untitled

no. 384

gelatin silver print

signed, dated, stamped and inscribed on verso

The Swiss photographer René Groebli has inscribed himself in the history of photography with his photo essay Magic of the Rail. On his journey by train from Paris to Basel he captured the moods he encountered and published them in a brochure. The production and financing of this publication, which is formally based on Man Ray and Paul Eluard, was adventurous and led, among other things, to the young photographer having to pay his father's printing costs for years through monthly payments. But the risk was worthwhile. The publication The Magic of Rail has gone down in the annals of photography and was also honoured by Martin Parr in his history of the photo book.
[...] Groebli's first major freelance work, in his fascination with dynamics and movement, took him to the tracks, to stations and on an express steam locomotive from Paris to Basel. Groebli photographed moods, speed and technology. But also the atmospheric, the hissing of the steam, the biting smoke, the squeaking of the axles and the hard work in the driver's cab. He has captured being on the road as a state in limbo. He succeeded in capturing what is not tangible, but what you can still feel, smell and hear today when you look at this dreamlike, associative series of pictures. He has thus penetrated to the essential, which is still the effect of this series of pictures today. […]
René Groebli recently rediscovered in his extensive archive another 15 negatives from the series Magic of the Railway, which had to be put aside in 1949 due to a necessary cut.
(Hilar Stadler, Museum in Bellpark, 2016)