Urs Stahel studied German Literature and Linguistics, History and Philosophy at the University of Zurich. After graduating, he worked as an editor for "Der Alltag" and for the art magazine "du," as an art critic for "Weltwoche" and for "ART" in Hamburg, and as a freelance publicist and curator. 1986-92 Lecturer at the Höhere Schule für Gestaltung in Zurich. 1986 Co-founder of the Kunsthalle Zürich. 1993 Co-founder of Fotomuseum Winterthur. 1993-2013 Director and curator of Fotomuseum Winterthur. 2000-2003 Co-founder and curator of the Coalmine in Winterthur. 

Since 2013 he has worked independently as a curator, author, lecturer and consultant - as curator mainly for the Fondazione MAST in Bologna, for which he is also building up the collection of industrial and work related photography. As a consultant for the Art Vontobel art collection in Zurich and for Foto Colectania in Barcelona, as President for Spectrum - Photography in Switzerland (2014-2020). Lecturer/visiting professor/visiting fellow for ZHdK (2013-2018), University of Zurich (2014-2015), University of Lucerne (2018) and for London College of Communication (2017-2019). In 2015 he was awarded the Prix Meret Oppenheim/Grand Prix Swiss Art, and in 2019 he received an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Culture and Social Sciences at the University of Lucerne.

He is curator of many exhibitions and author/editor of numerous books, for example by Paul Graham, Rineke Dijkstra, Joachim Brohm, Luigi Ghirri, Zoe Leonard, Roni Horn, Anders Petersen, Shirana Shahbazi, Astrid Klein, Ai Weiwei, Stefan Burger, Amar Kanwar, David Goldblatt, Hans Danuser, Claudio Moser, Boris Mikhailov, Sharon Ya'ari, Lewis Baltz, Thomas Ruff, Dayanita Singh, Jitka Hanzlova, Valérie Jouve, E.O. Hoppé, W. Eugene Smith, Thomas Struth, Richard Mosse or on topics such as "Hybrid", "Uncanny" "Trade", Im Rausch der Dinge", "Darkside I + II", "7P - 7 Places, 7 Precarious Fields", "The Power of Images", "Pendulum - Moving Things, Moving People", "Face Control" and "Uniform", about the role of working clothes in industry and society. 

Urs Stahel is based in Zürich.

Independant curator, writer, lecturer, consultant. Curator and publisher of numerous exhibitions, essays and books on photography

Awards and Recognitions:

1998                   UBS Jubiläumsstiftung   

2015                   Prix Meret Oppenheim (Swiss Grand Prix of Arts)  
                           https://bild-akademie.de/blog/2015/04/25/prix-meret-oppenheim-2015-fuer-urs-stahel/

2019                   Honorary doctorate, Universität Luzern / University of Lucerne
                           https://www.artundfoto.ch/post/2019/11/09/dies-academicus-2019

Urs Stahel has been curator, editor and/or author of numerous exhibitions and publications, such as:

Open End – Young Swiss Art, Kunsthaus Nürnberg, Städtische Galerie Erlangen and various galeries in the area, 1987 (Curator, Author, Editor) 

Passages – Paris during the French Romanticisme, Zürich 1987, Juni-Festwochen (Co-Curator)

Zart – Zurich Art, Stadtpark Graz, 1988 (Curator, Author, Editor) 

Wichtige Bilder – Fotografie in der Schweiz (Important Images – Photography from Switzerland), Museum für Gestaltung, Zürich 1990 (Co-Curator, Author, Editor)

Aus der Romandie, Fotomuseum Winterthur 1994 (Curator, Editor, Author)

Industriebild (Industrial Image). Fotomuseum Winterthur 1994 (Curator, Author Editor)

Herkunft? (Origin?) (Gosbert Adler, Tina Barney, Richard Billingham, Fazal Sheikh, Carrie Mae Weems, Anthony Hernandez), Winterthur 1996 (Curator, Author, Editor) 

Bilderzauber (The Magic of Images – A Serious Gam) (With Ian Anüll, Martin Blum, Daniele Buetti, Fischli/Weiss, Rémy Markowitsch, Gérald Minkoff, Markus Raetz, Hannes Rickli, Christoph Rütimann, Adrian Schiess, Laurent Schmid, Hugo Suter, Bernard Voïta, Cécile Wick), Winterthur 1997 (Curator, Author, Editor) 

World Views – Reportage Photography and its Media, Zürich 1997 (Co-Curator, Author, Co- Editor) 

Moving Mountains – Girola ́s Power Stations in the Alps, Winterthur/Zürich 1997 (Co-Curator, Author, Co-Editor) 

