boss, Ikebukuro, Tokyo, Japan, 1988. From the series: Yakuza © Alberto Venzago
• Alberto Venzago: Twins are seen as the height of good fortune, Ouidah, Benin, 2002. From the series: Voodoo © Alberto Venzago
• Alberto Venzago: Andy Warhol posing in front of his artwork ‘Little Electric Chair’ (1964/1965), Factory, Union Square West, New York, 1982 © Alberto Venzago
• Alberto Venzago: Magic Forest, Olympic National Park, Washington, USA, 2017
  © Alberto Venzago
• Alberto Venzago: Mick Jagger with smile and diamond, Paris, 1982, taken during the band’s Start Me Up tour © Alberto Venzago

From March 10 to May 14, 2023, the Ernst Leitz Museum in Wetzlar presents the exhibition ‘Stylist of Reality’ by Alberto Venzago.

For more than five decades, Leica photographer Alberto Venzago has explored the full spectrum of approaches from documentary photography to free creative orchestrations. The Ernst Leitz Museum in Wetzlar now offers insights into Venzago’s multi-faceted oeuvre with a comprehensive exhibition featuring some 150 works.

As well as travelling the world, Alberto Venzago (b. 1950 in Zurich) has lived in Australia, Japan and New York, before returning to his native Switzerland. For many years, his life was characterised by a restlessness that yielded a wide range of reportages – from the Islamic Revolution to the destruction of the rainforest, from child prostitution in Manila to Voodoo ceremonies in Benin, and, of course, his long-term observations of Japan’s organised crime syndicate, the Yakuza.

As a photojournalist, Venzago always sought to come as close to his subjects as possible, which often involved exposing himself to life-threatening situations. Regardless of the respective topic, people are always the core focus of his reportages, which have been internationally published and recognised with multiple awards.

In addition to his photojournalistic work, Venzago is also a skilled studio photographer, whose advertising campaigns have gained considerable attention for their memorable and aesthetic nature. The exhibition also features intimate portraits of international stars such as Tina Turner, Penelope Cruz, Sting or Mick Jagger, as well as excerpts from the photographer’s independent projects – illustrating not only the diversity of the photographer’s oeuvre, but also his ability to constantly alternate between ‘taking’ and ‘making’  images.