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Women. Questions. Photo Archives.
Women. Questions. Photo Archives.
March 23, 2026
Marie Ottomann-Rothacher, Tame Starling, 1956
© Marie Ottomann-Rothacher / Fotostiftung Schweiz
Since the advent of the medium, women have been photographing, experimenting, and creating powerful visual documentations. Among them are seven Swiss photographers – Anny Wild-Siber (1865–1942), Gertrud Dübi-Müller (1888–1980), Marie Ottomann-Rothacher (1916–2002), Margrit Aschwanden (1913–2004), Hedy Bumbacher (1912–1992), Leni Willimann-Thöni (1918–2002), and Anita Niesz (1925–2023) – whose archives and life stories are being retraced in this exhibition. And yet, for a long time the history of Swiss photography was conveyed mainly from a male perspective, while female amateur photographers – even those with remarkable technical skill – were relegated to the margins of the narrative.
In the exhibition Frauen. Fragen. Fotoarchive (Women. Questions. Photo Archives), the significance of photography is multi-layered. Photographs are placed in a dialogue with written documents: together, they speak of ambitions, educational circumstances, professional challenges. The selected exhibits offer insight both into the perspectives of the featured photographers, and the life environments they had access to.
Their biographies, photographs and writing reflect the societal structures in Switzerland at a time when women had to fight for their right to autonomy and political participation. The historic contextualisation of the seven artistic positions also makes visible those moments in which the history of photography intersects with the history of the Swiss women’s movement.
Katrin UllmannIn the exhibition Frauen. Fragen. Fotoarchive (Women. Questions. Photo Archives), the significance of photography is multi-layered. Photographs are placed in a dialogue with written documents: together, they speak of ambitions, educational circumstances, professional challenges. The selected exhibits offer insight both into the perspectives of the featured photographers, and the life environments they had access to.
Their biographies, photographs and writing reflect the societal structures in Switzerland at a time when women had to fight for their right to autonomy and political participation. The historic contextualisation of the seven artistic positions also makes visible those moments in which the history of photography intersects with the history of the Swiss women’s movement.
Marie Ottomann-Rothacher, Tame Starling, 1956
© Marie Ottomann-Rothacher / Fotostiftung Schweiz
Anny Wild-Siber: Magnolia, 1920–40s, public domain
Unknown photographer: Portrait of Marie Rothacher, Zurich, c. 1940, public domain
Elisabeth Brühlmann: Marie Ottomann-Rothacher at work in the studio of Hans Peter Klauser, Zurich, 1960 © Elisabeth Brühlmann Sarlo / Fotostiftung Schweiz
Leni Willimann-Thöni: Students of the photography programme at the Zurich School of Applied Arts, c. 1940 © Leni Willimann-Thöni / Fotostiftung Schweiz
Leni Willimann: Molluscs (Isocardia cor), c. 1960
© Leni Willimann / Fotostiftung Schweiz