Emil Schulthess

Why this artist matters now

Emil Schulthess was a Swiss photographer and filmmaker whose large-format color work documented landscapes and cultures across six continents between the 1930s and 1970s. Working with custom-built cameras and Kodachrome film, he created panoramic photographs of unprecedented scale and technical precision, combining geographic survey with formal composition. His archive encompasses tens of thousands of transparencies capturing the American West, the Arctic, Antarctica, and Asia. Schulthess approached photography as both scientific documentation and artistic practice, producing books and exhibitions that positioned the photograph as a window onto planetary diversity.

Source: Moma Bulk 2026 05 04 · Trust score: 92% · Updated 25d ago