subjective – objective
Many of Gadliger's photographs are taken in cities. City life captivates even the young photographer. Whether in Basel or Buenos Aires, Riehen or Rijeka, Zurich or Zadar, he usually focuses on small scenes on the roadside, the bizarre aspects of everyday life, chance encounters along the way: snapshots of a sometimes whimsical present that he captures with his camera. He likes to pursue the seemingly inconspicuous, the trivial. He finds what he is looking for in the everyday. In his viewfinder he has chance encounters and street scenes whose humor often only reveals itself at second glance.
The photographer's second great passion is portraying artists. From 1975 to the present day, he has produced hundreds of portraits, including pictures of many well-known personalities such as Arnold Kübler, Roman Signer, Flor Garduño, Hanny Fries, Hugo Loetscher and Dieter Roth. Gadliger's portraits of artists are not snapshots, but cautious approaches to the subject. They are often series of pictures that tell little stories, arouse curiosity about the people depicted, document an encounter.
Prices and availability of photographs on request.
At the end of the 1970s, London has a lot to offer the attentive observer. Contrasts collide, which the photographer captures with his camera.
The French metropolis always has surprises in store for cosmopolitan travelers. Every visit rewards the attentive observer with new visual impressions, even seemingly familiar sights reveal themselves from unusual angles.
Venice is one of the first cities documented by the young photographer. In 1968, the city was still far removed from today's overtourism. Venice still largely belonged to the locals. They live and work here. Tourists are still in the minority.
Zadar is sprucing itself up for foreign guests. Werner Gadliger documents the tourist side of the city with the Sea Organ and takes a look behind the scenes.
On the road in Andalusia, the photographer finds impressive images both on and off the beaten track. The landscapes fascinate him just as much as the people and animals he encounters.
At the end of the 1970s, London has a lot to offer the attentive observer. Contrasts collide, which the photographer captures with his camera.
Small is beautiful. The photographer loves the agile Fiat 500. Wherever the little car appears, Werner Gadliger pulls out his camera.
Werner Gadliger observes animals just as attentively and amusedly as he does people. The interaction between animals and humans seems to particularly captivate him.
Portraits of artists have taken up a lot of space in Gadliger's photographic work over the years. Even as a young photographer, he began taking portraits of artists from his circle of friends. Guido Magnaguagno writes in the foreword to the volume «Im Atelier und unterwegs - Künstlerporträts»: You never get the feeling that he has set out in search of them or waited outside closed studio doors, on the contrary: he simply moves around in his world, which is the world of the people portrayed. Among his peers. A little respect, none of awe. He knows his way around, is part of the whole, a copain, a friend or at least a colleague.
From the year two thousand, Werner Gadliger took part in over twenty solo exhibitions and just as many group exhibitions. Before that, his work was shown in sixty-five solo and forty-nine group exhibitions.
Gadliger at the Auer Ory Photo Foundation
In fall 2024, the renowned Fondation Auer Ory pour la photographie in Hermance near Geneva is dedicating a solo exhibition to the photographer, September 5 to October 30, 2024.
Report on arttv.ch – culture tv on the net
Invitation card and book accompanying the exhibition:
Werner Gadliger - Carnet n°39
Collection Fondation Auer Ory pour la Photographie
64 pages / 61 b/w and color photographs
Price: 24 CHF
Texts by Alexandre Fiette and Michèle Auer Ory
