Introduction: Annemarie Schwarzenbach's Photographic Practice

Abstract

1908-1942) is known as a writer of novels, avid traveler, and photojournalist.Although she was a prolific photographer, up until recently it was more often than not the woman in front of the camera rather than behind it that was the focus of attention.1 Between 1933 and 1942, Schwarzenbach traveled extensively in Europe, Russia, the Middle East, India, the United States, and Africa, taking thousands of photos on her journeys, a selection of which she published in around 300 photo-reportages for Swiss Magazines, including the Zu ¨rcher Illustrierte, Basler National-Zeitung, Weltwoche, ABC, and the Neue Zu ¨richer Zeitung.Although not all photographs and negatives could be saved after her untimely death due to a bicycle accident in 1942, the Swiss Literary Archive (SLA) holds over 7,000 photographs that are archived as part of Schwarzenbach's literary remains.Between 2006 and 2009, Memoriav: Verein zur Erhaltung des audiovisuellen Kulturgutes der Schweiz digitized 5,243 of her photos, and, in 2008, the SLA launched the first virtual exhibition, titled Am Ende aller Wege, including 100 of them, using a flash application.The SLA expanded on these efforts when, in 2017, they made roughly 3,500 of Schwarzenbach's photos available, linking them with Wikimedia Commons and opendata.swiss. 2 The digital opening of the archive as well as a relaunch of the application Am Ende aller Wege / Au bout de tous les lointains: Annemarie Schwarzenbach Reisen / Voyages 1933-1942 in 2020, which now integrates all images, was a major impetus for us to put together this special issue of Monatshefte on Annemarie Schwarzenbach's Photographic Practice.3 Its preparation coincided with the exhibition Aufbruch ohne Ziel: Annemarie Schwarzenbach als Fotografin at Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern, which ran from September 2020 until January 2021 (Zimmer and Waldmeier).Both the exhibition and this special issue testify to an increasing awareness of the importance of Schwarzenbach as a photographer whose oeuvre and practice are situated at the intersection of various discourses.These discourses position her photos not by guest

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