We are people who matter

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Mademoiselle Emile Baumann. A little souvenir of an excursion to the mountain at Boudry in summer 1916. Dedicated to us by Mssrs Chiller-Gruber, Zürich 2. © 2012 Benteli Verlag, Wir sind jemand.

Border defence 1914/15 38 Cavalry Squadron Photo by "Lienhard und Salzborn", Chur and St. Moritz Bad © 2012 Benteli Verlag, Wir sind jemand.

402. Montblanc (seracs), ca 1900 Photographer unknown © 2012 Benteli Verlag, Wir sind jemand.

Hare hunters, early 20th century Photograph by "Fr. Bütikofer, Photogr.", Bern © 2012 Benteli Verlag, Wir sind jemand.

Fontainemelon watch movement factory, 1891 Photographie Internationale de Jongh Frères 15 Rue de Longchamps, 15 Neuilly-Paris © 2012 Benteli Verlag, Wir sind jemand.

Family with nine children, early 20th century Photographie Unter-Aegeri, Bürgi-Heusser © 2012 Benteli Verlag, Wir sind jemand.

Young men outside the Café Balthassat, Mont Salève near Geneva, ca 1920 Photographer unknown © 2012 Benteli Verlag, Wir sind jemand.

Firemen, Steffisburg, 1901 Photograph by "J. Kölla, Thun". Award winner in Geneva, silver medal in Paris, bronze medal in Frankfurt am Main. © 2012 Benteli Verlag, Wir sind jemand.

Wedding party, Yverdon, end 19th century Photograph by "J. Spalinger, Yverdon" © 2012 Benteli Verlag, Wir sind jemand.

Engineering Works at Rüti Zürich, Hürlimann department, ca 1900 "Photographie Industrielle R. Law, Genève" © 2012 Benteli Verlag, Wir sind jemand.

Beau-Soleil boarding school, Lausanne 1894 Photograph by "R. de Greck" © 2012 Benteli Verlag, Wir sind jemand.

Swimming in the Giessen, near Bern, ca 1900 Photographer unknown © 2012 Benteli Verlag, Wir sind jemand.

Volunteer corps, Solennität Burgdorf, 1909 Fotografie von "Alb. Käser, Phot. Burgdorf" © 2012 Benteli Verlag, Wir sind jemand.

Breakthrough at the "Charnadüra" tunnel, the final tunnel on the Albula line from Celerina to St.Moritz, May 17, 1903, at 11 in the evening [sic] Photograph by "R. Guler, St. Moritz" © 2012 Benteli Verlag, Wir sind jemand.

Skittles at the café de l'Aigle, Versoix in 1920-22?, Photograph by "F. Delfino 19, Rue de Berne, Genève" © 2012 Benteli Verlag, Wir sind jemand.

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Around the turn of the 19th and 20th century, group photos were a popular way for people to make a record of themselves and their world. They reflected the self-confidence of the rising middle class, and the way they saw themselves.

But despite the popularity of these group photos, for years they were regarded as too trivial and unartistic to be worth bothering with. Now this long gone past is resurrected in a new book, Wir Sind Jemand (We Are People Who Matter), which features a wealth of largely unpublished photos from private collections: well brought up daughters in white pinafores, proud athletes showing off their cups, firemen poised for an emergency rescue – families, associations, school classes, student fraternities, factory staff, miliatary companies: all have been immortalised in group photos, which convey a picture of Swiss society at the turn of the last century.