Celebrating the 100th birthday of French-Swiss photographer Sabine Weiss (1924–2021), f³ – freiraum für fotografie presents the first major retrospective of her work to be shown in Germany.

Alongside Robert Doisneau, Willy Ronis and Brassaï, Sabine Weiss stands among the most significant figures in French humanist photography. This movement—which reached its peak in the post-war years—was defined by its empathetic approach to depicting the lives and everyday experiences of working people.

Sabine Weiss (née Weber) was born in Saint-Gingolph, Switzerland, in 1924. She apprenticed under renowned photographer Paul Boissonnas in Geneva before relocating to Paris, where she assisted German fashion photographer Willy Maywald. Following her marriage to American painter Hugh Weiss, she established herself as a freelance photographer in 1950 and joined the Rapho agency in 1952. Her work appeared in The New York Times, Life, Newsweek, Vogue, Le Ore, Paris Match, Esquire, Holiday, and Du, among others. Weiss mounted over 170 solo exhibitions and participated in more than 80 group shows, notably Edward Steichen's landmark exhibition "The Family of Man" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1955. Throughout a career spanning nearly seven decades, she worked for the international press as well as for numerous institutions and brands.

By the late 1970s, her work gained new visibility as festivals and institutions began recognizing the significance of post-war humanist photography. This international acknowledgment inspired her to pursue a new personal body of black-and-white work, distinguished by a visual language that foregrounds solitude, spirituality, and life's quieter, more reflective moments.

The past decade has seen Sabine Weiss's legacy reach new heights: she was honored with exhibitions at the Jeu de Paume Château de Tours (2016) and the Musée National d'Art Moderne at the Centre Pompidou in Paris (2018). In 2020, she received the Women In Motion Award for Photography from Kering and the Rencontres d'Arles. A celebrated retrospective followed at the Arles Photography Festival in 2021 and at Casa dei Tre Oci in Venice in 2022. Her estate, managed by Photo Elysée in Lausanne, comprises approximately 160,000 negatives, 7,000 contact sheets, 8,000 prints, 46,000 slides, and extensive archival materials.

"A Photographer's Life" traces a remarkable career shaped by an insatiable curiosity about people. Sabine Weiss approached every photographic discipline—reportage, editorial, fashion, advertising, portraiture, and personal projects—as a creative challenge. For her, photography was both a passport to the world and a means of connection: an opportunity to travel, meet diverse people, live authentically, and express herself. The exhibition, which the photographer guided until her passing, stands as a testament to this lifelong artistic passion.

The exhibition is curated by photography historian Virginie Chardin. Organized by f³ – freiraum für fotografie and produced by Sabine Weiss Studio and Photo Elysée, it has received support from Jeu de Paume, Les Rencontres d'Arles, and Women In Motion—Kering's initiative championing women in art and culture.

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