Peggy Kleiber: De l’Ombre à la Lumière

Born in Moutier and based in Biel for much of her life, Peggy Kleiber left behind an extensive yet largely unseen photographic archive. Discovered after her death in 2015, it comprises around 15,000 negatives spanning intimate family life, urban scenes in Biel and the Seeland, political movements in Italy, and travels to New York, Mexico, and Prague. Her camera focused on the everyday – family rituals, gestures, encounters – yet her gaze was never merely domestic. The photographs show how the personal and political intertwine, and how the family can function as a social archive.

Operating outside the conventions of professional photography, Kleiber developed a distinctive voice. She was a teacher by profession, and from the early 1960s until 1990, she worked steadily with her Leica M3. Influenced by thinkers like Danilo Dolci and Adriano Olivetti, and deeply rooted in literature and music, her work reveals a sustained attention to overlooked people, quiet gestures, and the changing textures of daily life.

Rather than a chronological overview, the exhibition presents her images thematically, combining vintage prints, newly produced works, and personal objects from the archive. It highlights Kleiber’s unique position as a woman photographing from within the margins, and invites reflection on whose visual legacies are preserved, and why.

The exhibition is organised in collaboration with Judith Luks (Clandestin éditions) and gallery owner Isabel Balzer (see you next tuesday), as well as with the archives of Peggy Kleiber. The exhibition is accompanied by a new publication, contributed by Teresa Gruber (Fotostiftung Schweiz) and Lorenzo Pallini, which provides an overview of Kleiber’s practice and its historical relevance.

More information can be found here.