Born October 9, 1927, in Zurich, is a Swiss photographer and trained documentary film cameraman whose work spans photojournalism, experimental photo essays, and pioneering color photography. He is particularly known for his early photobooks and for his later contributions to color reproduction and dye-transfer printing.

After early training in photography and film in Zurich, René Groebli worked briefly as a photo reporter for Swiss and international magazines, with images published in Life and Picture Post. In 1949, he self-published his first photographic booklet, Magie der Schiene, followed by Das Auge der Liebe (1954), a highly debated and influential photo essay created in collaboration with his wife Rita Groebli. The book is today regarded as a landmark of intimate, narrative photography and early Swiss photobook culture.

In the mid-1950s, Groebli withdrew from photojournalism and established a large studio in Zurich specializing in industrial and advertising photography, as well as color processes such as dye transfer and photolithography. His studios became a major hub for commercial color photography in Switzerland, employing numerous photographers, printers, and technicians. Alongside this work, he continued publishing books on color photography, including Variation (1965) and Variation 2 (1971), which presented the expressive and technical possibilities of color photography.

From the late 1970s onward, Groebli retired from commercial practice and returned to free photographic work, producing personal series in both color and black and white. In later years, he focused on editing and digitizing his extensive archive. His contribution is recognized for bridging experimental photobooks, postwar photojournalism, and the professionalization of color photography in Europe.

Reference
Biography text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), German edition. Retrieved January 19, 2026.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/René_Groebli