Barbara Davatz – As Time Goes By, 1972 to 2014

Carole and Serge 1988, 1992 and 2014 © Barbara Davatz

The portraits of 12 couples by Barbara Davatz (*1944) are a classic of Swiss photography. Photographed a first time in 1987, the Zurich lovers, friends or relatives were portrayed again over the next three decades, some of them in new relationships.

Against a neutral backdrop, stories are being told, stories of sexual attractions, stories of fashion alliances or life styles. And over time, these stories change. Davatz captures the shifting mores of society and how we age on the wings of time.

This singular collection is shown for the first time together in Winterthur and is completed by other conceptual portrait series by Davatz, including of a factory on strike in 1972.

The photographer says of her work: “Every picture is the record of a relationship, the sum of the pictures is a record of time.”