Source
Werner Bischof, Swiss Photographer, Killed in Andes
Citation
“Werner Bischof, Swiss Photographer, Killed in Andes.” The New York Times, May 18, 1954. News-of-record notice reporting Bischof’s death on May 16, 1954 when his jeep went over a ravine in the Peruvian Andes on assignment for LIFE magazine.
Relevance
Contemporaneous news-of-record report on the death of Werner Bischof (1916–1954), Magnum photographer, whose print appears at plate #30 of The Family of Man (Marriage). Source for the death date and confirmation of Swiss nationality.
Key excerpts / pages
- Death: May 16, 1954, Peruvian Andes.
- Swiss nationality; Zurich birthplace (April 26, 1916) confirmed in ensuing Magnum and Kunsthaus Zürich biographical literature.
Notes
- Magnum Photos maintains a photographer page (magnumphotos.com/photographer/werner-bischof) corroborating these dates; the Werner Bischof Estate (wernerbischof.com) is the canonical rights-holder.
- Bischof died nine days before Robert Capa (
src-nyt-1954-capa-obit) — 1954 was a catastrophic year for Magnum, losing two of its senior photographers. Both had contributed plates to the forthcoming Family of Man exhibition posthumously. - Perspective: journalistic / biographical.
- Re-verification 2026-04-24 (issue #9): NYT archive URL not directly fetchable (403, paywall); Wayback attempt via WebFetch blocked. Death year (1954), Swiss nationality, and Andes location independently corroborated by the Magnum Photos photographer page (fetched 2026-04-24; returned “b. 1916, Switzerland” and “died in a road accident in the Andes on May 16, 1954”). Birth date (1916-04-26, Zurich) and birthplace specificity NOT re-confirmed in this round — held on the pre-existing NYT citation only; Werner Bischof Estate site (wernerbischof.com) was not consulted this round. Flagged
verified: falsepending a Tier-1/2 primary source.