Photography after Photography, Winterthur 1997 (Author, Co-Curator)

Unheimlich (Uncanny – Unheimlich) (Vanessa Beecroft – Anna Gaskell – Dana Hoey – Natacha Lesueur – Wendy McMurdo), Winterthur, 1999 (Curator, Author, Editor) 

Young – New Photography in Swiss Art, Basel 1999 (Curator, Editor) 

Hybrid (with: David Deutsch, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Katrin Freisager, Annika von Hausswolff, Isabell Heimerdinger, Hans Hemmert, Jörg Sasse and Günther Selichar), Winterthur 2000 (Curator, Author, Editor) 

Remake Berlin (Clegg&Guttmann, Remy Markowitsch, Jürgen Teller, Frank Thiel, Boris Mikhailov, Stephan Wilks, Astrid Klein, Céline van Baalen) Göttingen, 2000 (Co-Curator, Co- Editor) 

Trade – Commodities, Communication, and Consciousness in World Trade Today, Zürich 2001 (Co-Curator, Author, Editor) 

Chic Clicks – Creativity and Commerce in Contemporary Fashion Photography, Winterthur 2002 (Author, Co-Realisator) 

Well, what is Photography then? Winterthur, 2003 (Author and Editor)

Order & Chaos (With Sonja Braas, Nanna Hänninen, Marjaana Kella, Inés Lombardi, Marianne Müller, Juha Nenonen, Sophy Rickett und Janaina Tschäpe), Basle 2003 (Curator, Author, Editor)

The Ecstasy of Things – From the Functional Object to the Fetish in 20th Century Photographs, Göttingen 2004 (Co-Curator, Author, Co-Editor) 

The Dream of Myself, the Dream of the World – Set 2 from the collection of the Fotomuseum Winterthur (Co-Curator) 

Life and Death in Bénin – African Photographers from the Alex Van Gelder Collection, 2005 (Curator) 

Trans Emilia – The Linea di Confine Collection. A Territorial Reconaissanceof the Emilia Romagna (With Marina Ballo Charmet , Lewis Baltz, Olivo Barbieri, Andrea Botto, Michele Buda, John Davies, Paola De Pietri, Gilbert Fastenaekens, John Gossage, William Guerrieri, Guido Guidi, Axel Hütte, Gianluca Liverani, Walter Niedermayr, Stephen Shore and Marco Signorini), Basel 2005 (Co-Curator, Co-Editor) 

Real Fantasies – New Photography from Switzerland, Basel 2006 (Co-Curator, Author, Co-Editor)

Simultanuous – Two Collections of Austrian Photography. From the Collections of the Federal Chancellery and the Museum der Moderne Salzburg, 2005 and 2006 (Curator, Author, Editor) 

Darkside I – Photographic Desire and Sexuality Photographed, Göttingen/Winterthur 2008 (Curator, Editor, Author) 

Darkside II – Photographic Power and Violence, Disease and Death Photographed, Göttingen/Winterthur, 2009 (Curator, Editor, Author) 

Where Three Dreams Cross – Photography from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, Göttingen/London/Winterthur, 2010 (Co-Curator for Winterthur)

Industrial Worlds 13+14, MAST Bologna, 2013/2014 (Curator)

Human Capital in Industries, MAST, Bologna, 2014 (Curator, Author) Industry Now, MAST, Bologna, 2015 (Curator, Author) 

GD4PhotoArt Award, MAST, Bologna, 2015 (Curator)

Dall‘ Album al Libro - L’Industria Italiana nell’Editoria Fotografica. MAST Bologna 2015 (Curator) 

7P – 7 Places, 7Precarious Fields, Biennal of Photography in Mannheim, Heidelberg, Ludwigshafen, 2015 (Curator, Author) 

A Tile, Some Milk, A Machine and Logistics – Photographs of Emilia-Romagna at Work, MAST Bologna 2016 (Curator, Author)

Power of Images, MAST Bologna 2017 (Curator, Author)

MAST Foundation Grant for Photography 2018, MAST Bologna 2017 (Curator, Author)

Pendulum - Moving Goods, Moving Images, MAST Bologna 2018 (Curator, Author)

Anthropocene - Ed Burtynsky, Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, MAST Bologna 2019 (coll. with AGO Toronto and National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa)

Uniform, MAST Bologna 2020

MAST Foundation Grant for Photography, MAST Bologna 2020

Face Control, Foto Colectania, Barcelona 2021

The MAST Collection - A Visual Alphabet of Industry, Technology and Work, MAST Bologna 2022

