Niklaus Stauss
13 Dec 2008 - 31 Jan 2009
NIKLAUS STAUSS
“The Bow Wave of Bardot”
13 Dec. 08. - 31 Jan. 2009
A selection of photographs by Niklaus Stauss from five decades at Galerie Nicola von Senger
The summer of 1959 is hot, as two young guys from Zurich make their way to Saint-Tropez with a motorbike and a tent. In their early twenties, with a camera on hand, their journey has but one purpose: to photograph Brigitte Bardot. The film 'Et Dieu... créa la femme' ('And God Created Woman') also screened in Swiss cinemas at the end of the 1950s, the legend of BB was already born. And in an era, in which it was still possible to get up close to the stars, these two Zurichers ride along a little street in Southern France as a 2CV approaches from the opposite direction – with Bardot behind the wheel!
Later, as the object of desire sunbathes in a small boat with her boyfriend, the two young photographers hide themselves in the reeds, take their first photographs from the shore, then put the camera in a plastic bag and make their way toward the blonde beauty on an air mattress. But Brigitte teaches the pair a lesson, and almost collides with them as she speeds away in the boat. The swinging sixties. Nothing very serious back then. One of the two young men is the photographer Niklaus Stauss.
Stauss already began taking photographs in his youth. One of his first images shows a rainy street scene at night. In the archive list from that time, the photograph is recorded in a very orderly manner: film no. 19, the 146th exposure, taken on 15/9/1952. This has never changed, as to this day, Stauss keeps a precise record of all his photographs, which already for some time have numbered more than one and half a million.
The story of Niklaus Stauss' life is a colourful and lively one. In the 1950s, he studied at the Zurich School of Applied Arts, was a window dresser at Jelmoli, which was the prime address for this profession at the time, travelled all around the world repeatedly, worked as a graphic designer, took lessons in expressionist dance, realised a special edition of the youth magazine CLOU on the subject of dance, opened a photography studio, and founded an advertising agency. Since the 1950s, Stauss has worked as a freelance photographer for the legendary press photography agency Keystone.
To this day, Niklaus Stauss has remained loyal to his preferred subjects – art, music, theatre, opera, literature, film and dance – and whoever takes the time to delve into his impressive archive, will find that all the greats from these fields are in there.
He is a master of the art of being in the right place at the right time. Stauss has the eye, and a sense of where something is happening. Bruno Ganz met him as early as 1960 at Jelmoli. Ganz was training to become a bookseller, but as he wanted to be an actor, he needed photographs. Niklaus Stauss shot his first colour film: Bruno Ganz holds his hands up in a youthful theatrical manner.
In 1967, Stauss photographed Jimi Hendrix at the Hallenstadion in Zurich, at a time when he did not yet know who Hendrix was. He photographed Josef Beuys many times, in 1981 with a suitcase in Kunsthaus Zurich. In 1991, Stauss captures the pop artist Robert Rauschenberg in front of one of his collages; the photograph went around the world. And in Cannes, he snaps an unknown beauty, precisely at the moment in which she comes down a gangplank, looking somewhat lost, but tremendously sexy; the other photographers are still above on the boat deck, all looking in the wrong direction, and missing the magical moment.
Niklaus Stauss' photographs are invaluable documents of the times. While they show prominent personalities, what they show above all else is people, at a befitting distance, yet up very close.
Dorothea Strauss, November 2008
“The Bow Wave of Bardot”
13 Dec. 08. - 31 Jan. 2009
A selection of photographs by Niklaus Stauss from five decades at Galerie Nicola von Senger
The summer of 1959 is hot, as two young guys from Zurich make their way to Saint-Tropez with a motorbike and a tent. In their early twenties, with a camera on hand, their journey has but one purpose: to photograph Brigitte Bardot. The film 'Et Dieu... créa la femme' ('And God Created Woman') also screened in Swiss cinemas at the end of the 1950s, the legend of BB was already born. And in an era, in which it was still possible to get up close to the stars, these two Zurichers ride along a little street in Southern France as a 2CV approaches from the opposite direction – with Bardot behind the wheel!
Later, as the object of desire sunbathes in a small boat with her boyfriend, the two young photographers hide themselves in the reeds, take their first photographs from the shore, then put the camera in a plastic bag and make their way toward the blonde beauty on an air mattress. But Brigitte teaches the pair a lesson, and almost collides with them as she speeds away in the boat. The swinging sixties. Nothing very serious back then. One of the two young men is the photographer Niklaus Stauss.
Stauss already began taking photographs in his youth. One of his first images shows a rainy street scene at night. In the archive list from that time, the photograph is recorded in a very orderly manner: film no. 19, the 146th exposure, taken on 15/9/1952. This has never changed, as to this day, Stauss keeps a precise record of all his photographs, which already for some time have numbered more than one and half a million.
The story of Niklaus Stauss' life is a colourful and lively one. In the 1950s, he studied at the Zurich School of Applied Arts, was a window dresser at Jelmoli, which was the prime address for this profession at the time, travelled all around the world repeatedly, worked as a graphic designer, took lessons in expressionist dance, realised a special edition of the youth magazine CLOU on the subject of dance, opened a photography studio, and founded an advertising agency. Since the 1950s, Stauss has worked as a freelance photographer for the legendary press photography agency Keystone.
To this day, Niklaus Stauss has remained loyal to his preferred subjects – art, music, theatre, opera, literature, film and dance – and whoever takes the time to delve into his impressive archive, will find that all the greats from these fields are in there.
He is a master of the art of being in the right place at the right time. Stauss has the eye, and a sense of where something is happening. Bruno Ganz met him as early as 1960 at Jelmoli. Ganz was training to become a bookseller, but as he wanted to be an actor, he needed photographs. Niklaus Stauss shot his first colour film: Bruno Ganz holds his hands up in a youthful theatrical manner.
In 1967, Stauss photographed Jimi Hendrix at the Hallenstadion in Zurich, at a time when he did not yet know who Hendrix was. He photographed Josef Beuys many times, in 1981 with a suitcase in Kunsthaus Zurich. In 1991, Stauss captures the pop artist Robert Rauschenberg in front of one of his collages; the photograph went around the world. And in Cannes, he snaps an unknown beauty, precisely at the moment in which she comes down a gangplank, looking somewhat lost, but tremendously sexy; the other photographers are still above on the boat deck, all looking in the wrong direction, and missing the magical moment.
Niklaus Stauss' photographs are invaluable documents of the times. While they show prominent personalities, what they show above all else is people, at a befitting distance, yet up very close.
Dorothea Strauss, November 2008