The new large-format photo book by Robert Bösch presents mostly new and unpublished photographs, taken in Switzerland and around the world. He answered a few questions for us about his new work, about photography, and the future.
About the new book
In the books NOT SEEN and BIRDS, the real photographs served only as raw material for the creation of new visual worlds. In your new book «Pictures that I have seen», the photographs are shown for what they are – real images allowed to unfold their own effect. What made you decide to give the photographs back their independence in your new book?
Of course, I never turned away from real photography, where I always set myself clear boundaries: the picture is created while photographing, not afterwards. With the two projects NOT SEEN and BIRDS I immersed myself in a different and, for me, new visual world. It was exciting to create images in a new way. These are pictures I do not call photographs, even if the starting point was a photograph.
What was or is the concept of the new book?
The idea was not to make a best-of book. I wanted to photograph new images. In recent years I have learned to look a little differently. Today I discover images that I would have overlooked in the past or that would not have interested me. This initially still vague book idea gave me the motivation to be out in the world with my camera in search of images. It was not primarily the obvious images that interested me. I was looking for pictures that, so to speak, hide within the whole.
How were the images created and according to which criteria did you select and arrange them?
This is a process spanning several years. In the first phase, I simply photographed whenever I saw something that I found exciting and interesting, and where I thought it might fit this project. No matter where and what – in an industrial area, in Venice, desert, mountains, in front of my doorstep. That was the collecting phase, so to speak. At some point you feel there might be enough usable material.
Then comes the phase of sorting out. At the same time, it is the phase of doubt: there are so many pictures, it seems impossible to get a feeling whether it could “work” or not. Only when the selection is reduced to around 200 to 150 images and the first attempts with some sequences are made does a feeling for the project emerge. The process may be compared to a sculptor chiseling a figure out of a huge block of marble. At first, it is just a rock, only gradually you begin to sense the rough outlines of a figure – whether it succeeds, you only know when it is finished. It is an extremely exciting process. And of course satisfying, when the belief in success gradually replaces the doubts.
What considerations guided you in choosing the binding, format, and design of the book?
Years of experience: my knowledge of the reliable and outstanding collaboration with book designer Mireille Burkhardt/BOB, with Simon Mühlemann of the Wolfau printing company, and with the bookbindery Bubu. I have created quite a few books with all three of them.
The photography
You have been working as a freelance professional photographer for over 30 years. How has your view of photography changed over the years?
I have always tried to keep developing. At the beginning of my life as a photographer, this was urgently needed. Looking back, my level and skills were rather modest.
I always wanted to improve. That sounds logical and simple. But it is difficult to figure out where to make adjustments. And usually it only happens in small steps. If you look back over several years, you may realize that you have improved.
The future
Is there already another book in sight?
Vaguely in my mind
What message would you like to pass on to young photographers?
Photography is a fantastic activity that allows you to always have something to do anywhere in the world and throughout your life. It requires constant engagement with the image, with seeing, and with trying. In addition to technical camera skills, creativity and the willingness to try new things are also required. Try to find the best possible image in every situation – even in seemingly banal ones. This usually does not succeed with a «single shot». Often, you have to approach an image gradually. Copying is relatively easy in photography. Try, again and again, to do it differently than it is usually done.
Robert Bösch – Photographer, Geographer and Mountain Guide
For over three decades, he has been working as a freelance professional photographer. In addition to assignments for industry and advertising, he creates photo series for renowned national and international magazines such as Geo, Stern or National Geographic. He has also published numerous photo books. Bösch is a brand ambassador for Nikon.
As an alpinist, he has traveled all seven continents and climbed many famous as well as remote peaks on challenging routes during his expeditions. He accompanied many of mountaineer Ueli Steck’s ventures. For a film and photo assignment, he even stood on Mount Everest in 2001.
His work has been presented in numerous galleries and museums in Switzerland and abroad. Robert Bösch has published a variety of photo books. Among his most recent works are NOT SEEN, Engiadina and BIRDS. While NOT SEEN developed out of playful experimentation and led to a completely new visual world detached from reality, in BIRDS Bösch engaged in an abstract and experimental exploration, where photographs served merely as raw material for new visual worlds. With Engiadina, on the other hand, he realized a long-cherished idea and approached the Engadin landscape photographically, capturing it in classical images of particular intensity.
Win the new book «Pictures that I have seen» by Swiss photographer and mountaineer Robert Bösch!
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Deadline for entries is October 17, 2025.
Book details
Robert Bösch – Pictures that I have seen
Christoph Merian Verlag
Price CHF 130.00
Available in bookstores or signed directly by Robert Bösch:
Robert Bösch Photographer – Art Photography – Pictures that I have seen