MAST Foundation Photography Grant on Industry and Work, MAST Bologna 2023

Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig / Wüstenroth Stiftung, 2022
Chung-Ang University (Collage of Art), Seoul, 2020 (on Zoom)
LCC, London College of Communication, London 2019
University of Luzern, Lucerne 2019
Raffles School of Design, Graphics and Photography, Milano, 2019
CCA, Tel Aviv, 2019
Photographers' Gallery, London, 2018
Darmstädter Fototage, Darmstadt,2018
Zurich University of Arts, 2013-2018
Bocconi University, Milano, 2017
University of Luzern, 2017
MAXXI, Rome, 2016
University of Toronto, 2016
University of Zurich, 2014
Gesellschaft für Deutsche Photographie, Berlin 2014
University of Rome, La Sapienza, 2013
Photo Festival, Delhi, 2013
Fotofestival Landskrona, Schweden, 2013
ZhdK, Zurich, 2013-2014
India International Centre (IIC), Delhi, 2011
University of Lausanne, 2011
Centrum for Fotografi, Stockholm, 2011
Macedonian Center of Photography, Skopje, 2008
Zurich Minds, Zurich, 2008

And earlier:
UBS-Wolfsberg Management Centre, Ermatingen
Centre pour l'image contemporaine Saint-Gervais, Geneva
Photoforum Pasquart, Biel-Bienne
Fachhochschule Basel, Basle
Gewerbemuseum Basel, Basle
University of Zürich, Zurich
Triennal of Photography, Hamburg
Ludwig Museum in Cologne
Academy of Architecture, Gerona
Academy of Art and Architecture, Venice
Humboldt University in Berlin
Photography Festival, Kulturhuseet, Stockholm
Photoforum Pasquart, Biel/Bienne

Co-founder of Kunsthalle Zurich and board member, Zurich 1986-1996
Boardmember of Stiftung Kunst heute, Bern 1991-1998
Member of Advising Board of Foto Colectania, Barcelona, 2008-ongoing
Member of Advisory Committee of EXIT, Imagen & Cultura, Madrid, 2008-2020
Member of peer group, MAST, Bologna, 2011-2013
President of Spectrum - Photography in Switzerland, 2013-2020
Member of Volkart Expert Comitee, 2014-2021
Advisor to the Arts Collection of Vontobel, Zürich, 2014-ongoing

Jury member, Albert Renger-Patzsch-Price, Essen 1998
Jury member, Spectrum Prize, Sprengel Museum Hannover, Hannover 1999
Jury member, Vfg Selection Prize, Zürich 2001
Jury member, Hasselblad Award, Gothenburg 2002
Jury member, Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie, Arles 2003
Jury member, Triennal of Photography, Vevey 2004
Jury member, La Vision du Réel, documentary film festival, Nyon 2005
Jury member, Austrian Photography Prize, Vienna 2006
Jury member, Deutsche Börse Prize, London 2007
Jury member, Fotopres, Barcelona 2006 and 2007
Jury member, Hyères Festival of Photography and Fashion, 2008
Jury member, EWZ-Selection Price, Zurich 1998 and 2008
Jury member, F-Award, Treviso 2010
Jury member, Fotopreis des Schweizerischen Städtebundes, Winterthur 2010
Jury member, Plat(t)form, Fotomuseum Winterthur, 2007-2012
Jury member, BAT Photo Price, Switzerland 2013
Jury member, Greenpeace Photo Award, 2013
Jury member, Aimia AGO Photography Prize (The Grange Prize), Toronto 2013
Jury member, GD4PhotoArt, 2014
Jury member, A New Gaze 1 - Vontobel Photography Prize, 2015
Jury member, MAST Foundation Grant for Photography, 2016
Jury member, A New Gaze 2 - Vontobel Photography Prize, 2017
Jury chair, Umrao Singh Sher-Gil Grant for Photography, Delhi, 2017
Jury member, MAST Foundation Grant for Photography, 2018
Selector, Der Greif, 2018
Jury member, Österreichischer Staatspreis für die Fotografie, Wien 2019
Jury member, A New Gaze 3 - Vontobel Photography Prize, 2019
Jury member, KBr Photo Award, Mapfre Foundation, 2021
Jury member, MAST Foundation Grant for Photography, 2022
Jury member, FRAC Nouvelle Aquitaine, Bordeaux, 2022
Jury member, A New Gaze 4, Vontobel Photography Prize, 2023
Jury member. HCB Award, Paris, 2023

Nominator for many awards like Hasselblad Award, Prix Pictet, GD4PHOTOART, the Deutsche Börse Prize etc.