Roger Humbert: Swiss pioneer of concrete photography

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And then there was light; one of Roger Humbert's early works in 1948. Roger Humbert / Fotostiftung Schweiz

The experimental photographer has been working on concrete photography, photograms and luminograms since the early 1950s. © Fotostiftung Schweiz

His art consists of elements such as stencil templates and waste paper, which are abstracted by using light. © Fotostiftung Schweiz

Humbert's graphic design background is clearly seen in his works. This work is from 1960. © Fotostiftung Schweiz

Humbert's photograms have been exhibited worldwide, including in Japan, Brazil, the US and Europe. Fotostiftung Schweiz

Without a camera, Humbert could show new photographic creations the moment the light is exposed onto photographic paper. © Fotostiftung Schweiz

A C-print, also known as a Chromogenic print, is made from a colour negative or slide. Humbert made use of this principle in this example from 1974. © Fotostiftung Schweiz

A graphic photogram made in 1978. © Fotostiftung Schweiz

Working with light and stencil in 1968. © Fotostiftung Schweiz

Photograms made only with light and stencil cannot be repeated, which makes the images unique. © Fotostiftung Schweiz

Another of Humbert's Chromogenic Prints in the 1970s. © Fotostiftung Schweiz

As someone who developed his craft throughout the 1970s and onwards, Roger Humbert remains an important artist in non-objective photography. © Fotostiftung Schweiz

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The Basel-based photographer and art designer Roger Humbert is a leading avant-garde photographer in Switzerland. He was part of a small group of artists who invented the concrete photography movement in the 1950s, using light in dramatic ways. 

Humbert, who turned 90 in December 2019, trained as a photographer and graphic designerExternal link and worked in these fields until he began to experiment with his art form in the 1950s. He started to make images without a camera, instead using light sources to produce luminograms – a method to create images by directing light onto photographic paper. “I photograph the light,” he said.

By removing the traditional subject from in front of the camera lens and replacing it with images of light and shadow, he created new shapes and forms on paper known as ‘photograms’.

He experimented with different temperatures of light to see how it influenced his images. He used stencils and other objects as instruments to complement the aesthetics of his design.

Because of the technical nature of his work, Humbert has been described as a natural scientist in the field of photography.

Roger Humbert’s works are archived at the Fotostiftung SchweizExternal link (Swiss Foundation for Photography) near Zurich and he has had his work exhibited at numerous international museums, including the Peter C. Ruppert Collection in Würzburg and the Museum of Art and HistoryExternal link Geneva. 

Humbert lives and works today in Basel.