Arnold Odermatt

Arnold Odermatt (25 May 1925, Oberdorf, canton Nidwalden, Switzerland) is a celebrated Swiss police photographer whose work spanned more than 40 years. Originally trained as a baker, he was a photographer for the Nidwalden district police from 1948 until his retirement in 1990. He is best known for his eerily beautiful black-and-white photographs of the aftermaths of motor vehicle accidents. His photographs have earned him a great deal of respect on the art scene for a number of years. Arnold Odermatt joined the police in 1948 and rose to become a lieutenant, chief of the transport police and deputy chief inspector of the Nidwaldner District Police before he retired.

At the beginning of the 1990s, Arnold Odermatt’s photography was discovered by his son, Urs Odermatt during the research for his film Wachtmeister Zumbühl, and this work became a central theme in the film’s plot. Urs Odermatt brought his father’s works together in the working groups entitled Meine Welt, Karambolage, Im Dienst and In zivil and has published Arnold Odermatt‘s work ever since, working in collaboration with the Frankfurt art historian Dr Beate Kemfert and a gallery in Berlin – Galerie Springer & Winckler.

In 2001, Arnold Odermatt’s photography was selected by Harald Szeemann to be exhibited at the 49th Venice Biennale. In 2002 James Rondeau exhibited Odermatt’s work in its own right at the The Art Institute of Chicago, as did Urs Stahel at the Fotomuseum Winterthur in 2004.

Arnold Odermatt the Nidwalden Police in 1948. He was forced to give up his original career as a bakery and pastry chef on health grounds. As the policeman Arnold Odermatt first appeared with his Rolleiflex at the scene of an accident – to provide photos to complement the police report, people found this rather disconcerting. At that time, photography was anything other than an independent means of providing the police with evidence.

A colleague observed Arnold Odermatt as he took pictures for the force and was suspicious. He was ordered to report to his commander immediately. Odermatt managed to convince his superiors of the pioneering work he was doing. They allowed him to convert an old toilet in an observation post in Stans into a makeshift dark room. When the observation post was moved into another building several years later, Switzerland’s first police photographer was given his own laboratory.

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Wikipedia