Walter Bosshard (1892 – 1975) was a Swiss photographer and reporter. He was instrumental in shaping the style of illustrated magazines that became popular at the end of the 1920s and is considered a pioneer of modern photojournalism. Life Bosshard studied pedagogy and art history in Zurich and Florence and trained as a primary school teacher at the Kantonsschule Küsnacht. From 1911 to 1913 he was active in the field. From 1914 to 1918 he worked as a teacher in Feldmeilen. Photography was initially only his hobby, he was self-taught. In 1919 Bosshard gave up teaching and went to Sumatra to work as an administrator on a plantation and then as a gemstone dealer in the Far East. In 1927/28 he participated as a technician in the German Central Asia expedition to Kashmir and Xinjiang, led by Emil Trinkler. His first photo reportage was created from the photographs he took during this time. His exotic pictures from faraway countries were highly sought after and he received commissions from various magazines, such as the Berliner Illustrirten Zeitung and the Münchner Illustrierte Presse. In 1929 Mohammed Nadir was crowned as the new King of Afghanistan. Only three foreign journalists were admitted to the enthronement and the festivities: the American William L. Shirer, the Austrian Harald Lechenperg and Walter Bosshard. In 1930, he was sent to India by the German Photographic Service (Dephot), where he succeeded in producing a highly acclaimed series of photographs from the private life of Mahatma Gandhi, who otherwise shied away from publicity. He then reported from Siam, Cambodia, the Shan States, the Upper Mekong Valley, French Laos and Annam. In 1931 he was in Nanjing, where he was able to record a meeting with Marshal Chiang Kai-shek and presented a photo reportage about Mao Zedong, which was again highly regarded. In the same year he made a photo report for the Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung about the polar flight of the airship Graf Zeppelin. In 1932 he also travelled to Singapore, Bangkok, the Philippines and Japan. In 1933 he documented the Manchurian crisis, reported from Shanghai and took part in a German geographic Kokonor expedition. Afterwards he was a correspondent in Beijing until 1939, where he mainly worked for the American agency Black Star. In March 1934 he experienced the coronation of Puyi as emperor in Manchukuo, from 1934 to 1936 further journeys through China followed, among others to