The photo studio Luzzi and Michael Wolgensinger founded in the mid-1930s was a Zurich institution for six decades. Adopting a visual language in the tradition of New Objectivity, they captured the spirit of the age and quickly became sought-after partners for many designers and clients. The photo studio’s extensive body of work includes still-life photography, reportage, portraits, and industrial, architectural, and theater photography as well as award-winning films.
Not only their collaboration but also their unmistakable style was forged in the photography class at the Kunstgewerbeschule Zürich, led at the time by Hans Finsler. Michael Wolgensinger attended the class between 1935 and 1937, also working as an architectural and still-life photographer for Finsler during this period. Luzzi Herzog (later Wolgensinger) was his classmate, graduating in 1936. In the 1950s and 60s, Escher Wyss was one of the studio’s major industrial clients, and the photographer couple produced several image series for the company. With their precisely defined lines and formal balance, these images often focus on the fascinating interplay between human and machine. The photograph of the boiler forge demonstrates the photographers’ expertise in object photography while also hinting at their playful take on things in many of their works.
The distinctive Atelier Wolgensinger logo – a square next to a cut-out circle – was designed by Warja Lavater in 1942.
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