In zivil,
Hors service, Off Duty
Arnold Odermatt
Steidl
English, French and German
Edited by Urs Odermatt
Hardcover
First Edition
360 pages
290 x 320 mm
2010
ISBN 9783865217967
This is the new and revised edition of Arnold Odermatt’s acclaimed Off Duty, first published in 2010. Does any family not have family photos? Every other picture taken is a family photograph and most are glanced at quickly and just as quickly wiped from memory. In this sea of sameness, Arnold Odermatt’s family photos bear his signature style, standing out for their clarity and order and the detached demeanor of his subjects. Arnold Odermatt, police officer and photographer, achieved fame with his photographic journal of car accidents, Karambolage. His last book, On Duty, documented the small police corps with which he worked for many years, effectively advertising their skills and services. In this book, Off Duty, he shows life after the officer has parked his cruiser in the garage, turned off the scanner and hung his uniform in the closet. Showered and clad in fresh shirts and clean blouses, the photographer’s spouse, son and daughter wait in the living room or garden for their close-ups. Sometimes they wait patiently and at other times they are annoyed – not very different from the reactions of colleagues on duty, who also learned that a good photograph takes time. Odermatt created an impressive document of life within a small village, where the police officer off duty was not exactly private but civilian.
About the Artist
Arnold Odermatt was a Swiss police photographer whose work spanned more than 40 years. Originally trained as a baker, he was a photographer for the Nidwalden cantonal police from 1948 until his retirement in 1990.
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About the Publisher
Born in Göttingen in 1950, Gerhard Steidl began working as a printer and designer in 1969. Soon the customers of his screen-printing workshop included Joseph Beuys, Marcel Broodthaers and Nam June Paik, among other well-known artists. In 1972, the first Steidl book Befragung der documenta (Questioning documenta) was published. From political non-fiction he then expanded into literature and selected books on art and photography.
steidl.de
