acterized his fotoform period. Instead, he traced the
ordinary life of the inhabitants along with the beauty
of the country’s nature and art by taking on the
unassuming role of an artistic interpreter.
Both his personal and photographic approach
demonstrate a careful and reserved perspective
on surroundings. The resulting portraits are genre
scenes with a subtle sensibility, which sometimes
include a small joke in the background. Despite
his works showing considerable abstract qualities,
Schneiders has consistently remained rooted in the
representational image. In his pictures, he unites
the dual perspectives of the micro and the macro,
of abstraction and representation, of transforma-
tion and clarity. Familiar objects, such as telephone
poles, train tracks, the rings of a felled tree, or
bamboo poles, become mysterious patterns filling
the surface of the image, surreal signs. With their
symbolic content, many of the images seem to con-
vey a meaning.
Toni Schneiders has published his photographs
in yearbooks, such asDas Deutsche Lichtbild,Foto
Annuario Italiano, andPhotography Year Book,in
the ‘‘terra magica’’ photo albums, in the magazines
Atlantisand Merian, and in numerous interna-
tional journals. The broad scope of his oeuvre,
ranging over five decades, includes portraits and
genre scenes, still life, landscapes, and photo-
graphic experiments including solarization and
multiple exposures.
His later commissioned work, largely in color,
represented a contrast to the timeless, static black-
and-white images from the period around 1950.
‘‘fotoform,’’ the modern and artistic reaction to
the experiences of war, remains the most creative
phase in Schneiders’ work.
MatthiasHarderSeealso:Hajek-Halke, Heinz; History of Photogra-
phy: Postwar Era; Keetman, Peter; Photography in
Germany and Austria
Biography
1920, born in Koblenz. 1936–1939, apprenticeship and grad-
uation to Master Photographer in Koblenz. 1940, soldier
in the Luftwaffe. 1942–1945, war correspondent in France
and Italy, brief captivity as a prisoner of war, then a
freelance photographer in Koblenz. 1948, established a
photo studio in Meersburg on Lake Constance, close
contact to the German photographers Heinz Hajek-
Halke and Peter Keetman along with the French painter,
Julius Bissier. 1949, member of thefotoform group;
moved to Lindau on Lake Constance. 1950, worked as a
photojournalist, architecture, and advertising photogra-
pher for newspapers and magazines. 1956, extended trips
in Ethiopia, Europe, and North Africa. 1961, stayed in
Japan, later in South east Asia. 1970, assembled a com-
prehensive image archive of European cultural history.
1999, Culture Prize of the Deutsche Gesellschaft fu ̈r
Photographie (DGPh). Member of the Gesellschaft fu ̈r
Deutsche Lichtbildner (GDL), the Deutsche Gesellschaft
fu ̈r Photographie (DGPh), and the Bund Freischaffender
Fotografen (BFF). He lives in Lindau.Individual Exhibitions
1962 Epische Kamera; Landesbildstelle; Hamburg, Ger-
many
1966 Farbphotograrphien; Landesbildstelle; Stuttgart, Ger-
many
1974 Toni Schneiders—Farbbilder eines Vielgereisten; Fo-
togalerie der staatlichen Bildstelle; Hamburg, Germany
1982 Toni Schneiders; Fotograf; Fotomuseum im Mu ̈nch-
ener Stadtmuseum, Munich, Germany
1983 Toni Schneiders; Bentleler Galleries; Houston, Texas
1994 fotoform; Kornhaus Galerie; Weingarten, Germany
1999 Toni Schneiders Photographien 1946–1980; Fotomu-
seum im Mu ̈nchener Stadtmuseum, Munich, Germany
2000 Toni Schneiders Photographien 1946–1980; Stadtmu-
seum; LindauGroup Exhibitions
1949 The Bristol Salon of Photography; Bristol, United
Kingdom
1950 fotoform; Photo-Kino-Ausstellung; Ko ̈ln, Germany
1951 fotoform; Photokina-Bilderschauen; Ko ̈ln, Germany
1952 foroform; Photokina-Bilderschauen; Ko ̈ln, Germany
subjective fotographie 1; Saarbru ̈ckenSelected Works
Zwiebelbluten (Onion blossoms), 1948.
Signale (Signal), 1950.
Karussell, Dom Hamburg, 1950.
Luftblasen in spiegel eis (Air bubbles in ice), 1953.
Spiegelnde Scheiben (Reflective panes), 1953.
Ein Trister Tag (A sad day), 1955.Further Reading
Schneiders, Toni, and Werner Ross.Der Rhein: Landschaft-
Geschichte–Kultur. Freiburg i. Br. u.a.: Herder, 1982.
Pohlmann, Ulrich.Toni Schneiders, Photographien 1946–
1980 .Mu ̈nchen: Schirmer/Mosel, 1999SCHNEIDERS, TONI