Street photography has a long tradition in the history of photography. Passers-by, architecture, the bustle of the street have long fascinated photographers who mingle with the crowd while paying close attention to what surrounds them. For thirty years, Beat Streuli (Switzerland, 1957) has been directing his camera at city dwellers as they are absorbed in their daily lives.

The vast cities of our globalized world are swarming with people and public spaces are where the anonymous meet. Installed on the facade of the museum, Beat Streuli’s monumental work, created specifically for MBAL, captures the eye through an intriguing game of scale where the human being is placed at the centre of the image.

Born in Altdorf in the canton of Uri, Beat Streuli (Switzerland, 1957) moved to Germany, first to Berlin and then to Düsseldorf. During the 1990s, his work was shown in prestigious museums, notably at the MoMa in New York, the Musée d’art moderne de la ville de Paris and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona. He also takes part in many international biennials and, from 2000 onwards, develops several photographic projects on the five continents. In addition to his artistic activity, Beat Streuli teaches from 2012 to 2018 at the Zurich University of Art. Today, the work of the Swiss artist can be seen at Frankfurt am Main Airport, at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris and at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich in the form of permanent monumental installations.