A photo exhibition compares early Swiss ski culture to the sport’s growth in modern-day China, which is hosting the 2022 Winter Games.
This content was published on February 1, 2022 – 09:00
Thomas Kern was born in Switzerland in 1965. Trained as a photographer in Zurich, he began working as a photojournalist in 1989. In 1990 he founded the Swiss photography agency Lookat Photos. Thomas Kern has twice received a World Press Award and has been awarded several Swiss national grants. His work has been widely exhibited and is represented in various collections.
Part of the exhibition is dedicated to rare black and white photographs by the Adelboden photographers Emanuel Gyger (1886-1951) and Arnold Klopfenstein (1896-1961), who witnessed the early days of skiing in Switzerland. The two photographers made a name for themselves as entrepreneurs for a postcard publisher. The photo collection was meticulously compiled over many years by the private collector Daniel Müller-Jentsch.
In the 1930s, ski fever spread quickly in the Alps. The photos show idyllic scenes from the snowy Bernese Oberland, adrenaline-charged descents, daring jumps and brilliant white slopes and peaks.
These historical images contrast with those captured in China, host of the 2022 Winter Games, which begin on February 4. The exhibition also features a video report that was filmed a few weeks ago at SNOW 51, a ski hall in a shopping mall in Shanghai.
Skiing and ski infrastructure have grown rapidly in China in recent years. The organizers of the games say that over 300 million Chinese now regularly participate in skiing, ice hockey and other cold-weather recreation. The country now has more than 650 standard ice rinks and 803 indoor and outdoor ski resorts.
The Beijing Games will be the first Winter Olympics to use virtually 100% artificial snow, with more than 100 snow generators and 300 snow guns working flat out to cover the ski slopes.