Werner Bischof was born in Switzerland in 1916. He studied photography with Hans Finsler in his native Zurich at the School for Arts and Crafts, then opened a photography and advertising studio.
In 1942, he became a freelancer for Du magazine, which published his first major photo essays. In the years that followed, Bischof traveled in Italy and Greece for Swiss Relief, an organization dedicated to post-war reconstruction. He was the first photographer to join Magnum with the founding members in 1949.
Bischof e devoted much of his working life to looking for order and tranquility in traditional culture. He also worked on commission in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and south-east Asia. In 1953, he traveled throughout Mexico and Panama, and then on to a remote part of Peru, where he was engaged in making a film.
Tragically, Wernor Bischof died in a road accident in the Andes on 16 May 1954.
