Mathias Braschler and Monika Fischer

Mathias Braschler was born in Aargau, Switzerland, in 1969. He studied geography and modern history at the University of Zurich. He was strongly touched by a photographic exhibition of Sebastiao Salgado and learned from photographer and filmmaker Alberto Venzago before beginning his career in photography in 1994. Starting out as a photo journalist, he worked for various magazines and newspapers such as NZZ and Sonntags Zeitung in Switzerland before moving to New York City in 1998, where he carried out his first book project, Madison Avenue in 1999.[10] Through his experience of covering 9/11 for Newsweek, Mathias Braschler decided to move more into portrait photography.[11] In the following years he lived and worked in New York.

Monika Fischer was born in St. Gallen’s Rhine Valley in Switzerland in 1971. While studying Romance and German philology at the University of Zurich, she also began working as a dramaturg and director’s assistant at the Zurich opera house. Over several years she worked with international theatre directors in Switzerland. Monika Fischer graduated from the Zurich University of the Arts with an executive master in scenography in 2005. Her experience in lighting and mis-en-scene is an important part of braschler/fischer's visual style.[12]

The duo met while studying at university and first started working on a project based on the Werner Herzog Film Fitzcarraldo for the Opera house of Manaus, Brazil in 2002. Their work relationship evolved into the formation of a permanent team, and they became the duo braschler/fischer in 2003.

They have a son and divide their time between Zurich and New York.

Braschler/fischer work project-based, with projects usually lasting several months to two years and requiring extensive travel. Braschler/fischer always work as a team and are specialized in portrait photography. Strongly influenced by the works of Sebastiao Salgado, Richard Avedon, Robert Capa, Werner Bischof and Henri Cartier-Bresson, and having been compared to August Sander, braschler/fischer have developed a style that balances between illuminating the subject while telling their true story.

They apply this style to a variety of topics:

• 1999 – Madison Avenue, Edition Andreas Züst, ISBN 3-905328-16-X
• 2007 – About Americans, Edition Braus, ISBN 978-3-89904-275-7
• 2006 – Faces of Football, Nicolai Verlag, (ISBN 3-89479-324-4)
• 2010 – The Human Face of Climate Change[5]
• 2012 – China[4]
• 2013 – Faces![16]
• 2013 – The Swiss[17]

After five years of collaboration, braschler/fischer won a World Press Photo Award for “Faces of Football” in 2007. Featuring known soccer players such as David Beckham, the idea was to shoot the athlete right after the match, which created a certain intensity of the gaze. For their project “The Human Face of Climate Change”, braschler/fischer were selected photographers for the Vanity Fair Hall of Fame in 2010. For the series “Guantanamo”, braschler/fischer were awarded the Hansel Mieth Prize in 2012 and the Prix Photo in 2015. Braschler/fischers distinct photographic style and way of working has been covered by The New York Times,[18] Stern[19] and the Guardian[20]