Intimate Stranger

Karlheinz_Weinberger_intimate_stranger

Intimate Stranger, an exhibition on view now Kunstmuseum Basel, presenting the body of work of photographer Karlheinz Weinberger, is rarely on public display. Shown together with magazines and a selection of vintage fashion, these pictures document a bygone youth culture in Zurich. The movement emerged after World War II, driven by the desire to undermine prevailing notions of "Swiss propriety." For most of his life, Weinberger worked in a warehouse at Siemens-Albis, Zurich. A self-taught photographer, he dedicated his free time to this art, portraying his lovers and other people he met in the street. Starting in the late 1940s, he frequently published his pictures in Der Kreis, a homosexual magazine that garnered international attention, signing his work with the pseudonym "Jim." In 1958, he launched a major project, for which he would follow a gang of "Halbstarke" (half strong) for an extended period of time. Intimate Stranger is on view until April 15, 2012 at the Kunstmuseum, Basel – Sankt Alban-Graben 16 4051 Basle, Switzerland.

JEANS BY KARLHEINZ WEINBERGER

Jeans is the first publication that concentrates on the early work of the Swiss photographer, Karlheinz Weinberger. An extra-large format, this new book, published by the Swiss Institute in New York, is a facsimile of the artist’s self-made portfolio. Jeans focuses on the artist’s fascination for men in blue jeans, an article of clothing whose scarcity in post-war Switzerland and close association with America implied more than a fashion statement.