The photographs by Walter Rutishauser (1940–2017) capture a chapter in the history of Swiss political history. Walter ‘Ruti’ Rutishauser worked for many decades as a press photographer in the Federal Palace in Bern.

The exhibition at the Library am Guisanplatz BiG casts light on Rutishauser’s photographic work through a selection of pictures, including some black-and-white photos not previously exhibited. Taking a look through the photographer’s lens, we present highlights from the 1960s through to the 1990s.

The Rutishauser collection

The Walter Rutishauser photo archive contains around 300,000 items and has been held at the BiG since 2013. The collection of some 6,000 portraits of members of parliament has already been digitised and can be accessed online via the www.alexandria.ch search portal.

Walter Rutishauser was born in Winterthur in 1940 and completed an apprenticeship as a photographer with Hans Grämiger. From 1960 onwards he worked as a press photographer with ATP photo services and for Ringier photo services. From 1969 to 1979 he headed a branch of Keystone in Bern. From 1979 to 2000 he worked as press photographer for the Tages Anzeiger newspaper. Rutishauser died in 2017 in Bern.

The exhibition runs from 13 May 2022 to 31 August 2023 and can be visited free of charge during the BiG’s opening hours (free entrance):

Monday–Friday

8.30–11am / 2–4.30pm Uhr