CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 2/23/2024

In Walter Pfeiffer's 'Chez Walti,' a playful, captivating dream world

Featured spreads are from new release Chez Walti, Edition Patrick Frey’s vivid and incorrigible 418-page collection of Walter Pfeiffer photographs, made 2000–2022. In regards to photography, he says, “everything depends on the model. Is he or she funny and playful? Or are they just lame ducks? Worst-case scenario: they really do aspire to become a professional model. I have to enjoy photographing them, otherwise it doesn’t work. It’s the same with a still life or a landscape. I can’t plan it in advance, any more than with people. I have to be there and see it for myself. A still life can, admittedly, be a little embellished, so to speak. But when it comes to landscape, I can immediately look at it and think: That’s it!” In regards to his drawing practice, he says, “I need change, and I always need new people. As long as I can, I’ll just keep on fishing and sometimes somebody will take the bait. People who are captivating, and independent-minded, are a great source of inspiration for me. … There are very few of these one-off individuals. … I’m interested in creating a kind of dream world.”