Photography

Placing large sticks in the snow is most likely the oldest method in the world for marking a way in winter. The ancient method has remained unaffected throughout centuries, and in modern Switzerland snow posts are as commonplace as ever before. Their use is not subject to any regulations as neither size nor color nor material are specified and every community is free to apply its own rules and systems. This box of cards, "Schneezeichen", presents this particular aspect of Swiss culture. For many years, the author has collected a large number of these prototypes of visual communication and photographed them individually. The undefined white-gray background is a connotation of snow that maintains the familiar color scheme of the theme, while at the same time deleting and decontextualizing any practical aspects. In this ambiguity the signs can gain their own language, revealing their true nature to the observer.

Peter Olpe has been manufacturing customized pinhole cameras since 1978. In 2012 he donated 90 of his cameras to the Swiss Camera Museum in Vevey where the collection will be exhibited. In images and texts the book "Out of Focus" presents these cameras and, in addition, tells the story of the author‘s ever-changing interests in pinhole photography – a written documentation of Peter Olpe’s work as a designer, photographer, illustrator and teacher. Furthermore, the creative work of 36 photographers is presented, all of whom Peter Olpe invited to take photos with one of his pinhole cameras in a kind of „art barter“. His offer was simple. If the resulting images were of a quality to be used in the book and the exhibition in Vevey, the camera would pass into the possession of the artist. During the project, Olpe designed many unique tailor-made cameras for the artists – and just as many diverse and surprising photographs were created using them.