Andreas Züst archives

zuest1 — Untitled, from the series “Resolute Night” by Andreas Züst (1978–79)
© Andreas Züst estate / Prints and Drawings Department, NL

Born in Bern, the photographer and scientist Andreas Züst (1947–2000) was a passionate collector. He saw photography as the perfect medium to “capture the world”. In a 30-year artistic career, he addressed such topics as nature, society’s design mania and people in their individual situations.

The archive in the Prints and Drawings Department (PDD) documents Andreas Züst’s highly diverse work.

Content and scope

Approximately 50,000 slides
20,000 prints
1,800 negative films (36 exposures each)

Themes:

Celestial phenomena
Ice structures
Natural colours and structures
Roundabouts
Photos under the heading “people, animals, adventure”

Negative films document Züst’s travels from the 1970s onwards, bars and vernissages, people and their stories. The cycle culminated in the publication “Bekannte Bekannte” (Notable Acquaintances):

Edition Patrick Frey: «Bekannte Bekannte»

Alongside the photographic material, you will find the following archive documents:

Invitations, advertising flyers
Images by Andreas Züst in the media
Press articles about Andreas Züst
Drawings and sketches
Letters, music cassettes, birth notices, handwritten notes etc.

Collection principles

Andreas Züst’s work, with its positively encyclopaedic worldview, contains multiple cross-references – not only within his own oeuvre, but also across the Swiss and international art scenes.

This, combined with the collection’s sometimes documentary character, provides an unconventional view of Switzerland, making the Züst collection of great interest to the Swiss National Library (NL).

Research and access

Most of the images can be found in the NL’s HelveticArchives database.
The originals can be viewed by prior appointment in the Prints and Drawings Department.

HelveticArchives database: Andreas Züst

Andreas Züst website