René Burri: Retrospective

Despite photographing some of the biggest stars of the 20th century, Swiss Magnum photographer René Burri has always been more interested in meeting the people he photographs, than in their celebrity status - he was famously so eager to photograph Picasso that he spent five years persuading the artist to agree. (The meeting would leave a lasting impression on the young photographer, who was hugely inspired by Picasso’s passion for his own work).

Rene Burri: Retrospective, on show at the Kunsthal, Rotterdam, until July, is testament to the results Burri achieved with his own dedication to his craft. More than 200 vintage prints and personal documents from the past 50 years - including those taken by Burri as a child using his father's camera - are on display in the exhibition which provides further insight into Burri’s works and methods.

Burri’s remarkable and adventurous work is a fascinating account of the major artists, politicians and personalities that he has made a part of his life.  Other iconic images of key cultural figures of the 20th century include those of Giacometti and Barragan. His travels around the world to Cuba, Vietnam and the Middle East show a breadth to his work, which includes photographs taken in Brazil of modern architecture and city planning by Oscar Niemeyer and Le Corbusier.

Alongside one of his most famous portraits - of Che Guevara nonchalantly smoking a big cigar - are others of the revolutionary in the same series. Burri has said that he never waits for the perfect moment to take a photograph; instead he quickly captures what is happening in front of the camera, which comes to include a distinctive picture. The portrait of Che Guevara has taken on iconic significance, but Burri, with typical modesty, has said ‘this picture is famous thanks to the chap with the cigar, not to me’.

René Burri was included in the group exhibition Faces of Our Time at the Atlas Room from 29 April – 29 May 2010